Showing posts with label apologies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apologies. Show all posts
Monday, April 11, 2016
I'm Sorry, So Sorry. Please Accept My Apologies...
In response to a news report regarding the frequently discussed question of whether Secretary Kerry might apologize for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during his visit to Hiroshima I posted the following.
The irony is absolutely profound. The nation in which conducted some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind (and still refuses to sincerely apologize for them) nevertheless expects an apology from one of her victims because her atrocities were the seeds of later atrocities. I could thoroughly support the peace efforts at Hiroshima if they were entirely directed at ending war. That is a strong thread in the web, of course, but there is also a strong thread of "Poor Japan" and even "Wicked America". This reality is brutal, disgusting, almost unthinkable, but the use of the atomic bomb saved both Japanese and American lives. War is an atrocity. War is always an atrocity. That is the message, or at least, it should be.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
From a Facebook comment on Republican attacks on Obama for apologizing to the Islamic world for the accidental mistreatment of the Koran by US forces:
Message to the Republican Party:
A manly apology is not a weakness. It is a strength. An adult, secure in his position, confident in his masculinity, is not afraid to apologize. This, of course, is also true of an adult woman who is self confident and self-assured. The insecure, the frightened, those lacking in self-respect, these are the ones who are afraid to make a sincere honest, apology when an error has occurred.
As a retired elementary school teacher and principal I am quite familiar with this particular problem. Actually, I think every parent is quite familiar with this particular problem. Every kindergartner needs to learn, if their parents have not already taught them this essential fact, that throwing a temper tantrum, hissing and shrieking, and flatly refusing to apologize to everyone who dares to disagree with you is not actually the way to appear to the world to be a big boy or a big girl. The simple fact is, grown-ups apologize.
It does not hurt them to apologize. It does not weaken them to apologize. It shows that they are polite, self-assured, and secure. It bears repeating, grown-ups apologize. Spoiled little children do not.
Message to the Republican Party:
A manly apology is not a weakness. It is a strength. An adult, secure in his position, confident in his masculinity, is not afraid to apologize. This, of course, is also true of an adult woman who is self confident and self-assured. The insecure, the frightened, those lacking in self-respect, these are the ones who are afraid to make a sincere honest, apology when an error has occurred.
As a retired elementary school teacher and principal I am quite familiar with this particular problem. Actually, I think every parent is quite familiar with this particular problem. Every kindergartner needs to learn, if their parents have not already taught them this essential fact, that throwing a temper tantrum, hissing and shrieking, and flatly refusing to apologize to everyone who dares to disagree with you is not actually the way to appear to the world to be a big boy or a big girl. The simple fact is, grown-ups apologize.
It does not hurt them to apologize. It does not weaken them to apologize. It shows that they are polite, self-assured, and secure. It bears repeating, grown-ups apologize. Spoiled little children do not.
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