Forgiveness is for the penitent. Forgiveness is also for transgressions. Opposition to "cancel culture" is in some part due to not seeing the underlying issues

Forgiveness is for the penitent. Forgiveness is also for transgressions. Opposition to "cancel culture" is in some part due to not seeing the underlying issues as moral faults. It wasn't a moral transgression for Prof. Christakis to suggest that social change come via social interaction rather than authorities. It wasn't a moral transgression for Bret Weinstein to say "On a college campus, one's right to speak — or to be — must never be based on skin color." It wasn't a moral transgression for Emmanuel Cafferty to crack his knuckles or for Greg Patton to give an example of filler word usage in Mandarin. All of these are a far cry from falsifying an allegation of abuse. Lastly, reciprocity forms the linchpin of human moral systems. Bruce Schneier, Liars and Outliers (2012); Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens (2015); Robert Sapolsky, Behave (2017). That includes not only reciprocal altruism, but penal reciprocity. "If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death." Hammurabi, Code of Laws (King translation.). Johnny Depp lost significant work and was a pariah due to these false accusations. I don't think it's excessive to view that as unjust, and to want the perpetrator of that injustice to experience the same. That isn't cancel culture, that's just wishing for bad people to get a taste of their own medicine.