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Ched Evans, Jessica Ennis and redemption

This is a really tricky one for me. 

On the one hand, I'm a woman.  Cases of sexual violence against women upset me on a visceral level.  I started reading Laura Bates' 'EverydaySexism' book and it was so depressing I stopped reading.     Women are often physically weaker than men (though I imagine Jessica Ennis is pretty strong) and if a man decides to do something a woman doesn't want him to do, unless she has had some effective self-defence classes, all she can do is scream. Of course, if she's blind drunk, she can't even do that.  

On the other hand, I am a follower of Jesus and so by definition I believe in forgiveness and redemption, both for me and for those who hurt me.  Christians are not especially moral people; they are people who recognise their own imperfection and frailty and put their trust in one who knows them intimately and accepts them completely.  

Like Jessica Ennis-Hill, I don't want Ched Evans to receive another lucrative contract and to continue a life of privilege and fame as if nothing had happened.  I believe that God offers everyone the chance to start again, however, and that once an offender has served their time they should be allowed to rebuild their life.  So I'm torn. 

For a Christian to receive a second chance (or third, or fourth, or fifth...) from God does require them to recognise their need for that fresh start, however.  They need to ask God for it and to turn away from the life they had before.  To use religious language, they need to repent.  Ched Evans was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison (of which he served half), yet still protests his innocence.  He does not recognise that he has done anything wrong. 

Were Ched Evans to accept the crime that he has been convicted of committing, to recognise that he has done wrong, even to say sorry, then I would have no qualms about the lucrative contract and the celebrity lifestyle.  To show remorse and contrition publicly for a violent crime; to really feel the suffering and humiliation he has inflicted on a young woman and take responsibility for it, and resolve to change his behaviour - that takes real moral courage.  Potentially a great role model for young people - indeed, for all of us. 

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