Forgiveness

I've decided that our first topic is forgiveness: when is something unforgiveable?

I had been browsing through a book entitled Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABC by Frederick Buechner. It's a book geared toward Christians but I think this passenger is true of forgiveness regardless of your religion:

"When somebody you've wronged forgives you, you're spared the dull and self-diminishing throb of a guilty conscience.
When you forgive somebody who has wronged you, you're spared the dismal corrosion of bitterness and wounded pride.
For both parties, forgiveness means the freedom again to be at peace inside their own skins and to be glad in each other's presence."

So, I will use this as a springboard for our discussion. Although forgiveness produces a mutual feeling of "rightness" within the relationship again, is there ever a when something is simply unforgiveable? For example, should you forgive someone who is a repeat offender or someone who's made a terrible error such as murder?

I think that nothing is unforgiveable per se, but that there are things that are extremely extremely hard to forgive. That is to say, I don't think that people should forgive some actions but it is not impossible to do so. For example, I would not forgive someone for genocide.

Your thoughts?
I realize that this topic is rather simple, but I wanted to start out that way.

The Symposium

This blog was created today, August 19, 2006, in order to provide online bloggers with a symposium in which they can collectively share their thoughts and opinions on a number of different topics.

We live in a world where we often don't listen to each other. By closing doors and shutting others out, we inhibit ourselves from ever improving our behavior or learning about different points of view. We also live in a world strewn with terror, poverty, and disease. If we could all just stop a minute, take a break from the hustle and bustle of the demanding 21st century office and the pressuring atmosphere of high school or college, and sit together to discuss our struggling world, our opinions about it, and how we can take action to fix it, there would be a definite hope.

Well, you say, what about all those politicians and activists that are already making noise? Can't we just leave it to them?
No. We can't. You see, these activists are few and far between relative to the population of the earth. While they have some power, quite frankly, they will never have enough. Unless...You and I, average persons, decide to take initiative ourselves. The more people who stand up and decide to get involved in this rapidly changing world, the more we can accomplish. We can discontinue the "Age of Apathy" as I have dubbed it.

So, I invite you to join my symposium. What's your philosophy?

I only ask that you follow a few rules of conduct,
otherwise I will be forced to exclude your comments from discussions.

1. Respect. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I ask that however disgusting and wrong you find someone's point of view to be that you nonetheless treat them with respect and allow them their space on this blog.
2. No language. Please refrain from using slander. No curse words, racial slurs, etc. It is only acceptable to type a curse word when you are discussing that curse word, not using it.
3. No harassment of any kind. If someone on this blog discriminates against other bloggers due to sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, gender, economic situation, age, etc. and chooses to dehumanize others and destroy diversity, he or she will not be tolerated and will be banned from the forum.

I would say that people with these opinions would not be allowed in discussions to begin with, but then I would be violating number 1 in RoC. So, I go into this blog with concern and caution but I trust you all to act with civility.

I leave you with two quotes that helped inspire me to set this up:

"Problems are not going to get solved until we sit down with somebody else and really listen to their stories, so we can get to understand each other rather than blowing each other up. The more we put labels on people, the more we're destined not to know them. When you really know somebody else's story, you can't hate them anymore. It's a wonderful tool for peace."
Nancy Duncan

"Science tells us how to heal and how to kill; it reduces the death rate in retail and then kills us wholesale in war; but only wisdom- desire coordinated in the light of all experience- can tell us when to heal and when to kill. To observe processes and to construct means is science; to criticize and coordinate ends is philosophy: and because in these days our means and instruments have multiplied beyound our interpretation and synthesis of ideals and ends, our life is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. For a fact is nothing except in relation to desire; it is not complete except in relation to a purpose and a whole. Science without philosophy, facts without perspective and valuation, cannot save us from havoc and despair. Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom."
Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy