Should we forgive?

What about when someone’s guilty, but with an explanation?

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Forgiveness is defined as the stoppage of resentful or angry feelings towards another. My mother clarified this concept by saying to forgive, but not forget, meaning, don’t hold the transgression against the person, but remember. Yet, is that true forgiveness? Not according to the bible. Psalms (103:12) says that ‘As far as the east is from the west, that’s how far God removes our sins from us.’ In Jeremiah (31:34), God says that ‘He forgives a person’s sins and will not remember them.’ As a child, I often wondered who was correct, my mother or God? Should we forgive and wipe the slate clean, or is it wise to also remember? Or, does it, like so many things in life, depend on the circumstances?

Leviticus (4:3–4) states that if your priest sins, he brings guilt on his community. Thus, he must sacrifice an animal and perform certain rituals to cleanse himself and the people. Since the Judeo-Christian tradition no longer sacrifices animals, what should we do now? My mother’s church had a ‘priestly’ scandal, in which the pastor was caught inflagrante delecto with the secretary, in one of the church’s pews. Both participants were married. Oops. The woman was immediately forgiven, without public shame. In fact, members shifted the responsibility of her indiscretion to her husband, since he, being a hunter, often left her alone. Yet…