Two views

Martin McGuiness, a controversial figure in Northern Ireland, has just died.  A former IRA "terrorist" responsible for loyalist deaths during the troubles, he became the architect of the peace that now prevails.  And an unlikely friend and colleague of Rev Ian Paisley!!
McGuiness death has drawn two opposed reactions.

Some, like Tony Blair and Teresa May, choose to remember the man of peace he became, and the leadership he has provided to troubled Northern Ireland.  Others, the families of victims of the IRA, cannot forgive and see him only as a mass murderer to be reviled.

This dichotomy is played out time and again in daily life. There are many for whom there is no room for repentance and rehabilitation.  Who the person is today is totally measured by the failures of the past.  There is no recognition that a person can change, grow and put away earlier misdeeds.  Which is why the USA practice of executing criminals 15 and more years after their trials is so immoral and obscene.  They are executing a totally different person.

The media has much to answer for in this regard.  The prominence they give to people who cannot put the past behind them gives legitimacy.  The media relishes detailing the past sins of a person with little or no recognition of any change or good that may entitle the person to be seen in a better light.

I think the scriptural admonition could be paid much more attention: "Judge not, lest ye be judged yourself."