“To err is human, to forgive is divine.” First quoted by the English poet Alexander Pope in 1711. This proverb seems off, especially in light of what is happening now, with the disastrous decisions our government is making. Some things are unforgivable; there is such a thing as accountability for our actions. For example, the Capitol riots. Attempts to usurp our most precious right to vote and to fair elections. Killing and maiming in the name of Homeland Security. Starting a war that cannot end well. Using the justice system for personal vendetta. These are not simple errors that can be easily forgiven and forgotten. Can we forgive the Nazis? Can we forgive genocide? Can we justify hatred and cruelty? If God forgave it all, we’d all go to heaven and sit among the cruelest and most hateful of all. No, there is a hell for a reason. If we are all forgiven, why bother being good and decent at all?
I’ve always had a problem with the concept of confession, where you can commit the most heinous crime, go to confession, and be absolved of your sins, free to do it again. I cringe when I hear, “I’m a born-again Christian, Jesus died for my sins.” As if that absolves you of being a pedophile, a rapist, or a racist. I actually heard this from a man who raped his own daughter.
There is a hell for a reason.
GrowingOlderHopeWiser 
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