Ask Dr. Forgiveness
Is there a way to see who’s more forgiving? For example, if someone forgives a murderer of her beloved, is that person more forgiving than another person who experienced comparably a minor injustice?
From the examples given, it seems reasonable to assume that we can see which person has the harder task of forgiveness, but difficulty and “more forgiving” are not equivalent. Regarding the “more forgiving” issue, I think we have to look at these factors: 1) How often does a person forgive? 2) How valuable is forgiveness for this person? 3) Does the person have a “love of the virtue,” as Aristotle suggests for maturity, and finally 4) Is forgiveness an important part of the person’s identity, part of his or her life?
One of my students asked me recently, “Why should I forgive? Doesn’t this just let the one who is hurting me see that I am weak?” I did not know how to answer that. Can you help?
The student is confusing forgiveness with giving in to others’ demands. This is not forgiveness. To forgive is to know that what the other person did is wrong and yet mercy is offered nonetheless. When one forgives, one also asks for justice and so this idea of weakness or giving in is not correct. There are two basic ways of distorting forgiveness: to let the other have power over you or to seek power over the other because of his or her transgressions. True forgiveness avoids these extremes.
My sister, who lives in another state, refuses to talk with me. I have no idea what I did and so I have no clue how to handle this. Should I apologize in the hope that this will soften her heart so that she will at least talk with me?
It is obvious that you see no unjust behavior on your part. When we seek forgiveness from others, it is in the context of knowing that we have been unjust. Thus, it follows that you should not ask for forgiveness for something that you did not do. With that said, it is reasonable to acknowledge your sister’s hurt feelings. A way to acknowledge this is to say something like this to your sister: “I am sorry if some of my behavior has caused you pain. Can we talk about it?” Notice that you are not acknowledging wrong-doing (because there was none as far as you know). Instead, you are acknowledging your sister’s hurt feelings, a situation you would like to address.
I have been fascinated with your blog posts on “Barriers to Forgiveness.” Can you choose the biggest barrier? Do you think there is one major barrier we need to see and fight against?
The biggest barrier to forgiveness, I think, is pride. Pride clouds our vision so we do not see clearly. Pride inhibits our behavior so that we do not act correctly. Pride obscures our feelings so that we feel a sense of entitlement rather than humility, a call for retribution or even revenge rather than love. Pride does not allow us to move forward in the forgiveness process.
I was the victim of abuse in a relationship I never should have entered into. No one does anything to warrant abuse. Yet, I do wonder about self-forgiveness in this context. Maybe I should have seen the signs before entering so deeply into this disaster of a relationship. Even though I am not guilty of any abuse back to the other, do you think I should try to forgive myself for my stupidity of poor judgment?
Whether or not to self-forgive in the context you describe may depend on the answer to this question: Do you feel guilty in any way? If the answer is “yes,” then the next question is whether or not this is genuine guilt or a false form of it. Sometimes, we falsely accuse ourselves and upon further examination, we realize that we did nothing wrong. If there is a sense of genuine guilt, then there likely is a sense of wrong-doing. What is the wrong-doing? Try to be specific. You say that you should have seen the signs of a poor relationship coming. Yet, you did nothing intentionally wrong here. As you call it, stupidity is not a deliberate intention to do wrong. And sometimes we just do not see tragic flaws in others until we know them in the greater depth of a marriage, for example. So, are you experiencing genuine guilt? If so, forgive yourself. If you did nothing objectively wrong with a bad intention, I would recommend that you try to be gentle with yourself, to be merciful toward yourself, but not necessarily in a context of self-forgiveness in which you see, acknowledge, and correct a moral wrong within yourself.
