Remember all of that?
It’s the tip of the iceberg.
Politicians. Medical professionals. Comics. Career bureaucrats. Athletes. Talking heads.
For over two years now, anyone not in lockstep with the narrative has been gaslit, bullied, cancelled, dehumanized, “othered”, fired, fined, de-credentialed, threatened, segregated, jailed, and assaulted.
For all the talk of compassion that comes from certain political parties, human rights organizations, corporations, and famous personalities, compassion was glaringly absent when it came to anyone who dared even THINK about an alternative to the narrative or ask basic questions.
Simply compiling these Tweets and videos brought up a ton of emotions at the injustice of the past several years. I experienced it firsthand, although my trials and tribulations pale in comparison to the millions -if not billions - around the world who suffered far worse.
This brings me to the point of this article, which I’m sure is going to cause some disagreement and possible outrage. Yet it’s a topic I feel very strongly about, and to me, it’s worth it to present for discussion.
We must NEVER forget what these people did to us. To our loved ones. To our coworkers. To the fabric of society.
I’ve heard it said “forgive and forget”.
That’s some of the worst advice ever. That is the opposite of wisdom. Absolute foolishness.
If someone punches me in the mouth, there’s not a chance in hell I’ll forget about that. In fact, I once was walking around my neighborhood with a friend of mine when I was in my early teens. We were completely minding our own business, nearly oblivious to the world around us, when this car with two older kids stopped beside us. The passenger - this big, meaty backward-hat wearing Pearl Jam-looking guy who I never met, gets out, walks over to me, grabs the back of my neck, and decks me right on the mouth. I had braces at the time, and he turned the inside of my gums into chopped lunchmeat. I still remember that giant fist and those bony knuckles screaming towards my face like it was yesterday. Completely random.
I would be an absolute IDIOT to walk into a room with that person - even today - and not have my defenses up in some way. I still clearly remember that.
People are creatures of habit with hearts that are difficult to change. Unless people do some serious, intentional work to alter their thoughts and actions, the heart leads in predictable patterns. A heart filled with hate will hate. A violent heart will do violence. A terrified heart will look for any life-preserver to cling to.
To forget what someone has done is doing yourself a disservice and could potentially prolong and encourage further harmful and toxic behavior. Forgetting will open you up to a lifetime of patterned, avoidable hurt. Remembering will allow you to use caution and defend yourself when necessary, and defending yourself is a God-given right.
When someone tells you to forget, you know you’re talking to a fool. At the very least, they’re spewing dangerous foolishness.
But what about the forgiving part? Is that foolish? Is that admitting defeat? Is that weak?
Most of us have heard the statement “to forgive is divine.” That has origins in the Love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13. Some translations include, from verse 5, “…(love) keeps no record of wrongdoing.”
I’m not naïve. I’m not above turning my entire being on the idea of unforgiveness. Compiling that list of media above clearly reminded me of this. Many of you reading have literally zero desire to either forgive or forget. The anger, the rage, the treason, the injustice - these emotions are far too strong in you. I don’t blame you. You’ve been incredibly hurt and had massive offenses perpetrated against you. These wounds and scars will never go away.
And just as physical scars remind us of deep and traumatic injury, so to do these images, soundbites, loss of career, loss of a loved one, and all the other horrific things these people did to us remind us of the incredible mental, spiritual, emotional, and even physical trauma that we’ve experienced.
But here’s the crux.
Forgetting lets THEM off the hook.
Forgiving lets YOU off the hook and allows YOU to defend yourself while keeping THEM accountable.
What do I mean by that?
Holding on to unforgiveness is like holding onto a cinderblock while you’re trying to tread water. It voluntarily builds a ball and chain that you and you alone must carry around with you.
Unforgiveness is the fertile garden where bitterness, rage, anger, hate, division, gossip, slander, injustice, and all kinds of evil, destructive things grow. There a so many people that want this as their identity. They thrive in being these things. They feel it’s the only way to move forward in this often brutal and unjust world. Yet the terrible (or wonderful) truth is, this is the ouroboros, the circular pattern that perpetuates the destructive cycle.
To expand on that concept of “love keeping no record of wrongdoing”, if your heart and mind are healthy, you will be able to forgive while not forgetting. It might seem hypocritical of me to wrack up that rouge gallery of unjust and toxic media above while simultaneously working in this biblical quote. It sure does seem like I very much am encouraging the “keeping of wrongdoing.”
I am. I will not forget what these people did to me, to us. Nor should we forget every other evil, despicable act done throughout time and history. After all,
Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. - Winston Churchill
We MUST remember, and we must keep remembering. Never forgetting. It’s CLEAR that our culture has chosen to forget or misrepresent history, and because of that, we are in many ways repeating it.
Forgiveness, on the other hand, removes the shackles and allows you to drop that cinderblock so that you can stay above water. For some of us, all we’ve ever known are those shackles and clinging to that cinderblock, and while we’ve managed to make it this far, the toll and the cost that it’s taken to our minds and psyches can be nearly unfathomable.
I’m not saying we have to have dinner with these villains and liars and bullies and gaslighters. We don’t have to sit around a fire and sing “Kumbaya”. But like the cinderblocks they themselves are, we can release ourselves from them, from their venom, while swimming ourselves to more peaceful shores internally.
Many of these people have tremendous power, and there’s often not much we can do on a societal level against that power. Good people are doing good things - I hope you’re one of them - to change that power balance on a societal and cultural level.
But on an individual level, you can do more than you know to eliminate their power over you by releasing them and their chains and cinderblocks. YOU are the one holding onto those things by not forgiving, so whether you like it or not, you’re continuing to give them a power that they can’t control themselves. Drop the leash. Release the cinderblocks. Take back the power and control that you are entitled to.
Forgetting and forgiving are two very related, intertwined concepts.
Done properly, they both free you and protect you.
Done wrong, they drown you, and the last thing you’ll see is the face of your adversary, your tormenter, alive and well above the water as you’re going under.
Well, see, there's a big difference between holding a grudge, and having a bone-deep, unrelenting, cold blue fire of contempt to cherish as an eternal flame of remembrance. Works good for me, in these circumstances.
The secret for me is to remember that the VAST MAJORITY of the people that are obviously perpetrating the serious offenses (including the hospitals using remdesivir and ignoring proven effective and harmless vitamin therapies), are themselves puppets of the of the puppet-masters behind them (sometimes WAY behind them). They are also being actively lied to ad nauseum. Forgiveness is necessary (as was so eloquently explained in the article) for our sanity in the face of this unfathomable evil in our times (and all times - I am reminded of the people jeering at Jesus as he was dying on the Cross and He asking for forgiveness for them for not knowing what they did). That being said, we MUST FIGHT (non-violently) with all our being to help those hurt by this evil and to oppose the inhuman agenda of the Devil so visible in the world today. That is one of the main reasons that we exist in this world, i.e. to bring Love (sacrificial and unselfish love - Agape love) to those who need it. THAT INCLUDES PRAYING FOR OUR ENEMIES! That doesn't mean having dinner with them and buying them a drink!! NO, it does mean praying for repentance and conversion for them. We were told that the "wheat and weeds would be allowed to grow up together". It is not our job to judge them. It is our job to Love and love generously, but that does NOT preclude being active, stubborn, involved and even rebellious (without violence). Jesus was the ultimate rebel. Look to His life for our model. He DID get angry at least once! (with good reason).
Ian in Vancouver