Can we ever 'demand forgiveness'?

Often we do, especially when the victims disturb our stereotypes. In the U.S., Gary Dotson was accused by 16 year old Cathleen Crowell Webb of rape. In fact, Cathleen Webb had made a false accusation in order to cover up a sexual relationship with her boyfriend. However, it suited the needs of all sorts of people, as well as Cathleen Webb, to convict Gary Dotson and he was sentenced to between 25-50 years gaol. Seven years later Cathleen Webb found God, and with God, a guilty conscience. At the age of 23 she confessed to the false accusation. DNA evidence also showed the semen on her underwear was that of her boyfriend and not of Dotson. This reversed the evidence at Dotson's trial, namely, Webb's say-so and supposedly Dotson's semen. But this did not even get Dotson a re-trial. It was only after two extraordinary journalists investigated the situation and a State governor could see that it would suit his political aspirations, that Dotson was eventually freed. Even then, the governor released him on "restrictive parole".

Can you imagine the sense of personal violation and the deprivation of liberty that Gary Dotson had experienced and would continue to experience, even after release? A term in gaol, and a shadow that would linger over him in people's minds for the rest of his life. Many victims of false accusations lose their employment, their spouse, their families and their self-respect. Many are raped in gaol. Can there be any forgiveness in such a situation without a confession, not just by Webb, but by all the people whose ideologies it suited to convict web and cover up the truth? Yet, on the CBS morning talk show, Phyllis George asked Dotson to hug Webb and forgive her!

False accusations of sexual assault are quite common and in some surveys have been show to occur in the majority of cases. In our imaginings of forgiveness, how often do we imagine the difficulty with which it is extended by someone falsely accused, rather than a genuine victim? Or, to put it another way, how often do we appreciate that the accused is actually the victim? We can see that the "demand to forgive", placed upon some victims of church abuse, is really just an attempt to bury the incident as quickly as possible, and without addressing the issues. How much more so, when the finger of accusation cuts more deeply with the discovery of a false accusation and the self-interests which were served by perpetuating it?

A netfriend