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The human instinct in me agrees completely. Having said that, as someone who is both an atheist, and someone who has had family members killed by another perso
by Intermernet 10y ago
The human instinct in me agrees completely.
Having said that, as someone who is both an atheist, and someone who has had family members killed by another person, I have had both the time, and the rare circumstance to think about this a lot.
I've become aware of the fact that we need to forgive, despite whatever has wronged us. This is the only possible way to prevent the cycle of hate breeding hate.
I know it sounds like a defeatist point of view, but it's actually a multi-generational view. It's also a view of acceptance, and one that holds that no matter what has been done to you, you will hold true to the tenet of forgiveness.
Possibly the most important thing for humans of the modern age to realize is that life deals you a random hand. Any actions that perpetuate this unfairness to the next generation or beyond are wrong, despite how right they may feel.
This is probably the only path that conscious evolution can take that doesn't continue the current cycle of hatred breeding hatred.
Sorry to sound like a hippy, but it took me over a decade to arrive at this conclusion after a whole lot of nasty stuff happening. Hopefully you will never need to go through that process, and will take my viewpoint as a valid piece of anecdata.
TL;DR: despite what other people do to you, it's in the best interests of humanity if you show forgiveness, but do all you can that it never happens to another person.
- wruza 10y agoI've read a wikipedia article about gaming theories and robots that play games, and there was a fact: forgiving programs win. But overforgiving lose. Forgive randomly about 5-10%, that's enough to not enter 'hate cycle'. All others must be prosecuted. As a generally calm person I think it is enough to just freeze your hate and forget about it until [maybe never happening] moment, when you'll bring revenge while losing nothing. Forgiveness is for you to go through it, not to let them go.
- Intermernet 10y agoYes, this is where the other shoe drops. We somehow need to trust that the "rules" our society has agreed on for punishment of breaking societal norms are adequate to prevent people from breaking the rules more than once. We then enter into the realms of how to deal with perpetrators. Isolation vs. rehabilitation vs. eradication. I prefer rehabilitation over isolation, and both over eradication. This is one of the roles of government, and thus we enter a whole new world of discussion.
- xupybd 10y agoForgiveness also allows you to let go of the hurt. If you hold on to the anger it feels like you're still being wronged but if you can find a way to forgive ( easier said than done ) it ends the matter. People don't often deserve to be forgiven but the victim deserves to move on and through some weird irony of human psychology that often requires forgiving someone who has no right to be forgiven.