The Forgiveness Project

I have come across the 'forgiveness project' a week or so ago and have been mulling it over during a very busy couple of weeks.

Marino Cantacuzino, the journalist who founded this project, says she did so because, 'gentle people attract me more than resolute ones, vulnerability more than strength, and I believe there are very few truly malevolent people in the world.

'The F Word' is an exhibition highlighting some of the work carried out by the 'Forgiveness Project', a charitable U.K. organisation. I am intrigued to find out more about the work although I admit to feeling somewhat uncomfortable reading about peoples' reactions to the exhibition.

Below is an excerpt from the Forgiveness Project website;

As I talked to friends, colleagues and strangers about this exhibition, I began to notice two very different reactions. There are those who see forgiveness as an immensely noble and humbling response to atrocity – and those who simply laugh it out of court. For the first group, forgiveness is a value strong enough to put an end to the tit-for-tat settling of scores that has wreaked havoc over generations. But for the second group, forgiveness is just a copout, a weak gesture, which lets the violator off the hook and encourages only further violence. This is why we called the exhibition The F Word. For some people forgiveness is a very dirty word indeed.

'The F word' exhibition includes real life stories and has been used for the purposes of raising awareness and education in prisons and schools, and by organisations promoting non-violence, "If one can understand why people behave as they do then often the road to forgiveness is opened" says Terry Waite, in support of The Forgiveness Project.

For example, Marino has visited Israel and the 'Parents Circle' which was founded by Yitzhak Frankenthal after his son was kidnapped and murdered by Hamas militants in 1994. The Parents Circle is a group of families whom have suffered loss of loved ones and are working towards peace and reconciliation as a solution to the ongoing conflict.

Whilst Marino says she 'defends the notion of forgiveness' she cannot 'advocate it as the way forwards' as it is a personal choice.

Please take a look at the website www.theforgivenessproject.com to read more.

Source: The Forgiveness Project website, http://www.theforgivenessproject.com/project/marina/ and http://www.theforgivenessproject.com/project/about/ accessed 9/2/09