We have all seen it on several occasions. When people hurt each other and/or commit crimes it is not uncommon that they look at the sky (figuratively speaking) and ask God for forgiveness. This is perfectly understandable since they want to find peace with their Lord - They disobeyed Him and His laws, and ask Him to overlook their missteps.
Everything seems fine this far: The regretting individuals hope that God has forgiven them and may continue on with their lives, also hoping that they won't make the same mistakes again. But one has to ask onself this question: Does this method of dealing with your 'missteps' really put you in a better position? And does it really serve any positive purpose (from a religious perspective, not mental) at all? I mean, the individuals that has been negatively affected by these sinners still have their 'wounds', correct? So why would you turn to God and say: "Look, I know that I treated those people badly and I sincerely regret it, please forgive me." When God is not the one being hurt? Sure, He may be 'hurt' from the point where He deeply trusted you to make the right decisions, but other than that He is not the one affected by those actions.
Point being, as long as you ask the actual victim for forgiveness, there is no need to tell God how much you regret doing your shit. It's not like God cannot read your mind to see if you actually do regret your actions. And when you turn to God to overlook your missteps, you only do so to avoid confronting your mistakes.
The only cases in which asking God for forgiveness makes sense (again, from a religious perspective) would be when you have broken His laws which does not regard hurting someone. For instance: Gay people regretting their sexual feelings, people feeling sorry for forgetting their morning prayers and something as simple as regretting having doubts about God's existence. Of course though, these examples always vary depending on the individuals beliefs, but in all cases the sole purpose of asking for forgiveness is to show respect towards the demanding God.
I know that this is not some revolutionay thoughts that I present, but I thought it may be worth discussing (whether or not remains to be seen): God don't care if you ask Him for forgiveness after hurting someone. In fact, He despise it in some cases.
