The Trouble with Turning the Other Cheek
The Trouble with Turning the Other Cheek
why we can't replace "never forget" with "forgive and forget"
If Emily Oster’s appeal for “Pandemic Amnesty” is triggering you, you’re not alone.
Yes, we will all have to find it in our hearts to forgive people who treated us horribly, but the use of the word "amnesty” suggests that the government should give people who caused considerable harm a pass.
Sorry, but NO.
This is just more conflating. More word play. The next chapter of the same psyop from those who repeatedly asserted that our choices have consequences and promptly kicked the unvaccinated out of schools and the work force.
The irony.
First, let’s acknowledge the distinction between forgiveness and amnesty, because it may give us some clues about what’s coming. Amnesty is “the act of an authority (such as a government) by which pardon is granted to a large group of individuals.”
There’s also no apology here - no acknowledgement of the full scope of offenses, which include what Toby Rogers calls “iatrogenocide”. Oster doesn’t ask for forgiveness, she simply deems it necessary for the common good (demonstrating that as a society we’ve learned nothing).
But the thing is: We didn’t know.
This doesn’t fly. This is Just Following Orders 2.0.
People tried to speak up. They were ignored, mocked, shunned and vilified, even as they cited data from the clinical trials, the CDC and experts in their fields. Even as they shared their own heartbreaking experiences. Doctors were stripped of their board certifications and in some cases their medical licenses trying to inform the people who now claim “we didn’t know.”
People were excluded from society… denied organ transplants.
It’s not that I won’t forgive. I am pro-forgiveness. I agree that it will only hurt us to hold onto anger over past injustices. But you can’t mandate forgiveness. It is OURS to give and we can’t let this latest attempt to “greater good” our individual values succeed. Amnesty sounds a lot like the government setting the terms of forgiveness and it lacks all of the critical elements that would lead to anything heartfelt and healing.
Remember when we let the government and mainstream media set the terms of compassion? Of safety? Of COVID even? How did that work out for us?
How quickly we discard “Never Forget” when we’d rather forget.
Even if we wanted to, simply “moving on” doesn’t work. Would you ever let anyone say “but we really thought the Jews were dangerous” and move on? Since when do we ask groups who have been marginalized and mistreated to move on without so much as an apology?
Celia Farber can tell us what “moving on” looks like and I hope we get to hear more of her story. She exposed the playbook decades ago with HIV/AIDS and was among the original victims of cancel culture. She’s still waiting for her apology (well she may not be, but I am).
Meanwhile, Celia continues to be censored (lest we see how history is repeating itself).
It’s hard for me to fathom the cost of cancelling her voice and the voices of others who noticed something was amiss with Fauci’s assertions back in the 80s. We could have burned the playbook. Or at least we could have recognized it. Amnesty would instead sweep the jagged shards of a broken health care system under the rug and allow that to be the foundation of whatever comes next.
No thank you.
Some people went through (and continue to go through) hell. Some didn’t make it. Our children lost years of learning and socializing and many are afraid of the air they breathe. We can’t afford to lose the lesson and that means examining precisely what went wrong and holding people accountable for dehumanizing and sometimes criminal behavior.
Besides, much of the behavior is still happening. People who voice legitimate concerns are still labeled ‘conspiracy theorists’. Organizations like Accountable Tech and the Center for Countering Digital Hate continue their efforts to silence anyone who question the narrative with claims of ‘misinformation’. And there are no plans to grant forgiveness to those who speak outside the lines.
These organizations, which assert that “lies can kill”, advocate for censoring information that often turns out to be true. They therefore play a key role in the public deception that has led to mass suffering and death. And they’re not apologizing. They continue to fuel division and are doubling down on the suppression of information that they will later claim they didn’t know.
No.
Not while universities continue to mandate boosters.
Not while people continue to deny vaccine injury.
The Naked Emperor provides a sampling of those we are being asked to forgive here. They include many of the influencers that emboldened our friends and neighbors to treat us similarly. But we don’t know if they are contrite or whether they might happily resume the same snark and cruelty if it’s written in the next script.
If we’re really interested in moving on and letting the healing begin, we need to look at the “sickness” that has infect our government and regulatory agencies as well as our culture. The well is poisoned and a detox is in order. Some people most certainly did know and deliberately deceived people to foster compliance for a “vaccine” program with known risks.
Forgiveness, yes. At some point we will all need to look inward and outward and forgive. But for those seeking amnesty, your contrition game is weak. Try again.
Thank you, Ann. This paragraph, you wrote, may be the single best insight anyone has shared about the Oster essay: "It’s not that I won’t forgive. I am pro-forgiveness. I agree that it will only hurt us to hold onto anger over past injustices. But you can’t mandate forgiveness. It is OURS to give and we can’t let this latest attempt to “greater good” our individual values succeed. Amnesty sounds a lot like the government setting the terms of forgiveness and it lacks all of the critical elements that would lead to anything heartfelt and healing."
They want to skip the apology and go straight to forgiveness? No it doesn’t work that way! I will never forget what my family members and friends have done to me. I was disowned and unfriended by mostly all of them. They called me a selfish pig and a right wing, science denying conspiracy theorist, because I wouldn’t get vaccinated. They said you are no longer welcome to any family functions, holidays, graduations, birthdays, weddings etc. Things between them and I will never be the same. They drew the line in the sand not me! The least they can do is offer a heartfelt apology, but their false sense of pride won’t allow them to. At any rate, my life goes on with or without them...