watching a documentary that I taped last night. It was about forgiveness and the way people think about forgiveness; how to say sorry; the effects of holding on to anger. It was very watchable and very well directed. My only criticism was that they went from one situation to another and you really had to concentrate to make sure you were keeping up with each story as they went back to that particular situation.
There was a story of a mum and daughter eventually experiencing reconcilliation after they had both had a relationship with the same young man. There was a guy in his fifties who wanted and received an apology from a teacher who had called him a nickname when the guy was about 12. A couple's son had been murdered in '03 by three young men and it showed them coming to terms with this. They were Christians and whilst the father had found it in his heart to forgive, and move on, his wife could not forgive. Then at the trial she saw the parents of the accused break down when the guilty verdict was delivered and she realised that although justice had been delivered no one had "won". They have now written to one of the young men in prison, telling him that they have forgiven him, and they have received a reply in which the young man has expressed a wish that may meet up one day. And at the end of the programme the father of the victim says that he hopes some good will come of all this and that if people would say I forgive you, without waiting to receive an apology first, and be humble, what a better world we would live in. Wonderful stuff.
However, amongst all of this was the "Sun" newspaper [I use the word lightly] trying to get forgiveness from the people of Liverpool for the lies that they printed in 1989 after what is known as "The Hillsborough Disaster" - check out this for the details - "Hillsborough"
The chief executive of this tabloid excuse for a newspaper - it is known as the Scum - tried to get the Hillsborough Families Support Group to let him address them and offer support in their campaign for justice. The Scum last year had printed an apology but it was all about circulation figures. You see the Scum is conspicuous in Liverpool by its abscense and since 1989 it has lost millions of pounds through lack of sales in the Liverpool area. No self respecting newsagent stocks it and it is a boycott that is being handed down through the generations. You see what this chief executive couldn't understand was that the Scum had printed "THE TRUTH" as it's headline and then went on to list a litany of lies about the behaviour of fans on that disastous day. Yes, other newspapers had had lurid stories about what had supposedly happened on that day but at least they had said that these were alleged happenings. This guy from the Scum would only assist in the campaign for justice if the support group accepted the apology! He wanted to sell this rag again in Liverpool and get the circulation back up! He was sent packing with his tail between his legs!
Right, not that you will have noticed but I've been talking with Pastor Dave for the last 20 minutes and as both wives are away at the moment we are hooking up at a local chinese restaurant in 20 minutes so I gotta go, and when you have gotta go you have to go!
