>How would you feel, Karen? Would you forgive
them and go forward as if nothing had happened? >Would you think you now
had equality?
>Would you betray the love of your children and parents
and their deaths and agree to forget so that >they could feel better?
No, I would not forgive them and no I would not
think I had equality. But I would also know that the siblings were not
responsible for their parents actions. You cannot hold someone responsible
for someone else's actions. One would probably be impressed with the fact
they came forward and acknowledged what had happened and agreed to try and
make things better. Is that so wrong?
As for apologising with reconciliation: Why should
I be forced to betray my own innocence and apologise for something I never
had any involvement with? My
family were never involved so I personally do not wish to apologise. I'm not
being stubborn or a racist just simply standing up for my beliefs, my
morals and my own family's innocence.
Perhaps people should be knocking on the doors of
those who actually were responsible for each individual atrocity and bring
them to justice - if they are still alive.
They are the ones you want to say
sorry.
By
saying that everybody should apologise, you then make people feel guilty for
something they did not do - trying to force the hand - when all we want to
do is move on in a peaceful, harmonious life.
Karen,
I don't know why you are so defensive about your age. There are many
young people on the list. Some younger than you are.
You ask why an apology is necessary and how it will make reconciliation
work. An apology is only a part of reconciliation but a very necessary
part.
Let me pose you a scenario:
You are married and have children. You
live with your extended family on a very productive farm and everyone gets
along pretty well and have enough to eat.
Then, some people you've
never seen before come onto your farm and begin shooting your family. Your
husband and 2 of your 5 children are killed right in front of you.. Most
of your extended family, your mother and father, aunts and uncles are
killed. Some of the men come and rape your two young daughters and bash
your young son. Almost all the people you have known and loved all your
life are dead and you have no one to comfort you or to help you. They take
your farm and everything on it and leave you a small plot to live on but
only if you work the farm for barely enough food to live on. You have no
choice because you don't want your children to starve to death so you work
for the people who took everything you loved from you.
Eventually,
your two daughters give birth to a child each but they look different from
your family and before long, the people you work for tear the the children
away from your daughters and leave with them. You are grief-stricken for
your daughters and the loss of your grandchildren, you are angry but
helpless to do anything about it. Your son has never been the same since
his bashing and is sullen and refuses to do anything except destroy
everything he touches. You can't reach him no matter what you do and you
fear for his life. Your daughters become distant and begin drinking to
forget what has happened to them and one morning you find one of them
dead. She is 18.
The years pass and you are now getting old. The
people who took everything from you are dead and their children are now in
charge. They still make you work hard and give you a little extra now and
then.
Then, one day they come to see you. They want everything that
has happened to be forgotten. They now want to live as equals. They offer
to give you a bit more land so that you can grow things for yourself and
have a bit more to eat. Of course, you will no longer get anything extra
from them. Also, the conditions attached to this land are that everything
is to be done as they instruct. You cannot follow the practices of the
past. They offer to educate your new grandchild but insist on choosing
what is taught and only in their language.
They want to go forward as
if nothing has happened and they want you to forget what their parents did
to you and your family and not live in the past. They refuse to apologise
because they don't feel responsible for what their parents did even though
they know what their parents did and they are growing rich on what the
farm produces. They cannot even bring themselves to tell you that they are
sorry for what you have suffered....
How would you feel, Karen? Would you forgive them and go forward as if
nothing had happened? Would you think you now had equality?
Would you
betray the love of your children and parents and their deaths and agree to
forget so that they could feel better?
Trudy
Karen wrote:
> Tim,
>Just because he doesn't believe in saying sorry doesn't mean he doesn't believe in people living as >a nation united!!
>There is no need for a sorry - how will it make reconciliation work?
>Can anyone even answer that question?
Karen
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of tdunlop
Sent: Saturday, 11 March 2000 9:09 AM
To: RecOzNet2
Subject: [recoznet2] has the man no shame!!!!!
Trudy wrote:
Howard is saying nothing new but I think the time has come for
people to ask him to prove his 'commitment'. So far, all his actions
have proved the opposite. --- Trudy
Trudy,
Not just his actions, but his words. I can't believe anyone at all can take him seriously on this. I can't believe he has the nerve to come out of a meeting and
say, once again, that he's committed to reconciliation. It's only a week ago on 3AW that he said: "What baffles me about this (reconciliation) issue is that I'm
expected to repudiate my own personal beliefs; I'm told that the only way I can show leadership on this issue is to do something I don't believe in."
The game was up the moment he uttered this, for once, truthful comment - he doesn't believe in it. But still, his comment about being committed to
reconciliation keeps popping like an unflushable turd. Bit like the man himself.
I'm flabbergasted.
Tim
--
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