What is an Apology?

Americans make too much of an individual apologizing for an act or comment.

An apology is an acknowledgement of some fault, injury, insult, etc. with an expression of regret and a plea for pardon and we insist the individual express that remorse or regret before we are willing to move on.

Americans of all ilks have their likes and dislikes; they have prejudices; they discriminate. Those are not bad terms unless they cause an individual to break a law or even worse, have an opinion different than our opinion. Remember the Constitution defines what the government can do not the people.

Celebrities will, on occasion say or do something that is upsetting to the public. They do not regret thinking the way they think or feeling the way they feel but they regret having to deal with the public's reaction to their thoughts or feelings. They are sorry…they were caught.

When an individual is convicted of committing a crime, Americans want to know why, so before we move on we demand an explanation. Of course, once convicted, the individual is sorry…they were caught.

Americans need to accept that we do not all think alike and as long as no law is broken that is OK. We may disagree and that is OK also. Some crimes have no rational explanation. We need to move past the infraction with those differences in place.

If Americans cannot forgive or forget at least we must stop insisting on being lied to.


Recently the Amish have exhibited an example of forgiveness from which we can all learn.