The lockdown never-forgivers and the fruitless quest for retributive “Justice”

We should not forget, but we should be quick to forgive the Covid authoritarians.

During the covid years, and as a result of the government’s response to the COVID-19 scare, many behaved in ways they are ashamed to admit today. In 2020, the old and infirm were cut off from their families and friends, and thus reduced to plead not to be left to die alone. Many others, including young people, were driven to desperation and, ultimately, tragedy. People’s livelihoods and millions of businesses were destroyed by orders given from the pulpits of authority. When Boris Johnson’s “scientific cavalry” finally arrived, at the end of that year, we hoped that those who considered it necessary would be injected with the new experimental vaccine - if they so wished - and that normality would finally return.

In fact, the advent of the Covid jabs only made the tyranny worse. We learned a painful lesson about the fragility of civil society. We saw how the fearful and obedient – driven to hysteria by the media and the government – became enthusiastic about the prospect of punishing those who did not roll up their sleeves to “do the right thing”. Normal behaviour was criminalised. Peaceful protest was violently repressed. Leaders across the world such as Emmanuel Macron and Saint Jacinda were happy to double-down when confronted with accusations of discrimination and persecution, saying that they wanted to “piss off” the unvaccinated and downgrade them to second-class citizens. In the United Kingdom, people with as much concern for freedom as Conan the Barbarian were in charge of dictating our lives – remember Matt ‘fake tears’ Hancock, Nigel ‘pants-down’ Fergusson, and Boris ‘wasn’t me, guv’ Johnson? Opportunists from the non-ironically named SAGE experts such as Susan Michie – the Communist party member and behavioural scientist who now works for the WHO – continuously called for government to suspend our basic rights in the name of “safety”.

Today, the psychological damage, economic ruin, high levels of unexplained excess deaths, and catastrophic side-effects from the vaccines are wilfully ignored by those who imposed the measures.

But should we never forgive and never forget?

Lord Frost recently wrote a very important article in which he extolled people not to forget. Frost believes that we should remember what happened as it explains the infantilisation of the British people and the concerning enlargement of a paternalistic State. I believe he is right to cast our minds back to the covid years. We should not simply forget. But while Lord Frost’s message is perfectly judicious, others are determined never to forgive.

This is the case with Bob Moran the former Telegraph cartoonist whose most recent cartoon depicts an enraged God expelling a naked Piers Morgan and Julia Hartley-Brewer from paradise.

Personally, it was sad to see this image. Bob’s cartoons provided consolation and reassurance to those who, like me, objected to the mandates from the very start. His previous cartoons made us feel “not alone”

Yet, that recent paradise cartoon is a clear example of the unforgiving rage currently consuming the cartoonist. Even more grotesque than the image, however, is the use of Christian references, which let slip the fact that Moran has simply ignored - during easter, no less - the doctrine of forgiveness. Reprehensibly, he positions himself as being on “God’s side” judging who is good and who is bad.

What seems to have triggered Moran’s rage was that Piers Morgan recently admitted to having been wrong for his over-the-top demonisation of the unvaccinated. (one would have to be naïve to not see that Piers has changed his tune because the wind has also changed, and it is no longer open season on the unvaccinated).

Julia Hartley-Brewer, on the other hand, was unrelenting in her opposition to Covid authoritarianism. And she never advocated punishment for the unvaccinated. Furthermore, she recently skewered Lord Bethell - a former Government Health Minister - like no one has before. You can watch it for yourself here

Yet, for many of the Lockdown never-forgivers, it is inconceivable to give a “free pass” to anyone who did not always oppose the covid regime. Effectively, they believe that if you are not pure, you deserve to be publicly shamed and even punished. In their view, in order to prevent any further sliding into tyranny, those who didn’t speak against, or contributed to covid authoritarianism should be identified and taught a painful lesson. “Spanish Inquisition” springs to mind.

I hope Bob Moran and many like him realise that revenge and punishment are not the answer. Justice cannot be achieved by inflicting further harm. Instead, I believe that active forgiveness is what will eventually heal society and neutralise the rapaciousness of certain groups.

I was looking for examples of forgiveness when I stumbled upon one of the most moving and incredible stories in recent history. I believe we can all learn a lot about the power of forgiveness from people who have suffered the greatest injustices. This is beautifully illustrated in the story of Eva Mozes Kor.

Eva was a Jewish Holocaust survivor who in 1940, at the age of six, was transported by cattle cart to Auschwitz, alongside her entire family. Upon arrival at the concentration camp, a Nazi soldier asked if Eva and her sister were twins. After obtaining confirmation of this fact, the Nazi soldiers promptly pulled the girls away from their mother. At the time, Eva and her sister did not understand this would be the last time they would see their parents and siblings. What they soon discovered was that being twins made them ideal candidates for the experiments of Josef Mengele (the Angel of Death). They were both subjected to horrendous experiments and almost died as a consequence. Eva recalls that her motivation for survival was that if she died her sister would be euthanised so that the Nazi doctors could conduct autopsies on their bodies and compare the effects of their experiments.

After the liberation of Auschwitz, both sisters were transported back to Romania, their country of birth. Eventually, they were allowed to move to Israel. Eva married an American and moved to the United States. Following her sister’s death in 1993, Eva was invited to give a speech in Boston and was asked “if she could bring a Nazi doctor with her”. Although the request left her astonished, she remembered that a documentary in which she had recently worked also showed Dr Hans Munch, an Auschwitz Nazi doctor. Munch turned down Eva’s invitation but instead asked her to visit him in Germany. This experience changed Eva’s perspective, she asked the doctor about the things he had done, given he had been involved in the use of gas chambers to kill people. Eva asked Dr Munch if he would agree to sign a document to confirm what they had discussed in order to have the signed testimony of a Nazi to prove that the holocaust really happened. Munch immediately agreed to sign the document.

Eva found herself wanting to thank the Nazi doctor, something which she struggled to come to terms with. After several months of internal deliberation, she woke up one morning and the idea came to her mind to forgive Dr Munch.

What she discovered was life-changing. In her own words:

I discovered that I had the power to forgive. No one could give me that power, no one could take it away. It was all mine to use in any way I wished. […] As a victim of almost 50 years, I never thought I had any power over my life.

Eva then found the strength and courage to even forgive Josef Mengele:

I, the little guinea pig of 50 years, [sic] even had power over the Angel of Death of Auschwitz

[…]

What is my forgiveness? I like it, it’s an act of self-healing, self-liberation, and self-empowerment. All victims are hurt, feel hopeless, feel helpless, feel powerless. I want everybody to remember we cannot change what happened, but we can change how we relate to it.

Of course, it would be ridiculous to compare the atrocities that Eva Mozes Kor forgave with the dreadfully stupid covid measures and those who imposed them. But the principle remains. If forgiveness helped her reclaim her life, why would it not do the same for you?

We should pay attention to the words of this heroic woman.

To not forgive is punishment for the unforgiving victim and by extension for those around them. Revenge only lowers us to the level of the wrongdoers. And in the search for retributive justice, totally innocent people can come to harm. Forgiving is not easy, but it is the most powerful gesture possible. It is furthermore an undeniable victory for Justice.

On the other hand, nurturing an unquenchable thirst for revenge is the surest and fastest way to end up being the one in need of forgiveness.

So be quick to forgive or be ready to become what you hate.