Thread: Australia says sorry
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Old 02-16-2008, 03:21 PM
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Icon10 Excuse me Mr. Webster...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blade View Post
Repeat: An apology is only required from, or appropriate for, someone who has committed a wrong....

<snip>

...One who has done no wrong can express regret for the past, he can condemn the past, he can express sympathy for victims of other people in the past, but he owes no apology.
Failure to act by someone in leadership to correct a past wrong, is in iteself a wrong. When there's good to be done, one cannot both fail to act and be good. A lack of action is in and of itself, doing a wrong.

Additionally, the person making the apology is the only one who can judge whether or not they feel they owe the apology to someone they are trying to reach out to. Whether or not you feel like they do is of no concern here. For example, if I want to apologize to Chesby for the way she's been treated by some of the users here it's my call. I get to tell if I think I owe it to her or not... not you.

If I decide to apologize to her on your behalf, that's another matter entirely. You get to dispute that.

Besides, who died and made you the dictionary?

Another point you stated was:
Quote:
an apology by someone who is not responsible for a wrong, or even worse, on behalf of people who have committed no wrong, can lead to demands from the persons wronged for recompensation or privileges at the expense of those who have committed no wrong - a straight-forward injustice.
This isn't a point of law. An apology is a simple verbal and moral transaction where one party says I'm sorry and the other either accepts the apology and forgives... or doesn't. That's where it ends. An apology doesn't mean you're bound by some sort of law or decree to pay the parties for the wrong you apologize for.

I've benefitted from oppression of Native American Indians in the past because I now own the land I'm living on. You can't repay forever, but you can attempt to make past injustices right again. You can't personally fix all that was done before you came into existence, but you can seek to make some sort of ammends without meaning that you personally have done an injustice.
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