Americans Want Forgiving World, But Won't Forgive

There's 'a near-universal desire for a more loving and unified world'

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 4, 2010 5:26 PM CDT

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Americans Want Forgiving World, But Won't Forgive — Americans want a more forgiving world, but are stingy with whom they'll forgive, and under what conditions. (Shutterstock)

Americans have a complicated relationship with forgiveness—they wish the world was a more forgiving place, but are rather stingy with forgiving people themselves. A full 94% agreed they'd like to see more forgiveness in the country, according to a survey by the Fetzer Institute. Despite that hope, a full 60% said people should only be forgiven under certain conditions.

That 60% think that forgiveness should be conditional on "the offender apologizing and making changes," the Huffington Post reports. And more than half of respondents said there are crimes for which someone should never be forgiven, including child abuse, sexual crimes, and murder.
(More forgiveness stories.)

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