Forgiveness
Hi folks,
Welcome Jean Marie, Tracy & Argyle, and everyone else!
I'm putting the finishing touches on another book that goes off to the publisher at the end of the month and I'm also reading Uncle Jim's "Circle of Magic" series at the moment (great stuff!), so I haven't been around much these past few weeks, but here's my thoughts on forgiveness...
It is up to the individual if he or she wishes to forgive. Nevertheless, it is in everyone's best interest to forgive. While we are all responsible for our own actions, PA created a set of circumstances where inappropriate actions were facilitated and even encouraged. Forgiveness allows everyone on this side of the PA divide to come back to come together and to n move forward against PA.
Look, I know how some of you feel. One of my best friends once threatened to kill me. A long time ago I was in a cult that used many of the same bullying and fear tactics as what you see on the PAMB. I decided to take them on when I left, unlike most adherents who disappear quietly. I received all sorts of angry emails, letters, etc...
One day I received an email from one of their apologists threatening to kill me. I kept the email, but never reported it to the police since the guy lived several thousand miles away in another country. But I knew this group was crazy enough in that part of the world that he probably meant it.
We did not correspond again until a year later, when I got an email from him with the subject heading "Apology". He apologized for his threats, saying he understood if I no longer wanted any communication with him. I told him the apology was accepted, and I would be open to resuming communication.
He then shared something I found interesting; he said he was a very peaceful person, and he was shocked by his own death threats against me. It was very out of character and it was wrong. His wife and family had also been shocked when he shared it. This caused him to re-evalutate he and his family's relationship with the cult in question, at which point they decided: "We need to get out of here." He had left six months previous, but had been too ashamed up until now to apologize. I didn't hold it against him, not because I'm some kind of saint -- I'm not -- but because I know I had bullied a lot of people when I was involved in this cult, and had said and done things out of character as well.
Today, this fellow is one of the biggest critics of the cult in question, and has helped a number of other people get out. He has since told me that I had I not accepted his apology, he would have just walked away.