More recent words from the Forgiveness Chronicles
[ by Charles Cameron — a follow-on to my earlier piece about Coptic Christians and their forgiveness of IS butchery ]
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From the courtroom in the Dylann Roof matter in Charleston:
Lest we forget, from Copts in the wake of the mass martyrdom in Lebanon:
I am in awe.
June 23rd, 2015 at 7:39 pm
Maybe when you’re powerless to exact revenge, forgiveness is the only logical course – under the theory of doing no further harm to yourself.
June 24th, 2015 at 7:40 am
Provovative as always, Curtis.
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Or maybe if you can’t bring yourself to forgive, revenge will be the unavoidable outcome?
June 24th, 2015 at 2:57 pm
I wouldn’t say revenge would be unavoidable. A mood of quiet desperation and/or despair might set in instead, if you’re powerless to exact revenge. Self-destructive behaviors and/or transference to a new, nicely available target of the revenge.
June 24th, 2015 at 4:05 pm
Oh, you’re right, there are various possibilities. I was just looking for one that would be something of a mirror image of your first..
June 24th, 2015 at 7:17 pm
Well an interesting consideration arises when the “power to exact revenge” is present — Do I instead forgive? If not, must I revenge? Is forgiveness somehow different in the two cases, 1) when one *can* exact revenge & 2) when the option of revenge does not exist?
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I only know that for myself, sometimes time and memory play a large role: It is easier to forget than to consciously forgive—a third option. But then, I have not personally experienced the sort of offenses or attacks that are referenced in your post.
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I will say that the video of Dylann Roof struck me most strongly at first, and still does, because of the young officer standing behind him, who hardly looks old enough to be an officer of the peace. He and Dylann Roof seem almost to be two versions of the same person with only small differences in appearance.
June 24th, 2015 at 8:44 pm
Hi Curtis:
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Interesting that you should mention forgetting along with forgiving, since I’ve just been prepping a follow up post [not yet posted] that touches on just that issue.