Faith can counter anger at Gauvins
By BOB SCOTT
November 5, 2006
bscott@journalandcourier.com
Aiyana Gauvin's horrific
torture-murder last year sent a shockwave throughout the community.
It continues to resonate today.
Some reactions were akin to almost
a religious call for retribution. People have used phrases such as
"God will deal" with the Gauvins, and they will "stand before God"
someday.
The Lafayette girl, 4, was killed
by her stepmother, Michelle Gauvin. Last month, Gauvin was sentenced
to life in prison without parole. Aiyana's father, Christian Gauvin,
was found guilty of felony child neglect Thursday and awaits
sentencing.
The Rev. Jim Barnett of St. Thomas
Aquinas Church said he understands the anger. The West Lafayette
priest ministers to Michelle Gauvin, a Catholic.
He said the feeling of vengeance
can be self-destructive.
"It grinds inside of us," he said.
"If we remain at that visceral level and allow ourselves to be
dominated by vengeance and anger, the real harm is how it affects
us."
Barnett visited Michelle Gauvin
twice a week for almost 20 months at the Tippecanoe County jail. He
said he will continue to minister to her at the Indiana Women's
Prison in Indianapolis.
"People say to me, "Why are you
wasting your time on that scum?'" he said.
"Even in prison without parole, I
believe that every life can change."
Vengeance, forgiveness
People have said Michelle Gauvin
deserved the death penalty. Some Journal & Courier readers wrote
letters to the editor saying she should face "a lifetime of torture"
in prison.
Candy DeFries of Battle Ground has
a common reaction.
"I hope she gets put in the general
prison population. They can take care of her," she said Friday.
"I don't know how anybody could
forgive something like this."
Don Mitchell, a Purdue professor of
philosophy, said people of faith have an alternative to anger and
revenge.
"I think that a more deeply
religious response is to pray that the Gauvins come to understand
what they have done, experience true sorrow and repentance and turn
to God for mercy and forgiveness," he said.
Mitchell cited the response of the
Amish parents who forgave the killer of their young daughters.
"The Amish community in
Pennsylvania showed us another way of handling our anger: To follow
God's example and temper our call for justice with mercy," he said.
Nancy Sauer of Lafayette said her
parents and sister were stabbed to death in their Illinois home by a
cocaine addict in 1997. The killer, Brad Kirchner, received the
death sentence. In 2003, the Illinois governor issued a blanket
commutation of all death sentences.
"I had to come to grips with this,"
Sauer said. "I wrestled with the death penalty. My whole family
wanted him killed.
"There were days when I wanted him
killed."
She said she came to terms with her
anger about 2001 when she converted to Catholicism.
"I have forgiven him," she said.
"Brad Kirchner killed my family, but God loves him as much as he
loves me.
"How can I ask God for forgiveness
if I am holding onto anger? My parents and sister would not want me
to live that way."
'In the hands of God'
The Rev. Tim Burchill said, "We
want justice for other people and mercy for ourselves." He is the
pastor of St. Andrew United Methodist Church in West Lafayette.
"I'm always a little wary of
somebody who professes love of Christ, yet relishes the idea of
somebody's trip to hell," he said.
"Ultimate justice is in the hands
of God. Sitting at home and stewing about it diminishes my spirit."
Rabbi Gedalyah Engel of West
Lafayette said the Gauvins' fate is "up to God."
"If you believe in his good
judgment, those who must be punished will be punished, and those who
deserve forgiveness will be forgiven," he said.
He said "we must look in the
mirror" and fix the system.
"How do we improve as a society so
these things can't happen?" he asked. "We must ask what we can do to
stop this kind of action. That is our responsibility."
