“Death creates an economy that makes life precious. One of the ways of naming that preciousness is friendship.”
Stanley Hauerwas

The pain and necessity of forgiveness

 Simon Smart

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 Jesus and forgiveness

Forgiveness is not an exclusively a Christian idea, but it finds its sharpest articulation in the person of Jesus. His radical call to ‘love your enemies’; his famous words from the cross, ‘forgive them Father for they don’t know what they are doing’; the prayer he taught, ‘forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us’, all point to a key part of his teaching and his life.

That he spoke into an atmosphere of an oppressed people for whom revenge was such an appealing thought makes him all the more remarkable. He turned the hope of revenge on its head; calling followers to not only forgo revenge, but to forgive without limits. (Matthew 18:21 – 22; Luke 17:3-4). Those who follow the Christian faith have a firm basis and motivation to aim for the high ideal embodied in its founder.
  Forgiveness ... finds its sharpest articulation in the person of Jesus
  
 

Forgiveness in practice

As with all that Jesus’ said, his teaching on forgiveness has powerful practical application, the wisdom of which is recognised not only by convinced followers. Trudy Govier, in her study on revenge and forgiveness argues that a campaign for revenge entails necessary self-damage, because it brings the victim to the same level as the offender. To act out revenge is wrong ‘because we have to indulge and cultivate something evil in ourselves,’ she says.6  Forgiveness on the other hand, something Govier believes is equally significant for believers and non-believers, allows for release from resentment and guilt and the opportunity for repaired relationships. Interestingly she thinks this can apply to groups as well as individuals.

There have been some unlikely and conspicuous examples of forgiveness, but none more so than that of post apartheid South Africa. When the edifice of segregation and white power began to crumble, many anticipated a bloodbath as Black African leaders assumed control of the country. The stage was set for the type of violence we have became used to hearing about in places like the Middle East, Sudan, Bosnia and Northern Ireland.

Mandela, emerging from 27 years of imprisonment, could have been excused for wanting payback. But he took the lead in urging cooperation and peace with his people’s white oppressors. The new President’s frequent gestures of forgiveness, such as offering his white gaoler a position of honour at his inauguration came to mark a challenge to his people to follow in the same spirit. Mandela saw forgiveness as the only way forward.  
  Mandela, emerging from 27 years of imprisonment, could have been forgiven for wanting payback
  
 

  “I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken away from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.”7
 

Truth and Reconciliation

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) set up in the new South Africa might be the best example of how forgiveness can work at both a personal and political level. Seeking a way through the mire of violence, atrocity and injustice that marred the country’s past, the Commission aimed for a way forward to peaceful reconciliation. Determined to avoid the mistake of sweeping past crimes under the carpet, but not favouring the Nuremburg model, the TRC offered amnesty to those who would own up to crimes and violations of human rights. Full public disclosure was required to gain amnesty, and crucially, the victims (or their families) were given a voice.

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6. Govier, ibid., p 12 - 13.
7. ibid. p 70.