In other words those who carry this bitterness with them too long will only have the bitterness ruin their own lives.
I am now convinced that those admonitions, continually repeated by generations of armchair philosophers, are nothing more than a social conditioning mechanism contrived to convince us to "Move On". I think the objective is to allow those who are made uncomfortable by evil to escape confronting it.
Where is the evidence that harboring ill-will toward evil people is somehow damaging? We are constantly admonished - without justification, and without a background of support - that "hate" is "self-destructive". My observation is that "Hate" bothers liberals and whiners and other microbes *a lot*, and they've hashed up this pious intonation of "hate destroys the hater" (which like all their other mantras is repeated, sheep-like, without rational derivation) in order to try to avoid confronting evil.
I agree with every word you say here. Hatred in some cases is not only justifiable, but praiseworthy.
I would also say that it is the height of presumptuousness for someone to "forgive" a wrongdoer, and demand tender-hearted "forgiveness" from everybody else, when the "forgiver" is not the one who suffered the wrong.
True forgiveness can only come from an individual victim, and even then it is only meaningful in the realm of spirituality and psychology. Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's (Nazi criminals swinging at the end of a rope) and render unto God that which is God's (forgiveness of those who trespass against you).
Moreover, if there is no repentance on the part of the wrongdoer, there is no obligation for forgiveness under the laws of God or Man. This man hid from his pursuers. He is unrepentant. I hate him, and wish for the state to execute him no matter his age or state of health.
If someone killed a loved one of mine, and begged me for forgiveness on the night of his execution, I would try my best to find it within myself to give that forgiveness to him before the eyes of God. But I would agree and expect that Caesar (the state) perfom its duty the next morning, and put him to death. I would not try to stop the execution, nor would I forgive him if he did not repent, nor would I demand that other victims of other crimes "forgive" or "forget" or "move on." If I were the Governor of the state, I would grant a stay of execution only upon petition of the victim's family, and only upon evidence of sincere repentance.
The "forgiveness" mongers and move-on crowd are like a liberal busybody who pats himself on the back for his enlightened social consciousness when he calls for higher taxes from everbody else. Spare me the moral superiority...
Charity is easy when it's someone else's money. Forgiveness is easy when it's someone else's suffering.
-ccm
>>>>I am now convinced that those admonitions, continually repeated by generations of armchair philosophers, are nothing more than a social conditioning mechanism contrived to convince us to "Move On". I think the objective is to allow those who are made uncomfortable by evil to escape confronting it.
Very well said!
And it isn't just armchair philosophers. Some have been in positions to mold the terrorists of today. Take Karl Popper as a perfect example.