Thoughts on justice and mercy and forgiveness

[xiphias]

A friend of mine is doing some musing about forgivness in his livejournal -- it's friends-only, so I won't mention who it is, or link to it. It was triggered by this essay.

I had some realizations about forgivness, which I copy here in order to have in my own livejournal, for my own reference.

1. "Forgiveness" is the process of cutting away the importance of something. You can forgive an action, which means that you have cut away the emotional resonance and the importance of the action. You can forgive a person, which means that you have cut away the emotional resonance and the importance of the person. This is why I generally forgive actions, not people. . .


2. "Forgiveness" does, therefore, involve "letting someone off the hook" for something they did, or for something they are. This may seem unfair, and unjust. It is unjust. It is merciful. "Mercy" is the opposite of "justice", and the world needs both, balanced, in order to survive.


3. "Mercy" is never deserved. If it was deserved, it would be justice, not mercy.

Some things I am still pondering: is "mercy" always unjust? It is clear that the converse is not true.