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Heart and Soul: The Power of Forgiveness

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18/12/2015 GMT

The Power of Forgiveness

BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, The Power of Forgiveness

The roots of the forgiveness offered to Dylan Roof in Christianity

How the 'forgiveness' offered to Dylann Roof by some familes of those he allegedly murdered in their church has led to claims that it is just a 'free pass' for white Americans

In an extraordinary moment that had a huge impact around the globe just two days after nine members of the congregation of the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston were shot dead, the family members of those murdered stood in a courtroom and offered the alleged killer Dylann Roof their forgiveness. 

Jane Little travels to South Carolina to explore how the families were able to voice their forgiveness to Roof so quickly, and what it is within their Christian faith which meant that they were compelled to offer Roof their forgiveness.

She also explores how some African-Americans were critical of the idea of forgiving, suggesting that offering forgiveness was nothing more than ‘free pass’ for white Americans to maintain a complacent attitude to its deep structural racism

The Power of Forgiveness was produced and presented by Jane Little

Image of Rev. Anthony Thompson who lost his wife Myra courtesy of Jane Little

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