Category: Forgiveness
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Forgiveness and Self-Justification
One feels justified in not forgiving. "Why should I forgive the bastard? He wronged me, and not just once!" "Don't you need forgiveness? You must forgive because you yourself need to be forgiven for what you have done to others!" "There is a part of me that can appreciate your fine Sunday School sentiment. But…
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Forgive and Forget
Forgetting is the easier and more effective of the options if you can manage it. A wrong forgotten is a wrong unavailable for either forgiving or the opposite. But where is the virtue in a mere mental lapse? To forgive the unforgotten wrong — now there is the moral challenge, one rarely met, although almost…
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Unconditional Forgiveness
Is there such a thing as unconditional forgiveness? I doubt it. But perhaps someone can supply a clear example of it. Suppose you take money from my wallet without my permission. I catch you at it and express my moral objection. You give me back my money and apologize for having taken it. I forgive…
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A Putative Paradox of Forgiveness
This is another topic that I discussed with Mike Valle, Brian Bosse, and Dale Tuggy when the latter came to town on 29 March. ………………………. It is morally objectionable to forgive those who will not admit wrongdoing, show no remorse, make no amends, do not pay restitution, etc. But if forgiveness is made conditional upon…
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Forgiveness
Suppose you are father of a daughter who has been brutally raped. The rapist is apprehended, tried, and found guilty. Suppose further than the man convicted really is guilty as charged and pays the penalty prescribed by the law, and that the penalty is a just one (the penalty that justice demands, as I would…
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Why Forgive?
Because we ourselves need to be forgiven. "But I have never done anything that requires forgiveness." Really? Then please forgive me for considering you either a liar, or deeply self-deceived, or an amnesiac, or insane, or a joker, or someone unfamiliar with the English language . . . .
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Parents
Honor them for what is or was honorable in them. As for the rest, forgive and forget, or at least forgive. Honor the honorable; forgive the rest.
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The Amazing Zamperini
A track star at the University of Southern California, Louis Zamperini was swept up like so many of his generation into World War II. Story and interview here. In May 1943, his B-24 crashed into the Pacific. For 47 days, he floated on a raft in the ocean. He was then captured by the Japanese,…
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Can One Forgive Oneself? An Aporetic Triad
I pointed out earlier that forgiving is triadic: x forgives y for z. There is the forgiver, the one to whom forgiveness is proffered, and that which is forgiven. Nominative, dative, accusative. It is of course correct English to say 'I forgive you,' but this fact about usage cuts no ice since 'I forgive you' is elliptical for…