Book contents
Chapter 3 - Sorry We Killed You
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
Summary
Of course, it is not a matter of rejecting or excluding reconciliation. [ . . .] So if forgiveness has a finality, if it is given in view of reconciliation, that is, of being at peace with the other or, as they say in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, of “healing away” the traumatic experience, if forgiveness has such a finality, then it is not pure, gracious, and unconditional forgiveness. Let us come back to the situation of the world today. Speaking of this equivocal use of the word “forgiveness,” we see that all these political scenes of forgiveness, of asking for forgiveness and repentance, are often strategic calculations made in view of healing away. I have nothing against that. I have something against the use of the word “forgiveness” to describe these cases.
Jacques DerridaIt is not only politicians who like to characterize Australia as the land of the “fair go.” Many Australians of varying political stripes who trade in the currency of cultural capital are attracted to this self-assessment. It conveys a sense less of moral rectitude than of a kind of innate generosity of spirit, or at least willingness to withhold judging others until all the cards have been dealt. In celebrating the fair go, Australians portray themselves as fundamentally relaxed about the doings of others, as tolerant. The very need to paint such a picture, however, reflects less its veracity than a wish for projecting an image. The image is defensive.
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- Violent Democracy , pp. 59 - 79Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004