Forgiveness - Essay Example

The research being accessible to everyone on internet has changed the general perspective to a realistic one also introducing the benefits of improving intrapersonal health and thoughts. When it comes to utilizing the benefits of forgiveness, it can be seen in two different ways, religious and psychological; even though both overlap. Forgiveness ensures that intrapersonal and interpersonal troubles of a person are resolved, which is the reason forgiveness cannot be taken as a responsibility or duty. Forgiving by force might shortly suppress the issues but does not resolve them, as per Baker (2012). To truly forgive, one needs to let go from the heart and release the resentment; religiously explained by McMinn et. al (1999), it might be an altruistic gift to the receiving individual; while from a psychological point of view it is seen as means of regaining personal health. This contrast of approaches of forgiveness shows two different perceptions of forgiveness with respect to intrapersonal characteristics and interpersonal relations. Where religion finds forgiveness to be a trait of God and a way to thank God for His forgiveness, psychologists find it as a therapeutic tool that helps an individual get relieved of his anguish. Reconciliation after forgiveness involves parties to re-establish the relationship but is unlikely to be always synonymous to forgiveness. As alluded by Baker (2012), forgiveness and reconciliation together might be a good combination in case of loved ones but they don’t always go together. This can be due to a number of reasons. For example, the forgiving individual might want to forgive the perpetrator but not have anything to do with them anymore, on the other hand the perpetrator might not even have any remorse in the first place or even being repeatedly injurious making reconciliation impossible whereas the victim might still want to forgive the person. Such situations define the differences between forgiveness and reconciliation. It might also be a point to note that acknowledgement of offense is also not equal to remorse while on the other hand, forgiveness being a choice still enables the victim to want to forgive an unrepenting perpetrator. The Gale Encyclopedia (2009) article on reconciliation also refers to forgiveness being both a psychological and a religious approach to emotional healing; both being in contrast, still aim the same thing - improvement of interpersonal relations and intrapersonal health. From another point of view, forgiveness might be seen as a unilateral act while reconciliation takes both (or all) parties involved. Forgiveness might also involve foregoing indebtedness so that the victim does not have to go through the ordeal of reconciling with the perpetrator. The senior citizens are also alluded to have found forgiveness and reconciliation an important part in the last phase of their life. The Gale Encyclopedia (2009) terms it as an ‘end of life concern’ for those in the last phase of their life. It is also sometimes the case that tolerance is confused with reconciliation. Tolerance and forgiveness might both be helpful in reconciliation but are not equal to it. Reconciliation involves people on two sides of a divide to uncover the ordeal they’ve been put through and sacrifice in order to re-establish a relationship. Tolerance also does not require the same level of honesty as for forgiveness while reconciliation requires both. This differentiates forgiveness to be unique in the way that it is not ... Read More