Millions were deeply moved when Erika Kirk forgave the assassin of her husband Charlie. Reflecting on the profound meanings of the Jewish Day of Atonement, Jeff Jacoby questions the phenomenon of instantly forgiving heinous crimes. While such acts appear selfless and healing, Jacoby notes in Jewish World Review, Jesus himself warned that “you have the right to pardon only the wrongs ‘your brother’ committed against you.” When the victim was someone else, forgiveness may not be yours to give.
At Least He Paid his Losing Bet
Paul Ehrlich, author of the spectacularly incorrect 1968 best-seller The Population Bomb, recently died at 93. Despite his longevity, Ronald Bailey points out in Reason, Ehrlich did not live to see even one of his numerous apocalyptic predictions come true. The world’s population certainly grew, but not merely larger, richer and fatter too. Most famously, Ehrlich once bet economist Julian Simon that the world was approaching economic collapse – but in 1990 had to mail Simon a cheque.
