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I've become much better at forgiving and I feel it has helped heal my spirit. There are those that I don't feel deserve forgiveness like pedophiles, but I've found a loophole by just not considering them human. Not to insult by comparing them, but when a dog does something bad like kill or be degenerate, I don't blame the dog because it's an animal, and therefore doesnt need forgiveness, they need training or to be put down (in the case the dog mauled a child or killed another pet or human, only put dogs down for serious agregences.).

But I feel there's some people that hit closer to home, like close friends or family that you came to love and respect, that have done something horrible or wrong to us that could be forgiven, but we could not bring ourselves to do it because it was a serious offence. For example, if your family abandoned you because of the COVID Scam but are trying to re-associate with you acting like nothing happened.

How can you forgive something like that, or how do you handle the internal struggle something like that must cause?

(Note, I am not personally struggling with this particular problem, but I do think it's an important subject that a lot of people struggle with and it needs to be discussed) (Edit: grammar)

I've become much better at forgiving and I feel it has helped heal my spirit. There are those that I don't feel deserve forgiveness like pedophiles, but I've found a loophole by just not considering them human. Not to insult by comparing them, but when a dog does something bad like kill or be degenerate, I don't blame the dog because it's an animal, and therefore doesnt need forgiveness, they need training or to be put down (in the case the dog mauled a child or killed another pet or human, only put dogs down for serious agregences.). But I feel there's some people that hit closer to home, like close friends or family that you came to love and respect, that have done something horrible or wrong to us that could be forgiven, but we could not bring ourselves to do it because it was a serious offence. For example, if your family abandoned you because of the COVID Scam but are trying to re-associate with you acting like nothing happened. How can you forgive something like that, or how do you handle the internal struggle something like that must cause? (Note, I am not personally struggling with this particular problem, but I do think it's an important subject that a lot of people struggle with and it needs to be discussed) (Edit: grammar)

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[–] • 1 pt

Forgiveness requires repentance. If they dont repent, it's immoral to forgive them.

[–] [deleted] • 1 pt

Interesting perspective that they need to repent to deserve forgiveness. Is this intuition, or did you read this somewhere?

[–] • 2 pts

If you look at it from a Christian angle, 1 Corinthians 5 makes it abundantly clear that unrepentant sinners are to be expelled.

Hebrews 10:26 is even more direct in the point that continuing to sin when you know it's wrong (i.e. willful refusal to repent) is a divine death sentence. Forgiving someone under those circumstances is usurping God's authority...which is obviously wrong.

26 For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 A man who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy at the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God

Even if you look at it from an atheist perspective, forgiveness is by definition giving up a claim on someone. E.g. if I lend my buddy $5k, I have a claim on him to pay back that debt. I could choose to give up that claim on the money I voluntarily lent him, making it a de facto gift. Or I could insist he pay me baxk. There's nothing immoral about either choice as both are voluntary.

However, if he hit me over the head with a brick and stole $5k from my safe, that's immoral. Specifically assault and theft. I have a claim on MY MONEY, and giving up that claim would reward violent, evil behavior. Rewarding evil behavior makes you an accomplice or enabler of evil at minimum, which is immoral in and of itself. Hence why even for atheists it's immoral to forgive unrepentant evil.

[–] [deleted] • 2 pts (edited )

I really like the way you broke this down. I think I've read these verses, but so long ago I didnt have the right perspective. I do find this interpretation of forgiveness the most sensible and intuitive version I've heard to date. Pastors of churches always going on about how you should just keep forgiving because if God wants to He will handle it.

People dont seem to remember God uses his people to perform actions on His behalf, but maybe I've got that wrong. But I also don't think God meant for His people to just stand around while He smites all the pedophiles with lightning. We are the lightning!

(Edit to add ping: )