Topic Tuesday for They Called Me Number One

On this weeks Topic Tuesday Meredith picks a quote from page 189 of They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School by Bev Sellars.

“I have been told many times that I need to “forgive” in order to move on with my life. I say bull to that. It is not up to me to forgive. Forgiveness is an easy out for those who have inflicted all the pain and suffering on Aboriginal people. Forgiveness and reconciliation too easily absolve us of our responsibility to find solutions to conflicts. Forgiveness allows the perpetrators to get away with not being accountable for their actions. Is this like the Catholic confessional, where even for the most horrendous crimes, one can go to confession, say a few prayers, and get forgiveness in the eyes of God? Is this why the abuses continued? Is that how the abusers in the schools lived with themselves? There can be no forgiveness for evil done in the guise of religion and there can be no forgiveness for racism.”