Thursday, July 7, 2016

Quote of the Day

Many therapists believe we can find peace through forgiveness, but this opinion is constantly refuted by the facts.  We know that priests intone the Lord's Prayer every day, which means that they pray for forgiveness, both for their own "trespasses" and for those who sin against us.  But this does not prevent some of them from yielding to the repeated compulsion to abuse children and young people, while repressing the fact that they are committing a crime ... Accordingly, I believe that preaching forgiveness is not only hypocritical and futile but also actively dangerous.  It masks the compulsion to repeat.  The only thing that can protect us from repetition is the admission of the truth -- the whole truth, with all its implications.

-- Alice Miller, The Body Never Lies, p. 152

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