It’s a dodge.
Forgiveness is the way you write your moral code after the fact, to match your behaviour.
If everyone is forgiven, then no-one is guilty, and no behaviour is proscribed. Warrior societies are very into forgiveness. They beat their children spare – or stand back and let the bigger kids beat the smaller ones – and they can pretty much expect to be thanked for it.
This is a way in which the “nice” people are doing their bit for the never-ending war effort: forgiveness. In other contexts, we call that being an accessory after the fact.
“What’s good is bad, and what’s bad is good. You’ll find out, when you reach the top – you’re on the bottom . . . ”
Bob Dylan, Idiot Wind
Jeff,
June 25th., 2017
Abuse with an Excuse 