(reviewed by Ann Onymous )
What can you not forgive?
Who should be forgiven?
Why did 15-year-old Paula Cooper help murder Ruth Pelke at age 78?
When is the death penalty okay?
How many “children” are prosecuted as adults?
This book shares the true story of Paula Cooper being sentenced to death at age 15. In 1985 she was one of four African American girls in Gary, Indiana who killed a white Bible teacher who lived on the same block.
Through extensive interviews and research, Alex Mar explains how the death penalty has evolved over time. The pendulum on punishment swings back and forth across states and legal strategies. Ms. Mar documents the shifts in politicians, court cases, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges.
The grandson of Mrs. Pelke, Bill, changes his feelings on putting Paula to death while other family members believe Paula should be executed. Bill eventually joins a group made up of Murder Victim Family members who believe in reconciliation. These people come from across a “wide spectrum of backgrounds and religious and political beliefs…they share the conviction that their pain and grief and anger, as victims’ family members, should not play a role in a constitutional debate. Victims’ emotions cannot justify the use of the death penalty, they write, because the legal systems’ purpose is not to heal emotional wounds. It is the wrong place to turn for closure, and a gross manipulation of their experience for the politics of crime control or law enforcement.”
Reading Seventy Times Seven will challenge your thinking. I digested this slowly and deliberately as the decades were revealed and I resisted the temptation to look at the last page. I was glad I took the time to understand all that Paula Cooper, Bill Pelke and their families experienced. The Pope and the international community supported Paula and Bill as illustrated by the world press. Seventy Times Seven is scarier than any fictional mystery. This is reality. What would you do in this situation? Pray you never need to….
The author is not a practicing Christian, but she chose the title from the Gospel of Matthew: How many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.”
Where are you in your journey of forgiveness?