Paying for Our Sins

“Forgiveness is between them and God. It's my job to arrange the meeting.“ — Denzel Washington as Creasy in Man on Fire

I was going down the rabbit hole that is the plethora of videos posted to Facebook and I saw a clip of Terry Crews on The Rich Eisen Show where they are discussing Mr. Crews’ appearance in the movie Training Day. Something struck me in watching that clip. In his movies, Denzel Washington’s characters sometimes directly or indirectly speak to the idea that we need to account for our sins. We have to account for our crimes. We have to account for our cruelties. We have to account for our indiscretions. We have to account for our disloyalty, our lack of faith, our breaking of trusts, and our wounding of others. In the clip that I watched that inspired this post, Denzel Washington is reported to have felt that his Training Day character had to die. He had to pay the price for the evil that he had done. He had to die for the evil that he WAS. Denzel Washington did not see how a Training Day sequel could work. Detective Alonzo Harris HAD to die at the end of the movie.

In a number of his movies, Mr.Washington has played a decent and sympathetic character who, though flawed and fallen from grace, acts to avenge and protect the innocent while “correcting” and punishing those that harm the innocent. His character perhaps wrestles with guilt for the terrible things that he has done while serving another cause and may make statements that express doubts about his past sins being forgivable by God and his potential for redemption.

Now I know that Mr. Washington is reportedly a man of faith that believes in a higher power. And I know that he almost certainly believes that we can be forgiven and be redeemed. But I think that he also understands that as a consequence of our sins, our crimes, or however you choose to characterize the evil and unwise things that we human beings all-too-frequently do, we often can expect to pay a price in this world in the here and now. As indicated by his Man on Fire quote posted above, his character in that movie sees forgiveness by God for one’s sins as distinct from forgiveness from the people that one has wronged, that forgiveness by God is a matter between God and the sinner, and that one is not always free from the consequences of one’s actions and decisions.

Someone having indiscriminate, casual , careless sex with multiple partners may contract a “social disease” or an STD, even if they have regrets and seek forgiveness from God. A murderer may be remorseful and seek forgiveness from God, the victim’s family and friends, and society as a whole and still be murdered by a vengeful friend or family member of the deceased or executed by the government. A thief may understand that his or her crimes have harmed innocent people and seek forgiveness for the harm that he or she has caused and still be imprisoned and expected to make restitution.

While I am clearly referring to the dark, hurtful things that we do as “sins,” it was not and is not my intention to delve into a deep theological discussion. While I have my own religious beliefs (as well as my share of questions on God, Christianity, and religion that are yet unanswered or even unasked), I understand that not everyone believes in God or a higher power. But most of us have some beliefs and thoughts on morality and immorality and understand that both actions and inaction can have negative consequences. Even people without a belief in God may believe that, “What comes around goes around.” Karma or something, as it were. Of course, we acknowledge that sometimes the guilty escape justice in the traditional sense. But most of us believe that the guilty should be punished and sometimes are.

I would argue that many of the things that people do that Christians would call “sins” exact a cost on the “sinner” even if the person “sinning” is not punished in a substantive, visible way. There’s remorse. There’s embarrassment and shame. There are damaged relationships and being cut off, shunned, and/or feared and even hated by family, friends, acquaintances, and society at large with all the associated negative consequences that entails. If you become a monster, it could be argued that perhaps you lose some of your humanity. I would argue that is a heavy cost, penalty, or punishment for your “sins.” I guess what I wanted to say is that the cruel, evil, and hurtful things that we do can have a negative outcome for the perpetrators as well as the victims regardless of any punishment that we might receive from God, karma, or other human beings.

Anyway, below is a link to the video from The Rich Eisen Show and links to a few videos from Denzel Washington’s movies that reference sins, wrongdoing, and consequences. Just keep in mind that at least a couple are NSFW.

“Terry Crews on Staring Down Denzel in That ‘Training Day’ “King Kong” Scene | The Rich Eisen Show”

“King Kong - Training Day (5/5) Movie CLIP (2001) HD”

“The Equalizer 2 (2018) - I Only Get to Kill You Once Scene (7/10) | Movieclips”

“The Equalizer (2014) - Pay It Back Scene (4/10) | Movieclips”