Forgiveness (after the Youthful Urinating on a UK Memorial, Per John Smither's Write)

If we only show kindness to those we respect and like, how are we folowers of Christ? The Bible asks,"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them." (Mark 6: 32)

It is easy to talk about forgiveness and Christianity, and Heaven. It is hard, almost impossible to forgive people who are from another race or religion. Test yourself. I have ... and failed every time. Until I prayed sincerely, and the Spirit of Christ helped me.

IN South Africa, 300 years of oppression, segregation and apartheid (apart-hate) were forgiven by Nelson Mandela, his people and followers. I was one of the followers. Then the forgiven began to play the same old game: divide and rule. They wanted to dominate the Foreign Ministry where I worked in the 1990s (as well as the other government branches) by pitting one hungry group against another. Some of the forgiven whites went to Iraq and made thousands of dollars a month, killing Iraqis in their new jobs as US mercenaries. Belatedly the South African government tightened the law against the US and foreigners being able to recruit soldiers of fortune from South Africa. These things question what forgiveness is all about. Especially for the lucky ones who escape prosecution and punishment (Only one person was successfully prosecuted in South Africa for apartheid atrocities, including chemical and biological warfare against the people of color there). BUt the media calls every third world leader a Hitler and tyrant, forgetting that Hitler was German and a Catholic.

Is forgiveness used by the Christian West to preach Christ when their backs are against the wall? Why did the West not treat Saddam Hussein as respectfully as they treated the "Butcher of Belgrade, Milosevic"? Or as kindly and tolerantly as they are treating the current Dr from Serbia at the Hague who refused to attend his own trial? Saddam Hussein was allowed to be tried and executed by his enemies, not sent to a neutral court outside the country. A parallel suituation would have been to hand Milosevic ovber to the Bosnian government for trial...which did not happen.

Then John Smither rold us about a young man who after becoming drunk urinated on a UK war memorial. There is anger aginst him and calls for punishment. Can we forgive those who desecrate things we revere, but yet we may not think ity is a big deal if Hindu and Muslim places are desecrated?

I am skeptical about forgivness because I seldom see westerners being asked to forgive black and brown leaders and nations, only the reverse. And in South Africa, we may yet end up like Zimbabwe. Why? Already crime and unemployment are worsening daily life and personal safety ... while rape and robberies are near global high levels. Meanwhile the liberal constitution worries about gay rights, women's rights to abortions etc much more than meeting the basic needs of housing, food and medicine in an aids-ravaged South Africa.

The subject of forgiveness is not always treated in the way Jesus Christ asked us to: forgive others, even your enemies (the Fort Hood terrorist?) because otherwise we are no better than sinners, who also love only those who love them, are like them, speak and pray like them. Are we Christians or are we Pharisees?

Shalom