![]() When we let go of wrongs, both perceived and real, we acknowledge the reality of Divine justice. Īs figures like Hannah Arendt, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Desmond Tutu have attested, forgiveness of the gravest of evils can end the otherwise perpetual cycle of grievance and revenge. Cultivating habits of forgiveness will not only reorient our priorities to the core truths of the Gospel, but it will also awaken and re-awaken us to the common good. This is not the way of life and birth in Christianity that brought about the best of the modern world. This is not the Christian way of doing life together. Instead, too many of us have absorbed the very worst habits of cancel culture - withholding forgiveness ourselves, refusing to extend any dignity or respect to someone who is a political or ideological opponent, and writing others off completely for infractions of any kind. But as Christians who have been forgiven much, we should be among the first and especially the quickest to forgive. It’s as if there is a race to hold the most grudges and grievances, to be the people most wronged, and therefore the people with the greatest moral authority. “It’s no wonder,” writes Keller, “that this culture quickly becomes littered with enormous numbers of broken and now irreparable relationships.” And the oppressor is left without even the possibility of forgiveness or restoration. Being oppressed or mistreated brings moral absolution. But today our moral status and our identity hang on our credentials as victims. It’s especially true with anything that is or can be related to politics.Ībsolution for moral guilt was once secured in church. From elections to Facebook posts to hygiene practices - almost everything takes on the emotional temperature of a religion. As a result, our culture values fragility over strength, and embellishes a constant good-versus-evil conflict, even over the smallest of issues. Increasingly it is victimhood status, not God’s mercy or Christ’s imputation, that is seen as the source of our righteousness. ![]() Keller writes, “…he emphasis on guilt and justice is ever more on the rise and the concept of forgiveness seems, especially to the younger generations, increasingly problematic.” In these observations, Keller joins authors like Gregory Jones, Bradley Campbell, and Jason Manning to conclude that what we’re witnessing is nothing less than the birth of a new honor-shame society. In fact forgiveness is not only overrated, the argument goes, but it perpetuates further evils such as sexism, abuse, and oppression. One commenter distilled her message well: Forgiveness is overrated. Keller cites an opinion piece in the New York Times, in which Danielle Berrin argues against forgiving perpetrators of sexual assault. Women’s rights advocates have also soured on forgiveness. Activists now argue that not only has there been a history of white racism, but that all white people are racist that even whiteness itself is akin to a plague. Think of how this advice contrasts with the behavior of the members of Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina a few years ago. Opinion pieces are released in major news outlets that increasingly urge black Americans to stop forgiving white Americans altogether. This stands in stark contrast to the tone of the modern movement for racial justice that frequently erupts into destructive violence and open antipathy toward fellow Americans. emphasized forgiveness and reconciliation. For example, Keller points to the dramatic shift in tone on issues of race relations since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, when leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. ![]() Not only is there a race for victimhood status and an inability to find any common ground with people across ideological lines, and not only does this make school board meetings and Thanksgiving dinners more awkward (to say the least), but it has turned us into a society without forgiveness. In a recent essay at Comment magazine, Pastor Timothy Keller articulated this current feature of our hyper-politicized atmosphere. Increasingly, this doesn’t merely take the form of political ideology, it is quite simply a fading ability to forgive. ![]() Our dinner tables have become personal social media platforms. However, the cancel culture ethic doesn’t simply exist “out there” in the larger culture it has infiltrated our homes. The term cancel culture evokes images of screaming undergrads, deplatformed speakers, fired employees, and demanding protesters.
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