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                 %FEARING FORGIVES & RECONCILIATION 850923

     When  we  have regarded another person  as  evil  and
dangerous it is difficult to accept their forgiveness  and
to  be  reconciled to them.   Even in the  face  of  great
danger created by a refusal to accept their forgiveness we
find  it  difficult to admit that a mistake  was  made  in
regarding them as inherently evil.  We seek to justify our
actions   rather  than  seek  reconciliation  and   mutual
understanding upon which to build peaceful relationships.

     To  accept  the  implicitly  offered  forgiveness  of
people  whom  we  have  regarded  as  evil  is  to   admit
implicitly that we were tragically wrong in our conviction
that they were evil.   That would be an implicit admission
that  our behavior  was evil,  and by our own standards  a
judgment  that we were evil as persons.   That is too much
to  accept,  and we prefer to continue to defend ourselves
against our imagined enemy who seeks to forgive us for our
alienative behavior.

     How are we to know if they enemy we fear is worthy of
fear  or  is  seeking reconciliation?    Are  their  moves
towards reconciliation to be trusted, or are they moves in
a deceptive game?   Are they objectively our enemy,  or do
we make them our enemy by our conviction that they are our
enemy?  Is our relationship of alienation primarily of our
choosing,  or of their choosing?   How can we find answers
to such questions without bias?

     Does  our  enemy  require  us  to  give  up  our  own
convictions?    Does  our enemy require us to  grant  them
unquestioned power over us?   Does our enemy require us to
work for enemy ideals?   Is our enemy genuinely interested
in  promoting personal and communal integrity on a  global
scale?  Or, how would our enemy respond to these questions
in  reverse  fashion?   Such considerations may help  find
answers which are reasonably free of bias?   To find  them
we must first want them,  and we may be deathly afraid  of
them even unto death.
                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
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                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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