Religion and forgiveness

• Forgiveness

  • Forgiveness means stopping being angry with someone who’s done something wrong. It’s very important for many religious believers. They believe god is merciful towards people who genuinely seek his mercy and that they should reflect god’s forgiving nature in their own behaviour.
• Forgiveness of criminals

  • Many people believe it’s important to forgive criminals so they can be reconciled with the community. If they leave prison isolated from others, with no job, little prospects, reoffending might seem like the only option.
  • Forgiveness allows both the victim and perpetrators to move on. However most religious people still beleive that criminals should still be punished for what they have done.
• Ex offenders can be forgiven

  Forgiveness can be shown in many ways. Lesser offences no longer stay on people’s records permanently and there are schemes that give ex offenders skills and a job when they are released.
• • Restorative justice is where an offender might meet people who have suffered because of the crime they have committed.
  • Actually meeting the people they have hurt can help offenders to realise the extent of the damage they have done, try to make up for their actions and discourage them from reoffending.
  • It helps the victim to work towards forgiving the offender.
• Christianity and forgiveness

  • Jesus taught that god is always ready to forgive and that Christians must accept that forgiveness and forgive others in return. The lords prayer includes a verse about forgiveness.
  • Jesus told people to seek reconciliation in any disagreements before offering a gift to god at the temple. “First go and be reconciled to them then come offer your gift.”
  • He also taught people to forgive “not seven times but seventy seven times.”
  • Forgiveness is closely related to repentance. Christians believe that god’s forgiveness can only come when they repent of their sins.
• Islam and forgiveness

  • Muslims can seek retribution for injuries but they are encouraged to forgive instead. Whenever the Quran talks about punishment it talks about forgiveness too.
  • Muslims believe that they must be merciful so that Allah will do the same to the on the day of judgement.
  • They believe that wrongdoing should be forgiven if the offender is sorry and tries to make amends.
  • The prophet Muhammad was forgiving as told in the Hadith - Muslims believe in following by his example.
  • But some crimes are seen as so awful that forgiveness isn’t an option.