S1E15 When Forgiveness Gets Weaponized
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Forgiveness is a mark of the community of the followers of Jesus, according to the Apostle's Creed. It is also often said in New Age self-help circles that you should forgive because it is good for you. Of course we recognize the importance and power of forgiveness. Stacie describes it as cutting a cord attaching you to a negative person that was keeping pain alive. Nonetheless, we also discuss some of the ways in which forgiveness gets misused and keeps people quiet about injustice.
We discuss the problem of the just world fallacy (Jeff is sorry for using "just world theory” in the early portion of the episode, which some talk about but was accidental, as he’s been prepping for an ethics class and “just war theory”). We discuss ways in which moving away from the idea that everything that happens was directly destined is important when we deal with traumatic events, even though it is at first upsetting to let go of a hyper-providential view of the world (something Martin Luther arguably tried to do in the Heidelberg Disputation). The assumption that the world is always just is rejected by Matthew 5:46, the book of Job, and also—as we discuss—an initially troubling chapter from the Tao Te Ching, chapter 5.
The cosmos is impartial.
The sun shines and rain falls
on heroes and villains alike.
The sage is impartial,
treating saints and sinners
without prejudice.
The atmosphere is like a bellows.
Wind blows
through seeming emptiness.
It stokes fires,
but never runs out of breath.
Yet when blowhards talk,
everyone gets exhausted.
It’s best to stay centered.
[Lao Tzu 5, trans. Jeff & Stacie Mallinson]
We discuss our frustration with the Babylon Bee, a Christian subculture knock off of the Onion that Jeff maybe was (maybe indiscreetly!) tweeting about this week. The thing that got Jeff worked up was a piece where they joked that they were calling, via editorial, for the removal or resignation of all Washington politicians. Now, we get that they are attempting satire (we argue badly) but we see their whole operation as largely helping people who are complacent chuckle at their complacency and tolerance for injustice. And friends, that ain’t funny. We can’t say this clearly enough: we know that it’s an attempt at humor, but when humor punches down on the marginalized or reinforces and normalizes wickedness we must “protect our noggins” and at least know what’s at play. For Jeff’s AAR paper on Luther and theological humor, check this out. In all this, we lament the passing of a far superior Christian satire operation, the Wittenburg Door.
Is all this a tangent? Not exactly. It involves one of the mind tricks that religious folks have been trying to play in the wake of Christianity Today editor Mark Galli’s call for Trump to be removed. Maybe Carl Trueman is right that there are times when it it is morally appropriate to compromise when voting in some big ways. That’s up to you, dear friend, to work through on your own before you vote. What we care about here, though, is avoiding bad arguments for even what you think is true. Thus, even if one were to agree with Trueman that there are responsible reasons to support even a vicious dude like POTUS, telling people that evil isn’t evil or that all evils are of equal consequence, or that there is nothing that a person in leadership can do to deserve being removed: then we’re all in danger. In other words, if we cynically say that there’s nothing our guy can do to disqualify himself as president or pastor, then all bets are off when it comes to restraining corruption, abuse of power and general cruelty.
For this reason, we applaud former Christian Post editor Napp Nazworth, who quit his publication and put himself out of a job for Christmas when the periodical decided to side with evangelical Trumpism. In all that fracas, folks on the religious right appealed to the need for forgiveness and grace for tax collectors and sinners as an excuse to turn a blind eye to serious misdeeds in the highest office of the land. It occurs to us that maybe many evangelicals have no problem with such things at the top of government because they’ve been trained all their lives in religious communities to never criticize the top dog. If pastors all over the nation have been getting away with gross impropriety at least until the #churchtoo movement, it’s no wonder that folks like Jim Dobson would sign something that supports a not-so-family-values president. After all, he keeps folks like Dobson on pedestals in their little (but influential) fiefdoms.
In any case, we believe there is forgiveness and unconditional love on tap even for religious leaders who’ve bowed the knee to Baal. Donatism isn’t the way to go friends. We’ll let you back in the door when you come to your senses. We also believe that immoral politicians and their servile supporters can be forgiven of their shameful compromise. We invite all to repentance. But it is a fundamental misapplication of forgiveness—something theologically catastrophic—to think that forgiving someone means letting them continue in situations that allow them to continue their wickedness. We’ll forgive any of you even as I join others in fomenting spiritual revolution. But we’re still coming to dismantle your evil machine in one nonviolent way or another.
“… Precisely because it is so difficult, genuine forgiveness, whether asked for or given, is something to be valued–but notalways to be sought or given. Forgiveness is often inappropriate. Forgiveness is frequently unnecessary for the work of life to go on.”
Another theological mistake we discuss on this show is the Stoic idea that all sins are equal. This is a misunderstanding based on the legitimately Christian idea that we shouldn’t judge since we are all affected by sin, and the idea that just because we’ve not actually done something illegal, if our inner lives are hateful, we are in a sense, murderers or adulterers (Matt. 5). But no: sins have different effects. Some are peccadilloes, some might rightly be called mortal or deadly though that is another conversation for another time.
Moreover, some sins disqualify a person from positions of leadership. For example, gambling addicts shouldn’t be treasurers, sex addicts make bad therapists, and people who can’t keep a secret shouldn’t be lawyers. They are all recipients of unconditional love, but not license for unchecked behavior. Keep in mind, we don’t discuss any of this in terms of whether certain sins keep a person out of heaven and send them to hell. We are talking about propriety in a just and livable society.
When we get to the topic of the possible problems of forgiveness, we briefly discuss the work of C. Fred Alford, and his Trauma and Forgiveness: Consequences and Communities. We also mention the work of Miroslav Volf, and Robert Capon’s Genesis the Movie and his commentaries on the parables of Jesus. We point folks to the heavy duty but powerful work of Marilyn McCord Adams.
Ultimately, forgiveness is best discussed in the context of forgiving debts, moral and literal and not delighting in holding offenses over people’s heads. It’s not about putting up with abusiveness or treating severe trauma like it wasn’t a big deal. And we hate to say it, but it isn’t about comforting those who work injustice when they need to hear a prophetic rebuke. And it is most definitely not best applied to the physiological and societal issues surrounding severe trauma.
We reflect on the delicate and moving case of the Emanuel AME church shot up in Charleston, South Carolina video. We find the testimony of the survivors powerful, but don’t believe that’s an excuse for the rest of society to go on with their lives without confronting the problems of racist rhetoric and structures in society.
Here’s a summary of our points about resisting the weaponization of forgiveness:
1. Forgiveness shouldn’t be used to keep victims of abuse in line.
2. Forgiveness can be a tempting way to bypass the hard work of facing structural problems that led to a trauma in the first place.
3. People sometimes mistakenly think that forgiveness takes on a magical quality, in which it becomes a performative act with the hocus pocus of “I forgive you.”
4. All sins are not equal.
Big takeaway: forgiveness is yours if you think you can’t repent and turn your life into something beautiful, living in the restoration and reconciliation that is everlasting and inexhaustible, and forgiveness can be good for your soul and body, but steer clear of religious wolves that you might choose to forgive from a safe distance, and don’t let them tear up the sheep.