Anger | Bitterness | Confession | Forgiveness | Hate | Violence

TO FORGIVE OR NOT TO FORGIVE
“Forgiveness to the injured doth belong.” These are the words of the poet, John Dryden. Simon Wiesenthal, a prisoner and survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, tells the story of a Nazi who made him listen while he confessed the atrocities he had committed. The SS trooper, tormented by guilt, begged Wiesenthal, as a Jew, to forgive him. Wiesenthal turned and walked away. Later, he wrote, “Forgetting is something that time alone takes care of, but forgiveness is an act of volition, and only the sufferer is qualified to make decision.” Wiesenthal wondered, had he done the right thing in refusing to forgive the SS troops. Reflection: What do you think? Are there some crimes that simply cannot be forgiven?