# Repentance from an atrocity **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 5, 2020, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966 "2020-01-05T09:03:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kovitlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kovitlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kovitlac)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/41 "2020-01-07T18:16:31Z")
I think it’s terrifying those girls are out. I feel bad for the horrible abuse they suffered, holy shit, but knowing they’re out there are could still be suffering BPD (maybe treated, but people go off their meds all the time), hallucinations, possibly still with murderous tendencies… I hope they’re reformed, but I fear for anyone who unwittingly comes across them. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/42 "2020-01-07T18:19:49Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > On a much lower level I can relate to this and I have several friends who could as well. We were rowdy teenagers and got a reputation as such. It took about 25 years of class reunions ( One every 5 years) to shake this reputation and 50 years later still lingers and I wasn’t even all that bad. Becoming an activist against what they were might be the best strategy. “Rowdy” like you drank and smoked a bit of pot on weekends or “rowdy” like you went on Clockwork Orange style rape and murder binges? ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/43 "2020-01-07T21:59:31Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > The intervening behavior needs to be examined very closely. Even if a bunch of civil behavior is documented during the interval, it’ll still be a crapshoot. But if a lot of at risk behavior is seen, that would carry a lot of weight. > > People can and do change. But that’s not the way to bet, especially if stakes are high. I totally agree. I wouldnt trust them. But it doesnt mean they need to be in prison living on the taxpayers dole. That is why I suggest monitoring. Like they would have to report their address, work address, whereabouts, and persons they hang with to local police and they should have to come in every once in a while for evaluation. Also since we have big brother, they should have to surrender their phones and have tracking software installed. Also there computer internet records so those could be monitored. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/44 "2020-01-07T22:38:48Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I totally agree. I wouldnt trust them. But it doesnt mean they need to be in prison living on the taxpayers dole. > > That is why I suggest monitoring. Like they would have to report their address, work address, whereabouts, and persons they hang with to local police and they should have to come in every once in a while for evaluation. > > Also since we have big brother, they should have to surrender their phones and have tracking software installed. Also there computer internet records so those could be monitored. You do know that we have extended supervision for convicted felons, right? The violent offenders tend to be on many of the monitoring/reporting requirements as you describe for a few decades (at least) after their release. That’s pretty much a condition of their release. If they don’t abide by those terms, they stay in for those extra decades. Felons regularly get sent back to prison for such violations as not looking for a job, improper use of a computer or smart phone, consumption of alcohol, non-attendance at counseling/therapy sessions, being around minors, and more. Conditions are set based on pre-release evaluation. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/45 "2020-01-07T23:08:23Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > So, let’s assume that someone in your town committed a disgusting, senseless violent act. But years have passed, and that person’s back after a prison sentence. This act didn’t happen to anyone you know, or anyone in your family. They’ve truly accepted and owned up to their guilt, but they’re remorseful and have seriously worked towards wanting to redeem themselves. > > What would it take for you to believe them? I was thinking of our usual poster children for this Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka, but then I remember this guy [Marco Muzzo](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/vaughan-crash-family-statement-1.3248416). Bout the only difference is that unlike the examples in the thread, this guy made a stupid or stupid series of mistakes. His only other difference, is that he has the cash to live a somewhat normal life after he gets released. And no, i dont see anything redeeming him for that, regardless of what he goes on to do. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/46 "2020-01-07T23:13:22Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Felons regularly get sent back to prison for such violations as…being around minors Off-topic, and not a hijack, but just how is this done? Kids are everywhere. You go to the grocery store, there are kids. You walking in a park, there are kids. You go to a restaurant, there are kids. Library, kids. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/47 "2020-01-07T23:39:43Z")
I think it’s easier to figure out two different questions: what would it take for us to stop hating or being angry at somebody, and, what would it take for us to rightly feel secure trusting them with the most vulnerable of the people we love? Both of these depend in principle on the total of all the things a person has done, or, from our point of view, all the things we know about them. I’d find the stopping hating one easier to do, and the trusting vulnerability love one probably impossible. Not to be snarky, but, if time didn’t rewind and the victim didn’t pop back into happy life, then I probably wouldn’t accept anything as proof they can be trusted. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/48 "2020-01-08T00:35:08Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Off-topic, and not a hijack, but just how is this done? Kids are everywhere. You go to the grocery store, there are kids. You walking in a park, there are kids. You go to a restaurant, there are kids. Library, kids. Being alone with minors unsupervised. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/49 "2020-01-08T01:16:53Z")
[Have you ever seen The Redemption of General Butt Naked?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdgq8xIckdc) He killed many thousands of people(was responsible for tons of carnage). I believe he ate the hearts of people he killed and so forth… Is now a Christian pastor. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/50 "2020-01-08T14:20:53Z")
And Jeffrey Dahmer got support from the rah-rah Christians for killing the “right” people, became a Christian and died a Christian. Presumably, he’s in heaven now, but all his victims are in hell for the sin of being homosexuals. What is wrong with this idea? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/51 "2020-01-08T19:21:17Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > What would it take for you to believe them? Depends. Clockwork Orange style rape and murder binges could be marked up entirely to a combination of immature frontal lobes, social pressure from similarly impaired peers, milk abuse, and boredom. All of those things can be changed and a safe result seems reasonably possible. A forty something who gets up to similar shenanigans, however, would likely be fighting his own nature in a daily, conscious decision to not do harm to others. I’m not sure such a person should enjoy _their own_ trust, let alone anyone else’s, despite the sincerity of their desire to be a good person. I think candor with an absolute absence of defensiveness would go a long way toward gaining my trust. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/52 "2020-01-08T19:50:37Z")
I believe redemption is possible, but unlikely. It’s more possible with minors, in my uneducated opinion. I have one real life example: [Anne Perry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Perry) was involved in killing a friend’s mother when she was a teen. After she was released, she moved and became a best selling author. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2020, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966/53 "2020-01-09T19:35:54Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > [Anne Perry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Perry) was involved in killing a friend’s mother when she was a teen. After she was released, she moved and became a best selling author. Enjoying financial or professional success later in life after you do something horrible isn’t really “repentance”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repentance-from-an-atrocity/845966.md?page=2)