Forgiveness

“By forgiving our enemies we have the opportunity to create peace.”

“We have offered a prayer of forgiveness that the ignorance or hatred that led to this senseless act be taken away. However there is a distinction between forgiving a person and forgiving the act they committed. There is no doubt that the act was terribly wrong – no matter what the motivation. Laws exist to hold people accountable for their actions – and we will not interfere in the process of law. Yet we know God is all forgiving to those who seek His forgiveness. And the Sikh tradition, like all others, calls on us to forgive others (forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us) so they may seek forgiveness from God and learn not to commit acts of violence or hatred again. For if we show hatred to those who act against us, then how will they ever understand that God whom they can’t see, is forgiving? And out of our hatred, we will only perpetuate the cycle of violence that exists in the world. By forgiving our enemies we have the opportunity to create peace.”

His Holiness Baba Virsa Singh – from Gobind Sadan’s public statement of forgiveness which was issued at the time of the teens’ arrests and was read to each defendent in court.