To Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev...

I believe God created you.  I believe you are each a child of God.  You don't have to be Christian for me to believe that.  I believe God transcends an individual's person's chosen faith tradition.  But I also believe you were wrong.  What progress for your cause could bombing the Boston Marathon have possibly gotten you?  Are you trying to scare people to Allah?  Are you trying to rid the world of Christians?  If you were trying to scare us, that didn't last long.  You didn't last long.  And you were never in control.  You bombed the end of the race.  You bombed the area next to the medical tent, where people were already on high alert to receive fatigued runners.

I believe neither of you to be fundamentally bad.  I believe each of you likely were friendly, good sons, maybe even opened doors for a woman with a stroller or gave your seat up on the T to an elderly person.  But in your actions on Monday at the marathon and Thursday night, you were wrong.  You intentionally acted to harm other humans.  Other people made in the image of God.  I don't know as much about Islam as I likely should but I know it is peaceful.  I know it does not condone what the two of you have done.  I know many Muslims in the US and across the world cringe when Muslims like you act like this just like I know Christians like me cringe when Westboro Baptist Church acts as it often does.

I believe you were wrong.  I believe, Dzhokhar, that you deserve to sit in prison for life.  I also believe it is the right and just thing for you to tell law enforcement the truth about your plan and any other potential threats to ANY group of people (not just the US) that you might know about.  You can try to show remorse in this way that could save human lives.

I also wish I could truly live by Jesus' words, "Forgive them, God, for they know now what they do."  But I can't right now.  Or maybe I don't want to.  I'm not ready to forgive either or you.  And right now I don't want to be ready.  And I believe God's okay with that.

Finally, I want to thank you both.  You reminded us how love is stronger than hatred and how similar we all really are.  White, black, queer, straight, US-born or naturalized or undocumented, democrat or republican, Red Sox or Yankees fan, runner or onlooker.  None of that mattered on Monday.  None of that mattered on Thursday night or Friday.  None of that continues to matter as this city and metro-area works to recover.  What mattered was the preservation of human life.  What matters now is the re-established dignity of humanity.

I do not believe in Heaven and Hell the same way many other people do.  I am not convinced they exist.  I'm okay with that.  I don't really care about the placement of your eternal soul, if there even is a place for it.  What I care about is the recognition of wrong-doing by Dzhokhar and the continued efforts of Bostonians, New Englanders, and Americans to not lose sight of the beautiful bonds of community we've witnessed over the past week.  It's easy to get complacent in times of peace.  Let's not wait for another disaster or tragedy to re-establish the bond.  Let's continue to strengthen the bond that's been forged from these tragic events.