Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Should one always forgive?
Forgiveness, and the capacity of Man, to forgive, has constantly been one of life's many wonders. To be able, to brush aside wrongdoings done unto us, it wouldn't be exaggerating, to say that, this is what makes us human.
Somewhere within us, resides a yardstick, a gauge of sorts, that determines the severity of impact, caused by actions of people around us. This yardstick, may differ greatly, from person to person. From this gauge, we decide, whether it is trivial enough to let go of it, or whether it's so serious, that it's unpardonable. Example, stealing petty cash from a rich man, versus from a poor bloke. The poor bloke would probably be cursing his perpetrator, along with his next 18 generations of offspring, whereas the rich man, would probably not even notice that his cash was missing.
Looking at it from a religious aspect, most religions preach that Man should forgive and forget. Example, The Story of Joseph, in the Holy Bible. Joseph was sold off to become a slave boy, by his brothers, who were jealous that he was favoured by their father Jacob. Somehow, Joseph became an important figure in Egypt, where he was eventually sold off to, and readily provided for his brothers, when famine struck the lands. People also look up to their God, for forgiveness, should they have done anything deemed as a 'sin'.
Some people may argue that there are crimes committed, that classify under 'unforgivable', that some actions can never be condoned. However, I believe that people are born with a pure, untainted heart, therefore, this is not the case. For someone to have committed a crime, he or she must have been pushed to the brink of desperation. (my idealistic view of the world. pssh.)
In a nutshell, I find that there is no harm in forgiving someone, as long as the 'level' of forgiveness, does not eat into our moral standings. Besides, as the saying goes, 'To err is human, to forgive is divine.' As a friend would put it, "wah lau eh, even donovan and cheeky play E, Smack K, still got second chance la."
LOL. Shoddy work, shoddy work. Fine tune some other day.
Thy Sins be Cleansed.
1:54 PM
