True reconciliation

[theletch1]

As I read this article I really had to wonder if folks like this ever truly change and if true reconciliation is ever really possible. Somewhere deep in your mind there will always be a catalog of wrongs done to you and by whom. If it really possible to forgive someone fully? Is there any way that this type of never ending war can be brought to an end?

Before he led his fighters into battle, wearing only a pair of lace-up boots, Blahyi said he made a human sacrifice to the devil.
The sacrifice was typically "the killing of an innocent child and plucking out the heart which was divided into pieces for us to eat," he told The Associated Press on Saturday. He appeared before the commission Jan. 15.
Between the time he made a pact with the devil circa 1980 and began his rampage and the time he stopped fighting in 1996, he said "more than 20,000 people fell victim (to me and my men). They were killed."

 

[Ninjamom]

As I read this article I really had to wonder if .......true reconciliation is ever really possible. .........If it really possible to forgive someone fully? Is there any way that this type of never ending war can be brought to an end?

True forgiveness and true reconcilaitioon are possible, and they are the only way for this type of never-ending cycle of violence to be broken.

Forgiveness doesn't mean that you ignore what happened, or forget that it happened, or that you pretend it didn't matter, or (God forbid) you pretend it wasn't really so wrong after all. It means you have to choose to get past whatever happened, and choose to give the person another chance, in spite of the evil that they have done. In some cases, there must still be restitution, or punishment, as part of this process.

 

[MA-Caver]

Could Hitler or Stalin or Mao make (true) retribution (had they lived and tried)? Would it even be accepted?
Reconciling is a hard thing. Sincere reconciliation is even harder. It's so damn hard to say "I'm sorry" these days and really mean it to where the recipient understands and hears and accepts the sincerity behind it.
It's a two way street too. One may be willing but the other may not.
You do the best you can and as sincerely as you can and then leave it up to them (and God). This is something that AA has taught me with the later of the 12 steps. I can only try to make amends for the wrongs that I've done during my drinking (and drugging) days and expect nothing in return. What I get is what I get; a slap in the face or tears of gratitude for coming forward and owning up to my wrongs or something somewhere in between. :asian:

 

[Steel Tiger]

I honestly don't know what to make of a guy like Blahyi. On the one hand he is talking about the need for forgiveness and reconciliation and on the other he's talking about sacrifices to the Devil and mass murder. Is there true remorse in him? I don't think so. I think he is getting old and beginning to worry about what might happen after death.

Poor Liberia. Founded with such good intentions but never really given a chance. Its history is almost all one long, brutal civil war. Breaking this cycle of destructiveness is going to be very difficult but at least they are trying.

Justice not only needs to be done in Liberia, but must be seen to be done. It looks like Blahyi knows he may be executed for his actions and he probably will be to show that the country won't tolerate warlord behaviour. Its a step toward a more cohesive nation. If nothing happens to people like Blahyi, then the people will get the impression there is no justice and continue along just as they are.

 

[theletch1]

If Blahyi goes to an execution, and on that day says to the people of his country that he is truly sorry for all of the atrocities that he has committed and had committed in his name and is a willing participant in his execution for the good of the country then I'll believe there can be reconciliation.

 

[michaeledward]

If I had to choose a side ...

I think I would side with the likes of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. As the head of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he has had some powerful words on this matter.

It seems to me, aspiring to the works of Mr. Tutu is far superior to aspiring to be the hangman.

"There are different kinds of justice. Retributive justice is largely Western. The African understanding is far more restorative - not so much to punish as to redress or restore a balance that has been knocked askew."

 

[Steel Tiger]

Bishop Tutu's sentiments are excellent, and I have no doubt that they are something he aspires to live by, the evidence from the rest of Africa seems to run contrary to this however. Central Africa seems to be a hotbed of tribal inspired brutal retribution. There is no attempt at understanding or reconciliation, there is revenge, pure and simple. Perhaps when all that hatred and resentment has worked its way through their systems they will begin to look to the words of the good doctor.

 

[grydth]

Could Hitler or Stalin or Mao make (true) retribution (had they lived and tried)? Would it even be accepted?
Reconciling is a hard thing. Sincere reconciliation is even harder. It's so damn hard to say "I'm sorry" these days and really mean it to where the recipient understands and hears and accepts the sincerity behind it.
It's a two way street too. One may be willing but the other may not.
You do the best you can and as sincerely as you can and then leave it up to them (and God). This is something that AA has taught me with the later of the 12 steps. I can only try to make amends for the wrongs that I've done during my drinking (and drugging) days and expect nothing in return. What I get is what I get; a slap in the face or tears of gratitude for coming forward and owning up to my wrongs or something somewhere in between. :asian:

People as evil as Hitler were bad to the end.

But, from my experiences during the Cold War, individual Germans and Americans have done pretty well. Ditto for my martial arts experiences with Japanese.

Now that the Cold War is over, I have no hatred left for the Russians, the boogeymen of my youth and early adulthood.

I don't expect or need any apology from any of these nations.... just a mutual commitment to being friends.

 

[tellner]

"Truth and reconciliation" works when everyone comes clean and the very worst are punished. When it's just a get out of jail free card for the monsters there is no healing. He needs to die or be in prison for the rest of his natural life. That's all there is to it. As long as he's walking around breathing the free air and bragging about his crimes things won't come together for his victims and their families.