“We are asked to forgive those who have injured us. Unless we have first judged and condemned them for what they did, there would be no reason for us to forgive them.” (ODAT, 29 April)
To forgive is to unwind the judgement and condemnation.
The subject matter of the process is not them.
It is my conceit.
Why?
To judge presupposes knowing the full truth.
Only a fragment is really known, and that through a glass darkly.
To judge also presupposes knowing what is right and correctly analysing the gap between that and the present state of affairs. Such analyses are hopelessly complicated to pull off.
What is right furthermore depends on the base facts, and we do not know fully what those are. One’s own notions of right are moreover polluted with one’s own wishes and prejudices. And the plausibility of the counterfactual is also in question. Utopian notions are often impossible universes.
Thus judgement is conceit.
To condemn is to presume one is in a position to condemn.
This is conceited on two fronts: firstly usurpation of the role of the duly appointed authority (human or divine) and secondly the failure to recuse oneself on grounds of hypocrisy.
I’m in no position to condemn, on both points.
Once the basis for judgement and condemnation are withdrawn, the judgment and condemnation fall away, and there is nothing to forgive, although there might still be something to swerve.