# Murderer is "a hero" for confessing? (RO) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 18, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165 "2008-02-18T21:42:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/1 "2008-02-18T21:42:48Z")
[http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/18/minister.confesses.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/18/minister.confesses.ap/index.html) > [@](#): > > The youth minister who confessed to a 1994 killing is being widely forgiven by members of his former congregation, who say they admire his courage in finally surrendering to police. > > Calvin Wayne Inman, 29, remains jailed without bail since he was charged Wednesday with capital murder in the stabbing death of a convenience store clerk during a robbery. He was 16 at the time. > > During Sunday’s service at the 800-member Elim Church, congregants praised the recently ordained Inman as a born-again role model taking responsibility for his sin. > > **“He’s a hero, really,”** said Kelley Graham, 24. “I don’t know how many people would do what he did. The Bible says you just need to confess to God. Calvin took an extra step.” (bolding mine) I glad he confessed, but for fuck’s sake, he’s not a goddamn hero. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/2 "2008-02-18T21:53:19Z")
What makes them think they have the right to “forgive” him?" Is that a privilege that belongs only to the victims? ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/3 "2008-02-18T22:04:44Z")
Of course he’s a hero- he killed a Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/4 "2008-02-18T22:07:31Z")
As horrible as his crime was, how many other people would walk into a police station and say, “Hey, that unsolved killing fifteen years back? I did it.” With all of the purported “role models” of today stonewalling no matter how obvious the emperor’s clothes are, it’s good to see someone step up and take responsibility for their actions. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/5 "2008-02-18T22:14:51Z")
[QUOTE=Punoqllads] With all of the purported “role models” of today stonewalling no matter how obvious the emperor’s clothes are, it’s good to see someone step up and take responsibility for their actions. [/QUOTE] Personally, I prefer the majority of role models who don’t bother to murder anyone in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/6 "2008-02-18T22:19:32Z")
[QUOTE=Punoqllads] As horrible as his crime was, how many other people would walk into a police station and say, “Hey, that unsolved killing fifteen years back? I did it.” [/QUOTE] I would hope that most other people wouldn’t fucking kill anybody in the first place. I’m funny that way. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/7 "2008-02-18T22:27:34Z")
While most people don’t go around murdering grocers, they often do other not so nice things, and fight like badgers to avoid taking any responsibility for their wrongdoings. I’m with Punoqllads, it’s refreshing to see someone actually take responsibility for their actions, rather than have responsibility crammed down their throats. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/8 "2008-02-18T22:33:50Z")
I think we all agree that confessing is at least a tiny little bit better than not confessing. Does anybody think it makes him a hero? Or a role model? ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/9 "2008-02-18T22:40:39Z")
I don’t see the point of the article- Christians, who are taught to forgive, forgive a person they know and love who did nothing to them personally. This is news? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/10 "2008-02-18T22:52:20Z")
The term “hero” is used very loosely and commonly in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/11 "2008-02-18T23:29:42Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] Does anybody think it makes him a hero? Or a role model? [/QUOTE] He’s a role model inasmuch as that proverbial someone out there who’s done somebody wrong, and is afraid of the consequences, can look at this guy and see some part of themselves in him, and use that to take responsibility for what they’ve done. Hopefully without run-on sentences. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/12 "2008-02-18T23:36:51Z")
Good on him for owning up to his crime, but hero is not a label I would ever apply to such a person. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/13 "2008-02-19T00:02:10Z")
Whatever he once did, he is a hero _today_. Heros don’t have to be perfect, and some have done terrible ctrimes. But, when the chips are down, they display courage and fortitude. In this case, he evidently came to the belief that he ought to face justice for his crimes. He accepted this not only intellectually, but faced up to it. This involves no small measure of public humiliation, the loss of freedom, the the condemnation of the legal system, not to mention the actual physical discomfort of prison, etc. And of course, put himself in a situation where he knows he is at the mercy of others. There are few braver things _I_ can think of. I’d certainly rather run out and fight in a war or risk my life to save someone else than be in this man’s shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/14 "2008-02-19T00:52:07Z")
[QUOTE=smiling bandit] Whatever he once did, he is a hero _today_. Heros don’t have to be perfect, and some have done terrible ctrimes. But, when the chips are down, they display courage and fortitude. In this case, he evidently came to the belief that he ought to face justice for his crimes. He accepted this not only intellectually, but faced up to it. This involves no small measure of public humiliation, the loss of freedom, the the condemnation of the legal system, not to mention the actual physical discomfort of prison, etc. And of course, put himself in a situation where he knows he is at the mercy of others. There are few braver things _I_ can think of. I’d certainly rather run out and fight in a war or risk my life to save someone else than be in this man’s shoes. [/QUOTE] I think you’re using “hero” in the way I might use “person of character” or even “admirable person.” Personally, I require someone to do something beyond the bounds of what most human beings are _capable_ of to be a hero. Merely unusual behavior that is also positive does not meet that requirement. Mere courage or honesty does not meet the requirement, either. The fact that he once did something downright rotten, while a nice contrast, has no bearing on his heroism or lack thereof. PS: I’m restraining from correcting your spelling because I assume you know better and it would make me look like an ass, but “heros” just grates. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/15 "2008-02-19T01:48:29Z")
Might I point out his middle name is Wayne? That alone should have tipped them off. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/16 "2008-02-19T02:07:35Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Drake] I think you’re using “hero” in the way I might use “person of character” or even “admirable person.” Personally, I require someone to do something beyond the bounds of what most human beings are _capable_ of to be a hero. Merely unusual behavior that is also positive does not meet that requirement. Mere courage or honesty does not meet the requirement, either. The fact that he once did something downright rotten, while a nice contrast, has no bearing on his heroism or lack thereof. [/QUOTE] Can you give some explaes of heroes under your criteria? ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/17 "2008-02-19T02:23:12Z")
Freakin batman, dude. Not just anyone can put on tights and jump off buildings. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/18 "2008-02-19T02:26:43Z")
I think it’s great that he finally 'fessed up. And I know it was a very difficult decision. It’s great that his church is rallying around him. But ‘hero’? Hardly. To be a hero, you have to lay it on the line for someone else. I suspect that the reason he confessed was that his conscience was bothering him. He confessed to clear his conscience and atone. And I’m all for that. But he did it for himself. Can we agree on a definition of ‘hero’ as someone who risks their own personal safety to come to the aid of someone else? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/19 "2008-02-19T02:27:42Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Personally, I prefer the majority of role models who don’t bother to murder anyone in the first place. [/QUOTE] Seriously. I’d rather live next door to a baseball player who stonewalls over whether or not he jabbed steroids into his butt than a minister who stands up for stabbing a 64-year-old store clerk to death. And part of me is also wondering if the people in his congregation would be calling him a hero if he’d confessed to murdering James Smith, local schoolteacher, little league coach and fellow congregation member, rather than Iqbal Ahmed, convenience store clerk that nobody knew. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165/20 "2008-02-19T02:27:48Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] Can you give some explaes of heroes under your criteria? [/QUOTE] I can’t think of a specific individual. How about those guys on Flight 93? Or some of the early civil rights leaders in the American South. I’m not trying to advocate an impossible standard, just a more extreme one – say the 1% at the end of the bell curve rather than the upper 25% I seem to see in the media. Assuming such things had been or even could be quantified. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murderer-is-a-hero-for-confessing-ro/438165.md?page=2)