Casey Anthony, the embattled Florida mother who has been out of the public’s eye since a jury acquitted her of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, in a highly publicized trial last year, is back in the news this morning.
Anthony told CNN Host Piers Morgan in a phone interview, “Obviously, I didn’t kill my daughter." She also went on to tell Morgan, “I'm ashamed in many ways of the person that I was."
Is it possible that the public — many of whom believe Anthony was responsible in Caylee’s death — would give Anthony a second chance? Does she deserve the benefit of the doubt and a shot at redemption of the image she’s had since Caylee went missing in 2008?
Similar questions have arisen with other public figures in recent years, such as Charlie Sheen, John Edwards and Michael Vick — three embattled public figures who have undergone scrutiny for their own sins.
But, Sheen is staging a comeback with his new FX show, “Anger Management,” Edwards still has the ability to practice law following his recent trial and Vick, who served a prison sentence for running an illegal dog-fighting ring, is back in the NFL and making millions of dollars.
So, if redemption is possible for Sheen and Vick, is redemption possible for everyone including people like Anthony? Can they remake their image and really mean it? Should it be possible? Take our poll and share your thoughts in the comments.
Martin Buber has a quote that I thought of when I saw this poll "“We can be redeemed only to the extent to which we see ourselves.” redemption is a personal and intense struggle, a fight to reconcile ourselves with our most terrible deeds. As a teacher, I hear 'my bad' quite often. I really dislike that phrase. All it says is that 'you caught me and I have to acknowledge that.' It conveys no sense of remorse, contrition, or sentiment that the offending act won't be repeated. A heartfelt "I am sorry" on the other hand, is an act of redemption, a confession that you realize that your action was wrong, you feel remorse, and it carries an implicit promise to not repeat the offensive action. Dostoyevsky's book "From the Underground" has at it's heart the theme of redemption. There is a passage about how one can make friends even with thieves and murderers because even they have a human heart that may live and love and suffer. In my own religious tradition, Jesus offered paradise to Dismas, a hardened criminal being crucified to his left. Why? Because Dismas expressed remorse. Every soul has value - even soiled ones.