h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

We've had this conversation on and off. I simply don't agree with you.

Some humans are indeed monsters. Witness the horrors first hand, clear up the devastation wrought on the lives of innocents. Then face the monsters. Sit in a room with one for a few hours, listen to their justifications, pride in their actions, and total, utter lack of anything remotely resembling decency, and you may, just may, have another reason to do some deep thinking!

I think we all have our own predudices and beliefs. At least I wear mine outwardly, some people are not worthy of being called human.

If I could eradicate them from the face of the earth, today, I wouldn't hesitate, and maybe we could all sleep a little easier!

Thankfully, most never meet monsters and are free to intellectually debate, good luck to them all. Some of us are forced to peek behind the curtain, it is not a pleasant experience.

Stay safe all. Look after each other.

I don't feel superior to groups of people, if they're large enough. There's wisdom in the movements of groups of people.

I try to puzzle out the overall value of a person. There's a lot that I can't see because people are entitled to privacy. So I make mistakes. There's info I couldn't see.

Am I weak for wanting to forgive people? Didn't Jesus advise not throwing rocks if you are not without sin? Or turning the other cheek.

I read the first three books of the Bible. There were stern rules galore, and no forgiveness for those who disobeyed them. Was God feeling cross on the day he gave rules to Moses?

Or did He change His mind when He sent Jesus?

Yes, I've occasionally made jokes that people later told me were insensitive. I did not repeat those jokes.

If we think some people are monsters, will we treat them the way the God of Moses would, or the way Jesus did?

I'm not arguing that people should be spared punishment for their ill deeds. I have sat on half a dozen juries, though. It is just plain *hard* to figure out how guilty people are, period.

Forgiveness is tricky. George Wallace asked for it. Some African-Americans granted it, on the grounds that the sincerely penitent person deserves it.

Good thought, Paul. Corrie ten Boom wrote about meeting with a guard from Ravensbrueck in 1947 who asked for her forgiveness. Her beloved sister had died there - she nearly did herself.

She said it nearly killed her to take his hand. But she felt that God couldn't forgive her if she didn't forgive him (because that's what Jesus said). And she knew she needed forgiveness just as much as he did. 'I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then,' she said about that moment.

So 'the human race doesn't get off that lightly' only refers to those who follow the New Testament and are scared their God won't forgive them for not forgiving?

Never got the hang of turning the other cheek. But I respect any and everyone's right to have a Faith.

I'm not saying some are subhuman, I'm trying to say these predators are not human at all. Your forgiveness means nothing. They are a totally different animal.

I can understand Holocaust guards repenting, killers repenting, crimes of passion, crimes in wartime, those suffering mental illness, many eventually come to the realization their actions were wrong and may seek to make amends, offer some kind of closure to the innocents they've harmed, maybe just to make themselves feel better.

But these are not the monsters I refer to.

If you've never encountered one, I can't explain.

Maybe it would indeed be a better world if we just ignored these beasts and went about our lives in blissful ignorance?

Each to their own beliefs - I've never walked in your shoes, but I respect yours-but I am truly grateful you have never had to tread one step into some of the places I've been.

I don't know where you've been, that's true.

It is equally true that you don't know where I've been unless I tell you, and possibly not even then.

Let's cut each other some slack. What I was talking about doesn't have anything to do with whether you or I or anyone believes there are monstrous people in the world. I'm sure you've run across some bad people.

I was talking solely about the amount of sheer monstrous evil ORDINARY humans get up to. And I'm saying, and will continue to say, that intolerance can lead to that monstrous evil - whether it's the Holocaust, or Musa Dagh, or Rwanda, or anything else you can think of. Even people you think of as good neighbours can do horrible things. I come from a part of the world where lynch mobs are a not-very-distant memory. This might be something you personally don't need to hear. But I'm writing this column in case anybody out there does. Because I've seen things turn nasty in a hurry and I'm worried about it.

I don't know if the kind of people you're talking about are capable of asking forgiveness or not. What Jesus said was that you needed to grant forgiveness when it was sincerely asked for - not that you could pre-emptively forgive people. That would be pretty arrogant, I think.

I used the tradition that I am most familiar with. There are some who see remarkable similarities among the world great religions, and also among groups of people who hold to no religious doctrines.

I did not want to wade into other traditions, because I can be overruled by people who have more knowledge of them than I do. A tantalizing idea is that in the Muslim faith there are some who think that God forgave Adam and Eve. But there are schisms in the various religions.

Could Islam be changed if all the believers got together and decided to do so?

I respect you, FWR. It's not that I wanted a purely new Testament take. it's just that forgiveness is not often mentioned as a secular concept. When I do something wrong, I would like to be forgiven.

I've never made fun of Helen Keller.

Slack is always good.

Maybe the words wrong, wrong, wrong, are actually a little devisive in this column. We all have deep seated morals, just because I have a different perspective than my neighbour, doesn't make either of us wrong - as long as I don't kill him for all that bloody drilling he's doing whilst I'm on nights!

I'm sure we all have experiences of Light and Dark, some more private than others. I sincerely hope you've both walked mainly in the Light.

I had a deep conversation yesterday (last night) about how I could work in a secure mental hospital with such violent and murderous people back in the day - you know, I actually defended each and every one of them!

I can see the good in most, but sometimes, rarely thankfully, it sadly just doesn't exist!

(I'll keep my comments to
on any future night shift clashing columns, save me ranting with night lag... Especially if you're cross! ) peace be upon you my friends!

And you.

This has turned out to be an enjoyable and enlightening discussion.