How do we approach the topic?

We had a very lively discussion Sunday morning in class. Several of the members we surprised by the tone that several of the authors of the responses took in regards to forgiving Karl. It was suggested that unless you have survived a horror like Simon and some of the essay writers, then you could not have any way to understand the attitudes and thoughts shared. My question was if we can not “understand” how will we be able to prevent such things from happening again?

Jacques Derrida(1) suggests in “On Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness, that “ In order to approach now the very concept of forgiveness, logic and common sense agree for once with the paradox: it is necessary, it seems to me, to begin from the fact that , yes, there is the unforgivable. Is this not, in truth, the only thing to forgive? If one is only prepared to forgive what appears forgivable, what the church calls “venial sin’, then the very idea of forgiveness would disappear. If there is something to forgive, it would be what in religious language is called mortal sin, the worst, the unforgivable crime or harm. From which comes the aporia, which can be described in its dry and implacable formality, without mercy: forgiveness forgives only the unforgivable. One cannot, or should not, forgive; there is only forgiveness, if there is any, where there is the unforgivable.”(2)

I propose that in his own way, Derrida was also struggling with the aftermath of the crimes committed during WWI. The world had been turned upside-down and endured one of the worst chapters in modern history and philosophers and theologians alike were searching for a way to come to terms with the horrors of the times. It was world where little made sense and pain and brokenness were everywhere in Europe. We, in the United States did not suffer in the same way, little or no fighting took place in the continental US so that the vast majority of our population were shielded from the destruction, murder and horror inflicted during the way. Which leads me to question if I as an American born after WWI has the right to comment or judge the thoughts and feelings of those who survived? I may be putting to much thought into this, but I can not help but ponder the “why” the essayists took the position that they did in regards to the idea of forgiving Karl the dying SS officer in Wiesenthal’s book.

I suppose in relation to the larger topic of forgiveness understanding why people took the stand they did is not as important as the conversation that revolves around the concept of forgiveness.

(1) Britannica Concise Encyclopedia., Jacques Derrida, (born July 15, 1930, El Biar, Alg. — died Oct. 8, 2004, Paris, France) Algerian-born French philosopher. Derrida taught principally at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris (1964 – 84). His critique of Western philosophy encompasses literature, linguistics, and psychoanalysis. His thought is based on his disapproval of the search for an ultimate metaphysical certainty or source of meaning that has characterized most of Western philosophy. Instead, he offers deconstruction, which is in part a way of reading philosophic texts intended to make explicit the underlying metaphysical suppositions and assumptions through a close analysis of the language that attempts to convey them. His works on deconstructive theory and method include Speech and Phenomena (1967), Writing and Difference (1967), and Of Grammatology (1967). Among his other works are Psyche: Invention of the Other (1987) and Resistances of Psychoanalysis (1996). at Britannica.com

2 Derrida, Jacques, “On Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness” ,English translation printed 2001 London, Routledge,., pgs. 32, 33.

Begining the conversation

Our first week of discussion centering on the topic of forgiveness and the story presented in “The Sunflower” was very interesting. We found that we had barely scratched the surface of meaningful conversation. The class grappled with a definition of forgiveness and what the act would look like. Many questions were posed; Is it necessary to forgive? Do we have a right to forgive an individual for the deeds against others? How do we forgive acts of murder and other crimes against persons?

Some members of the class found reading the story that Wiesenthal shares about an experience he had while in a Nazi prison camp to be especially difficult to read. Several others struggled with the realization that for them the story was less personal, but more historical. As you might guess that was a topic that was rather unexpected in our discussion. We do have several different generations that participate in our Sunday school class and often we do have very different perceptions on topics. For the people who lived through World War II the reality was still present for them and for those of us who are of the post-war generation we have grown up with the stories and the visual images of what took place in the camps.

Yet for some of us the realization that the acts of violence against the Jews, still take place in many regions of the world today against many different people. Darfur, Bosnia, Congo, and yes the Middle East countries of Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Palestine and Israel all have wars, violence against women and children; genocide still happens, but we tend to find words that soften the reality of the atrocities. How can we forgive those who commit such brutal acts against other human beings? Do we have a right to forgive them if they ask for our forgiveness? We have many questions and very few answers.

These are just some of the topics we are discussing in our morning together. Yes, religion does play a role in this discussion, but it is not simply an act that is based in any one religion. We have a number of weeks of conversation a head of us. I know I have been challenged to search myself as I read the book. It is a large and important subject to tackle. I’ll let you know some of the thoughts that others have on the subject as we proceed.

Conversations on Forgiveness

The adult Sunday school class that I lead is beginning a study on forgiveness. While this is a very large topic, and one that I think most of us have some difficulty with at times, I believe it is an important thing to discuss. We have been looking at different materials and settled on the book, The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal., to uses as a basis for study and conversation.

I find that this subject is always one that elicits many reactions and thoughts. It is a concept that is driven by emotions as well as intellectual processes. It is a topic that all religions, philosophies and cultures seem to incorporate.

I hope to be able to share some of the conversations we have over the next few weeks in regards to the topic. It is a relevant topic in light of the political and social events these days.