Forgive me, forgive me not
When a public figure does bad things and goes to jail, at what point should we begin the forgiveness process? With so many examples to choose from, I suppose we can be picky.
Let’s take Sen. Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican recently convicted of felony charges related to lying about the free stuff he got while remodeling his house. Even if he won re-election, he won’t be able to serve in the U.S. Senate, and although he’s pretty long in the tooth, he still may serve time. Do we start our forgiveness process early, since he’s old and has been an elected official for many decades?
What about Michael Vick? He committed despicable acts on dogs (no, not those kind of despicable acts), and the consequences for him have included, but not been limited to, prison, additional criminal charges, bankruptcy, and overwhelming disdain by most humans. But, he’s learning lessons and may emerge a converted man, ready to do good. When do we initiate forgiveness?
Martha Stewart paid the price for investment shenanigans — yet today, she has resumed her high public profile and appears just as popular (whether you love her or hate her) as a decade ago, when it was a good thing. Did we forgive her that quickly?
Rather than or in addition to forgiveness, it may be wise practice to simply accept the transgression, that is to say, acknowledge that it occurred and that certain consequences resulted, and then move on. Forgiveness is an individual decision for most people — it’s really hard to institute “group” forgiveness – and so letting bygones be bygones is often the best (if uncomfortably cliched) decision. Good crisis managers also will carefully assess the public figure’s fall from grace and take away important learnings.
My learnings from these three examples? Pay people for the work they do, love your dogs, and don’t wear fur coats to your trial.