Maybe

Forgive me when I get confused about all the apologies about the past. The latest issue, is not really an apology, but the recognition of the Armenian genocide by Turkey. The government that was in existence then doesn’t exist today. I doubt if anyone is even alive that was alive then, and certainly if they are, they were infants at the time. Now that doesn’t mean I think that we shouldn’t call it a genocide, because that is what it was. But the Turks are getting more than huffy about it, and don’t want to say their forefathers did bad things.

My forefathers did bad things. I am sure as early settlers they shot a few Indians here and there. And probably another ancestor or two was on a ship that captured slaves. As an individual I do not feel responsible for their sins, but I have no trouble saying that even though things like murder and slavery were considered okay then, that it wasn’t okay. It was what it was, murder and theft of the worse kind, theft of human life and dignity.

I also wonder if 100 years from now, if the planet survives and the people survive and the US survives, will there be debates about apologizing to whatever the Iraqis have become for slaughtering them. Or will we continue to deny the horrendous things we are doing to that country.

And in no case, will an apology or saying it is genocide or an illegal war or whatever bring one soul back. However, if only we could look at the sins of our forefathers and recognize them for what they were, maybe, just maybe we might not repeat the mistakes and take more innocent lives.