Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better

Myisha Cherry challenges the conventional understanding of forgiveness, arguing that it can do more harm than good. She presents a new and healthier understanding of forgiveness that will give us a better chance to recover from wrongdoing and move toward "radical repair." She examines how forgiveness can go wrong in families, between friends, at work, and in the media, politics, and beyond, and offers guidance to those deciding whether and how to forgive and those seeking forgiveness.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 19 September 2023
Publisher: Princeton University Press

Sages from Cicero to Oprah have advised us that forgiveness necessitates us to let go of negative emotions and that it possesses a unique ability to heal our wounds. Myisha Cherry contends in Failures of Forgiveness that these assumptions couldn't be further from the truth—and that the ways we think about and utilize forgiveness, both individually and as a society, can frequently do more harm than good. She offers a fresh and healthier perspective on forgiveness that will increase our chances of recovering from wrongdoing and moving towards "radical repair."

Cherry began investigating forgiveness after witnessing some relatives of the victims of the mass shooting at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina, forgive what seemed unforgivable. She was troubled by the fact that many observers seemed to be more inspired by these acts of forgiveness than they were motivated to confront the racial hatred that led to the killings. Cherry argues that this is a significant mistake. Forgiveness is not magic. We can forgive and still be angry, there can be good reasons not to forgive, and forgiving a wrong without addressing its roots solves nothing. Examining how forgiveness can go wrong in families, between friends, at work, and in the media, politics, and beyond, Cherry addresses forgiveness and race, canceling versus forgiving, self-forgiveness, and more. She takes the burden of forgiveness off those who have been wronged and offers guidance to both those deciding whether and how to forgive and those seeking forgiveness.

By demonstrating how to do forgiveness better, Failures of Forgiveness promises to transform how we deal with wrongdoing in our lives, opening a new path to true healing and reconciliation.

Dimension: 216 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691223193