Squirrels May's Question

[jason]

I kind of miss the morality questions posted before. Haven't really thought up any, but saw this question posted today and thought it could stir up some debate.

Is there a difference between forgiving and "letting go" or are the both the same thing?

 

[Duncan1574]

Forgiveness:
Noun
The action or process of forgiving or being forgiven.

Synonyms
pardon - remission - condonation - absolution - mercy

Letting go:
Releasing
*
My point of view is that 'letting go' and 'forgiveness' are similar actions, but the motives are different.

Forgiveness is the willful act of a person to free another person from an obligation. That willful act comes from the desire to better themselves or free themselves from that obligation. Matthew 23 speaks of forgiveness being more important than sacrifice.
'I forgive Russ for what he did'.

Letting go is to release one's self from that obligation without the releasing the other person.
'Let it go Duncan, Russ will not change'

 

[jaya]

I think of them as 2 separate actions. You can forgive someone for something but that does not mean that you must forget what they did. What of those that forgave a murder or rapist? Should they forget that tragic event happened? I doubt that they could. The offender still must face the consequences of their actions and take responsibility for them. Today we make up to many excuses for terrible actions. We blame it on someone's childhood or training. People are ultimately responsible for their own actions. I might really want to punch someone that angers me but have the choice not to.

 

[Windrider]

Let's take a small example. While conferring the Third Degree on the last candidate of five the other evening, I left the room to transform myself from the SD to the First Craftsman. The Tyler, a good man and brother, forgot that I had fallen and broken a part of my neck as well as herniated several disks. He grabbed me by the arms and shook. As I screamed in pain and fell to the floor, he realized his error.

I immediately forgave him but I don't think either of us will forget the incident.