Reporters are scrambling to catch sight of Casey Anthony. They\u2019re plotting potential plane routes across country, reporting rumored hideouts, naming people who could, or would, or might be “hiding her.” There was even the potential, as reported last week, that Anthony may have landed here in San Diego County. Whether you have concluded she was wrongly accused or wrongly released, there\u2019s no denying the fact that this woman has captivated a nation. Anthony\u2019s trial was broadcast live on several cable news channels. The day the verdict was announced, “Headline News” attracted the biggest audience in its history, exceeding their coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Why are we unable to look away? What bearing does the plight of Casey Anthony have on our individual lives?\u00a0 Aside from our gawking tendencies, there\u2019s something more concrete that draws us to this story.\u00a0 Our fascination with the plight of Casey Anthony is grounded in the fact that her actions have violated the most basic principles of human nature, the image of God in which we were made. In the simplest form, “made in God\u2019s image” means we were made to resemble God in our actions and attitudes. One of the aspects of being made in the image of God means that we were created as a moral mirror, born with the innate ability to reflect God\u2019s morality. God provided us with mental and moral capacities not afforded to other creatures. Unfortunately, there are times the moral mirror gets blurred and people act in ways that don\u2019t come close to resembling God\u2019s heart. When her two-year-old daughter Caylee “went missing,” it took 31 days for Casey Anthony to report her daughter\u2019s disappearance to authorities. It is only natural that our moral compasses went haywire when we heard the news; our outrage stems from the fact that her actions were in opposition to the very image by which God created us. Mothers just don\u2019t do that. Parents are defenders and protectors, not murderers. Casey Anthony\u2019s actions\u00a0in the days following her daughter\u2019s disappearance personified\u00a0the antonym of “mother” and left many to wonder if she lacks conscience. God did not create robots, but rather complex human beings who are afforded free will. It is hard to accept when people exercise their free will to bring grief, sorrow and pain to other people. However, this should not be construed as an indication of God\u2019s absence, but rather a validation of the presence of evil. God entrusted man with dominion over the earth and animals, not other people. We have the responsibility to create environments at work, at home and among our friends, where people can grow and fulfill the purpose for which God has created them. As parents, we have a particular responsibility to safeguard God\u2019s plan for our children. When the 25-year-old mother was found not guilty in the death of her two-year-old daughter, Caylee, but convicted of four counts of lying to investigators, people around the country protested, denouncing our justice system. How can someone treat their child the way she did, they asked, and escape meaningful consequence? The answer, of course, is that no human escapes the ultimate accounting for his or her actions. Any judgment that is made of Casey Anthony should and will come from God. God has promised to reward each person according to his or her conduct, according to what his or her deeds deserve. Faith brings peace. If we have confidence that everyone will answer to a higher being for his or her conduct \u2014 the Florida verdict reached by a twelve member panel of our peers seems far less like the final chapter of the Casey Anthony story. My hope is that the moral outrage surrounding this case can be channeled into meaningful action. My prayer is that it reminds us of our God-given responsibility to love and protect those that have been entrusted into our care. Consider mentoring a parent who is overwhelmed, volunteering to combat child abuse or even praying for Casey Anthony. The most significant way we can remember Caylee Anthony is by mirroring God\u2019s image to those we love. \u2014 Miles McPherson, a former player for the San Diego Chargers, is pastor of the Rock Church in Point Loma on Rosecrans Street.<\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reporters are scrambling to catch sight of Casey Anthony. They\u2019re plotting potential plane routes across country, reporting rumored hideouts, naming people who could, or would, or might be “hiding her.” There was even the potential, as reported last week, that Anthony may have landed here in San Diego County. Whether you have concluded she was […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":259034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"Dead wrong: Getting to the root of the Casey Anthony hate","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11552,11561],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-259033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-peninsula-beacon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}