The Utility of Forgiveness

Tradition largely confines forgiveness to interpersonal relations, and most Westerners understand it as an exclusively religious concept. However, we should not ignore or downplay the secular utilitarian value of forgiveness. To say that forgivenessis “useful” in politics is not to demean its ethical and theological significance. For recovery from the uselessness of most warfare, forgiveness may be a critically important political virtue, although the trek towards true reconciliation is often long. Enacted forgiveness with explanatory theology is much to be desired, but the one without the other can still be the genuine article. Forgiveness repairs our past andprotects our future, whether in the context of religion or politics

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