Faith Matters Foundation's video: What might forgiveness really mean How could forgiveness become a tool for peace and justice

"If you think about a command to forgive or we're obligated to forgive, if we're told by our religion to forgive and someone harms us, the moral responsibility, if we are the ones commanded to forgive, somehow the moral responsibility for rectifying the harm has shifted from the wrongdoer to us, us victims. Right? And therapists and activists are saying like that, that's a psychological and political burden upon victims that they should not have to bear. Right? And the other thing that bears out from it is, you know, people who, victims who do feel they have this moral burden, if they can't bring themselves to do what they think "forgiveness" is, then they feel shame, then they feel hurt and they feel like they're religious failures or moral failures, right? I value these critiques. I think these critiques are worthwhile and I worry about the same things these critics are worrying over. I think there's more possibility in the concept of forgiveness as it's given to us in the gospels and as it's thought through in the Christian tradition." Hear more from Matthew Potts next month on the Faith Matters podcast!