History shows apology can ease pain from misdeeds
State Rep. Al Williams (D-Midway) sparked a fierce public debate this month when he announced that he would introduce a resolution that would ask Georgia to express "contrition" for its role in African-American slavery.
The resolution has been framed as a political issue, but it also raises a moral question that's divided people in countries as diverse as Japan and Australia: Should people apologize for something their ancestors did?
Similar debates are taking place abroad. In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ignited an emotional political debate recently when he said his country would not apologize to thousands of Asian women forced to work in army brothels during World War II. Australia's prime minister, John Howard, also sparked criticism when he rebuffed a similar call for his country's treatment of Aborigines. Howard said his generation shouldn't apologize for something their ancestors did.
But Robert Franklin, the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, disputes those arguments.
People routinely accept their connections to their ancestors when it benefits them, he says. People gladly accept prosperity passed down from previous family members.
Read entire article at Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The resolution has been framed as a political issue, but it also raises a moral question that's divided people in countries as diverse as Japan and Australia: Should people apologize for something their ancestors did?
Similar debates are taking place abroad. In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ignited an emotional political debate recently when he said his country would not apologize to thousands of Asian women forced to work in army brothels during World War II. Australia's prime minister, John Howard, also sparked criticism when he rebuffed a similar call for his country's treatment of Aborigines. Howard said his generation shouldn't apologize for something their ancestors did.
But Robert Franklin, the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, disputes those arguments.
People routinely accept their connections to their ancestors when it benefits them, he says. People gladly accept prosperity passed down from previous family members.