The Social Psychology of Forgiveness
By Gary Brumback, PhD
I was prompted to write this article after reading an article by a very distinguished law professor, Martha Minnow. [1] She is a proponent of forgiveness as a substitute for vengeance. I am NOT a proponent of forgiveness for any purpose! I have thoroughly researched and pondered the matter. This short article gives you my day in court so to speak.
Has there ever been a human being throughout history not to have felt compelled to forgive or to want forgiveness. I do not know, but I doubt it. Forgiveness probably parallels love and hate as human emotions that are not only psychological in nature but also are embedded in a social context such as the notion and practice of restorative justice in a society's criminal justice system and marriage and divorce in human relationships. I will explain in this very short article why the concept and practice of forgiveness ill serve any society.
Forgiveness and Morality
You might think that forgiveness is the morally right way of behaving. I do not, and I doubt that neither would Michael Josephson, a brilliant lawyer who turned into an ethicist, an unusual conversion you might think. He took it upon himself to explore the existence of expressed, as opposed to practiced, moral values throughout time and space. Forgiveness was nowhere to be found among these 10 moral values: accountability, caring for others, fairness, honesty, integrity, justice, loyalty, promise keeping, respecting others, and responsibility. [2] Yes, you might argue that forgiveness is implicitly represented in many of these moral values, but not enough apparently to compel Mr. Josephson to include forgiveness on the list, and neither enough for me.
Forgiveness of Heinous Acts and Their Actors
War is, in my opinion, a very heinous act. I have also argued elsewhere that war is neither unavoidable or just.[3] I agree with the late Albert Einstein who claimed that war is an "act of murder." [4] If you agree, as I do, then every American president save two only in the office for a month or so, members of the "shadow" government (e.g., CIA, NSA, etc.), most members of Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court, and chieftains of war and related industries, like it or not, are "surrogate murderers." Are you willing to forgive any or all of them, let's say, for the carnage they caused in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War "simply" to have a commercial pathway in Asia? [5] My conscience would never allow me to forgive them. What about punishment? If the adage, "punishment must fit the crime," were applied, the surrogate murderers would be executed would they not? They should not, in my opinion. Somehow to lose their power would be punishment enough for possessing power for it is like an elixir. America's power elite are like Erysichthon, the greedy timber merchant in an ancient tale by the Greek poet Ovid. Erysichthon cuts down a sacred tree, angering Ceres, the Goddess of Plenty. She condemns him to eat everything in sight including himself after all else had been consumed. If America's power elite cannot stop themselves and thus consume themselves, they will also have consumed all of humanity.
Forgiving and Sacred Scripture
Try to find a major organized religion in the world that does not prescribe forgiveness. I couldn't, and inexplicably Mr. Josephson apparently didn't even consider sacred scriptures in his search. They are dripping with admonishments to forgive our antagonists. Perhaps Mr. Josephson has the same disdained as I have for sacred scriptures for they are authored and promoted by organized religion. For organized religion to preach on anything is hypocritical in my opinion. Has there ever been a major war that organized religion did not start (e.g., the crusades), promote or tolerate?
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