Forgiveness

We at the Blasphemy Blog got a lot of ministry in church this past Sunday about forgiveness. We were reminded about how Jesus asked his followers not to forgive each other seven times, but to forgive each other seven times seven times. This struck us as odd, hearing all this about forgiveness.

But, once we got to thinking about it, we realized: the only thing odd about being told in church to forgive is how rarely it happens.

Seeing as how it is one of the central tenets of Christianity, you'd think you'd hear more about forgiveness. It's not just having to count out those forty-nine forgivenesses; the New Testament is all about turning the other cheek, killing the fatted calf for the prodigal son when he returns, and going to see those who are in prison instead of condemning them.

Moreover, Jesus again and again casts his lot with those who need to be forgiven: the humble tax collector, not the righteous Pharisee; the adulteress, not those who seek to stone her.

Why don’t today’s most public Christians speak more about forgiveness? In the wake of terrible crimes, why don’t the world’s most prominent Christians call out for all of their fellows to forgive the perpetrators?

The crimes are worse, perhaps, than those Jesus imagined, but is it really possible that Jesus intended us to stop forgiving people just because they did great, great evil?

We’re not saying that we have to forgive Osama bin Laden in our hearts; we’re just saying, shouldn’t we be saying that it’s our duty to try to forgive him, even if we can’t quite because his actions were so terrible?

We don’t think this means that we have to stop trying to bring bin Laden to justice; there’s no reason we can’t forgive someone and also hold them accountable. (Whether we can forgive someone and then execute them is less certain, but we’ll throw that switch when we come to it.)

So why didn’t the President, before saying that we would get Osama bin Laden dead or alive, say first that he forgave him? Well, he didn’t say it because it would have made him seem weak and ridiculous.

But why would forgiveness make the President look weak? The President is definitely a Christian; is it not a Christian’s duty to forgive, even if it is detestable to us to do so? How could it be that doing one’s Christian duty would make one look weak?

What we’re getting at is that, frankly, the rules of war and terrorism, as laid out by the actors on both sides, are not Christian. You can argue about whether or not our actions in the War on Terror are justified, but you can’t argue about whether those actions are Christian.

We have answered that question already, through our silence on the matter of forgiveness.