I think, maybe, possibly, perhaps...

If you hark back to the origins of this blog, you might discover one of the reasons for it was to keep people updated on the wonders of my project - thoughts and feelings on forgiveness, and so on. As we draw the project to a close, I feel it would only be fair to share my conclusions with you.

Forgiveness, then, is a good thing. Not only for your health, mental and physical, and for your relationships, but negates the need for retribution, and the potential cycle of violence. It allows you to move on with your life, and allows the offender to move on, as well.

What then, do we do with the Nazi officer who asks for forgiveness after being truly penitent for his sins? My conclusion is not to forgive him. I cannot forgive, and thus will not offer forgiveness to this man.

However, I shall assure him of his forgiveness. How can I say that, after denying him my forgiveness? The problem is that I cannot forgive something that is not done to me. Thus, I cannot forgive him. However, in the wrongs he committed, he offended God. And God has already forgiven him, in what Jesus did on the cross. His repentance is his acceptance that he is wrong, and needs that forgiveness. If you like, his repentance is his receiving the gift of forgiveness, proffered to him by God.

Thus, he is forgiven. Just not by me. And thus concludes a year long search in answer to that haunting question: 'What would you have done?' And yet, it's not the end. Oh, not by a long shot.

Just read this from Rob Bell, a man on whom I am quite undecided:

'I also happen to live in 2009, in a Western hyper-churched, over-churched culture, where the flag and the cross have held hands in such a way that you have a waning Christendom at the heart of the empire.'

Over-churched? The West? I assume, Mr. Bell, you are talking of America, because I'm not sure that's the case anywhere else in 'the West'. Although, it does bring up an interesting point about church and state - I'm not entirely sure they're compatible. Not in today's culture anyway. The state demands too much for the church to comply with, and yet we seem to hold onto those vestiges of power we have left, and like a middle aged man wearing leg warmers, we are desperately hoping that we might come back into fashion one day,

Marriage

Had a wonderful little discussion in Jules' class earlier on singleness and marriage. He comes from India, where marriage is assumed and arranged, although not always. It's got me to thinking - does marriage have to be borne out of love? Does it work better if it's romantic or not? Is a marriage of convenience - here I talk of marriage where perhaps people's needs are met in a way they could not be when single - any less legitimate than one that gives people butterflies? I don't rightly know. Discuss.

Torture

So, torture works, apparently. So does death. What's your point?

Earthquakes

Awoke this morning to read of this tragedy in Afghanistan. Thankfully, the earthquake seemed to be a in remote area, and the damages/deaths are limited. My problem, however, is the coverage given to it. OK, it's a 'moderate' earthquake - according to the BBC - at a Richter scale of 5.5. Compare this with the Italian earthquake of last week, of which estimates vary between 5.8 and 6.8, which is described as 'powerful,' and causing 'devastation.' And yet, the similarity is size of the tremors is ignored, while the human element is amplified. Perhaps we should have two scales for earthquakes - one for the scientific size of the seismic activity, and another for the perceived devastation of the area. And perhaps even a third: how awful it is, in reference to how close the aftermath is to the West's heart.

I can see the obvious differences in effect. The earthquake in L'Aquila had much more dramatic and terrible consequences, or so it would seem. But the reporting of the Italian earthquake was immediate, dramatic, and sensational, gaining the top story on the BBC for at least 24 hours, if not longer, with touching scrolling pictures, personal stories, and 'the science bit'. This earthquake in Afghanistan has received second billing, next to an Obama statement. Admittedly, because the earthquake is so remote, it's difficult to get to, and thus, the same tone cannot be taken immediately.

But surely, if you're going to have drama about one, you should at least attempt drama about the other? The report on the Afghan earthquake reads quite jovially, almost as if nothing had happened. If the same disaster had struck in Switzerland, or America, for instance, even if it was remote, the reporting of it would be much more keen.

I sincerely hope the people in Afghanistan recover from this. Most of the villages affected would have been levelled. As I hope that the people in central Italy are swiftly rehoused and recover. All I want is a little parity in reporting. Please?

I was going...

To write things about the new term. The impending graduation. My project. My friends. Laughable and sad things in the news. Charlie Brooker's Newswipe, of which the most recent contained an excellent short film about how the news is presented, and the rise of 'ohdearism'. Other theological thoughts, seeing as I hadn't done it in a while.

And yet, I'm not going to, because I've lost the belief that I'm interesting. Which is sad, but probably good in the long run. I have this scary feeling that the internet is turning me into an automaton convinced that my view is important, and my sense of worth is directly correlated to comments/replies/any self-involved affirmation I can get.

Sorry.

Continuing the theme of communists

Communist propaganda makes me laugh, and winds me up all at the same time. The last paragraph is somewhat sadmaking, as well.

Hmm, communism and forgiveness...

If you haven't seen this already, look what I found on one of the books I was using for my project on forgiveness, second review up from the bottom.

Clicky.

Praise

Came across this poem by Harry Smart in one of the books on forgiveness currently spread about me in attempt at work:

Praise be to God who pities wankers
and has mercy on miserable bastards.
Praise be to God who pours his blessing
on reactionary warheads and racists.

For he knows what he is doing; the healthy
have no need of a doctor, the sinless
have no need of forgiveness. But, you say,
They do not deserve it. That is the point;

That is the point. When you try to wade
across the estuary at low tide, but misjudge
the distance, the currents, the soft ground
and are caught by the flood in deep schtuck,.

then perhaps you will realise that God
is to be praised for delivering dickheads
from troubles they have made for themselves.
Praise be to God, who forgives sinners.

Let him who is without sin throw the first
headline. Let him who is without sin
build the gallows, prepare the noose,
say farewell to the convict with a kiss.

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I like. There but for the grace of God, and all that.

It wasn't this big previously. I didn't think it was, anyway. How annoying. Serve me right for messing.

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Sorted. Not as think as you stupid I am.

I arrived home last night from a wonderful weekend up in March. The lights on some of the corridors were left on. I went to turn them off. The irony of it all: the male toilet lights were left on. I laughed, and I now stand humbled.

Chocolate

Further the discovery of the brutal behaviour that Penguins bring about in English people, Dan has pointed out that it is in fact impossible to describe a Twirl without referencing a Flake. Our entire frame of references relies on the person you are describing it to having experienced one or the other. What a conundrum. It's a self-defeating paradox. We're stuck in a never-ending spiral of ambiguity and ignorance, doomed to live out our days in such a terrible vacuum of knowledge.

I bet Cadbury's never thought of that when they created them...

Amazing April Fools.

I gave my NI number, bank account details, and signature to my new employers. Have I just been suckered by a well-worked con, or have I been watching too much Hustle?

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Got sent a letter by my doctor's the other day regarding my need to take a chlamydia test. Now, initially, having read the first paragraph, I laughed it off, having no need to take a test. I read to the end of the letter, half-distracted by the pointlessness of the letter being sent to me. And then I saw it: a 'reward' of a £10 HMV voucher for a chlamydia test. Let's re-iterate that: £10 of free stuff at HMV for a jar of my urine. My waste fluids. £10. Awesome.

[The rest of this post is deleted due to my inability to be funny without being judgmental. Apologies.]

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If you have a chance/good enough internet connection, check out Charlie Brooker's Newswipe. It's an amusing, but very serious indictment on the news. Some of it's rude, but you don't expect much more from Brooker. Enjoy.