Forgiveness
One of the claimed glories of our post-Christian world, is its cancellation of forgiveness. I was reading about this in an article by Laura Perrins, which I found in the (excellent) website, The Conservative Woman. She gives an account of the suicide of a young Oxford student, who had an awkward sexual encounter at the age of twenty, with a young woman who then announced her “discomfort.” His schoolmates called an inquisition, condemned him for “messing up,” and said they needed “space” from him. He appeared distraught, at this isolation. A couple of days later, he drowned himself in the Thames.
I thought of an event, technically opposite to this, which happened to me in a previous century. A beautiful siren, who happened to be on my staff, suddenly disappeared, owing the company money. This was annoying, but not a catastrophe. Except, she began telling her former colleagues that she had left because I had sexually harassed her. Fortunately for me, she was confronted by these women as “a little lying vixen.”
But even forty years ago, feminism had advanced to the point where reputations and livelihoods could be wrecked. Several persons known to me had been slandered and destroyed by similar impetuous accusations. And the women had profited by making them. But I had women to defend me, and was not abandoned by my friends. (As Scott Symons said, back then, “There is no blood left to be shed in the battle of the sexes in Ontario.”)
Men have also done appalling things to women. (Did you know?)
But the revolutionary principle, now asphyxiating our neo-pagan society, is the withdrawal of forgiveness, for all crimes, even minor or imaginary. For along with Christianity, mercy is nullified, and the world actually drowns in sleaze.