Post by Susan Peabody on Mar 11, 2009 7:17:46 GMT -8
Forgive: "To give up resentment of or claim to requital for; to cease to feel resentment against (an offender); to stop blaming or being angry with (someone) for something they have done. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
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Some people believe forgiveness is important and others don’t.
In his book Alcoholics Anonymous, author Bill Wilson (the cofounder of AA) discusses forgiveness and says its necessary for sobriety. He calls it “letting go of resentment,” not forgiveness, and says it’s not done to please others, but in the interest of self.
On the other hand, there are the scientific psychologists (as opposed to the transpersonal therapists), like Susan Forward, in Toxic Parents, and Ellen Bass and Laura Davis in The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, who proclaim that forgiveness is not necessarily a part of the process of changing, it might even be dangerous.