From: Jkr438@aol.com
Date: Fri Aug 23 2002 - 10:39:57 MDT
[WW]Should forgiveness be a Virion virtue?
[Mermaid]To forgive is to forget. To forget is to ignore and depreciate
painful lessons... It could be a virion sin. Wanna ponder that?
[Jake] I don't agree with this analysis. I have long liked the maxim,
"forgive but don't forget." To me forgiveness is to forgo
revenge/reciprocity or even the desire for such. This is important at times
and probably more so for the forgiver than for the forgiven. It is
emotionally unhealthy and warping of perspective to spend most of your life
nursing vendettas. Indeed, we could probably point to the
Israeli/Palestinian conflict as an example of what this can lead to where
satisfaction of one vendetta leads to the creation of several more. . . . a
self perpetuating violent memeplex . . . I don't see that forgiving requires
forgetting, nor do I think that such a pattern of forgiving and forgetting
would be desirable either for the very reason you cite above. We can
overcome our vendettas without forgetting the things which inspired them in
the first place. For example, I can forgive someone for stealing from me
once they have faced the justice system, but I will still remember to watch
my possessions better thenceforth.
-Jake
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