Dan,
Beautifully put and wonderfully transforming of seeing the nuances and
effects in real time with current example. We all can learn from your
valiant efforts of those entangled in real life Victim/Perpetrator dynamics.
Thank you for your courage to bring this work into the prison system.
My question to you is do you think these inmates share this fate of being
the excluded ones in prison together?
Or are they paying a price for other perpetrators who remained unpunished
for their deeds in the prisoners family system?
I've been told by people who teach this work that Bad Boys are really Mama's
Boy being tough guys for her approval?
What is their shared fates with their Father's as well?
Keep up the good work..Sincerest support, respect & admiration Gary Stuart
LA, CA
PS America has the highest incarceration rate of any industrialized nation
on Earth. Mostly people of color as well any many for petty Marijuana
offences..or our infamous 3rd strike life without parole for stealing a
piece of pizza or Twinkie while starving but on parole equals the 2nd or
3rd offence. This in the alleged land of the Free?
From: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dan Booth Cohen
Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2008 8:53 AM
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [ConstellationTalk] Re: Crime. Punishment, Apology and
Forgivenss
Dipa - The concept of "radical evil" comes from the philosopher Hannah
Arendt who wrote about in her book about Eichmann. She used it to
distinguish between ordinary trespasses, which can be repaired and remedied,
and acts, such as Eichmann's, which are so destructive or permanent, that
they cannot be repaired. A murder is such an act.
Common forgiveness is a release given for less than full-compensation. For
example, a young woman who was house-sitting our cats borrowed my car and
crashed it. She paid 1/3 the cost of the damage and I forgave the rest. In
forgiving her, she no longer "owes" me anything. If she had committed an
act of radical evil, purposely killing the cats, this type of common
forgiveness would be impossible.
We discussed these concepts in my prison group yesterday. One of the men
told me a story. He has been incarcerated 33 years for being an accessory
to 1st degree murder. During the crime, he left his co-defendant with the
victim. The victim screamed "Help me" as he was being murdered. The man
did nothing to stop the killing. He was caught, convicted, and sentence to
"life without parole." Five years into his sentence, there was an attempted
mass prison break from his unit. He retreated into his room as fighting
broke out between prisoners and guards. He heard a guard, who had been set
upon by a group of prisoners, screaming, "Help me." At that moment, the
spirit of his murder victim came to life within in. The spirit compelled
him, propelled him, out of the room to save the guard's life, which he did.
At that time and afterwards, he did not reflect much on the philosophy of
this event. But through our experiences with Constellations in prison and
our discussion, it clicked for him that this was a very concrete example of
the victim-perpetrator bond and an illustration of how forgiveness works in
cases of acts of radical evil. The forgiveness is not complete. The guilt
is not absolved, or even reduced. But through his guilt and the bond, a
life on the verge of being lost was saved. With this, he earned a measure
of forgiveness and his dignity.
Dan
p.s. A cleaned-up version of my post to CT is on my website
www.HiddenSolution.com/arnie.htm.
-----Original Message-----
From: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of dipa
Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2008 10:22 AM
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [ConstellationTalk] Re: Crime. Punishment, Apology and Forgivenss
Hi Dan,
thank-you for your contribution and concise definition of the
forgiving act in constellation work.
can i know what is the definition and examples of "radical acts of
evil"?
also just wondering if there a difference, in forgiveness, of someone
who commits 'radical acts of evil' and one who commits any other act?
to me, it seems like there is none - forgiveness as how you have
defined it, seems to cover acts of imbalance in give and take, whether
it be murder, adultery or petty crime etc.
Best wishes, Dipa
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
