Do you really want to live in an “unforgiving” America?

In the Jewish part of Christian Bibles, the Old Testament (Jesus’s Bible), we read stories about people who are all flawed human beings – even the great heroes! At the top of the most famous list of heroes in the Bible is King David. God even said that David is a man after His own heart.

That’s the same guy that saw another man’s wife bathing, invited her to come see him and then committed adultery with her. As you might have guessed, she became pregnant and that caused a real problem -- her husband was one of David’s soldiers who hadn’t been around in a long time -- meaning he had been there so he could be the baby’s father. What does David do, after trying a number of other tricks to get him to sleep with his wife – which he refuses to do -- David ultimately has him sent into a battle in which his chance of survival is zero. He dies and David marries his widow.  

Humans do good things and they do bad things is the first lesson in the Bible. Yes, the Bible says humans are created in the image of God, but it also says – and most Bible readers aren’t aware it – humans also have an “earthly nature” they share with humans. It is what people call “human nature” today. It includes appetites, desire and longings for things like breathing, eating, having sex, not wanting to die, etc. – and also our power seeking egos!

The first story in the Bible also stresses impulse-control and self-discipline. It also tells us human power structures must be based on the way shepherds exercise power over their flocks. They care for, guide and protect all members of the flock from predatory animals. Humans, however, are different from animals that are born to prey or predator. Humans are creatures that alternate between doing good things like God, doing nothing and become the prey, and being predators that harm other humans.

That is why the Bible also spends a lot of time talking sins and what people are supposed to do after they sin. At first they are told to sacrifice animals, but that didn’t work very well. Later the Bible teaches people about repentance and forgiveness. That works a lot better and it is based on the belief that “all people are created in the image of God, which means all people have the capacity to change.”

The Hebrew word translated “repentance” actually means “turn around.” When people do bad things they are viewed as having strayed from the right path of living. The goal for them individually and the community is to help them get back on the right path. The first step in turning around is repairing the damages they have done to others – to the best of their ability. When they do this, they are to be forgiven. Of course, a person that has been harmed also has the option of granting forgiveness without the offender doing anything else other than “sincerely regretting what he or she did.”

Forgiven does not mean that the bad thing they experiences is instantly forgotten and neither does it mean the offender is instantly viewed as trustworthy. Trust is something that is earned through personal experiences.

The stories in the Bible are about “the perfecting of humans” and that is a process that is like a “lifelong team sport” – it requires community participation to be there for each other when they do good and bad things!

It seems that recently America has suddenly turned down a path in which “forgiveness” is no longer a consideration in discussions about human actions. Following a path that leads to an increasingly “unforgiving America” is a path that will require increasing the use of physical force to govern the nation. As governing by physical force increases, the freedom and liberty of citizens decreases.

For those of us with biblical heritages, including the growing number that no longer participates in institutional religions, many have experienced the power of forgiveness. We know how it can transform and change lives – and repair damaged relationships. What we need today is a “forgiving America” with citizens that will be there for each other even when some need help to turn around and get back on track. You don’t have to believe in God, but you do need to believe the capacity of humans to change from what they are to something else. If you happened to bump into yourself ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty or seventy years ago – what would each of you think about the other in an “unforgiving America” and a “forgiving America”?  

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