Late Coming to the Party

**WARNING** Battlestar Galactica Plot Spoiler (but a minor one)

I finally finished watching the two part Battlestar Galactica season finale. It was pretty good but it got me thinking about things.

One big issue was one where Chief Tyrol beat up a female shipmate and close friend. She woke him up while he was dreaming and he, in some kind of altered state, beat the crap out of her before realizing what he had done. Later, there was a scene where Cally was in the infirmary, all black and blue and with her jaw wired shut. Tyrol comes in and apologizes and she immediately forgives him. Fast forward a year later and it is obvious that they have gotten together as a couple.

When I watched that, my first thought was that it was perfectly normal and right that she would forgive him. He wouldn’t hurt her under normal circumstances. He wasn’t himself when he did it, etc. And even if he did hurt her on purpose, I really believe strongly that forgiveness is the way to go. It is always right to forgive people who have wronged you. But the Chief really hurt Cally. And she has no reason to think that he wont do it again. I guess that while it seems right to me that she would forgive him, it doesn’t seem right to me that would shack up with him so quickly. Well, that isn’t exactly true. It did seem to fit her character but what I mean to say is that I wouldn’t have made the same choice if it were me unless I had some pretty convincing evidence that it wouldn’t happen again.

I guess what I am getting at here is that I see forgiveness as a form of self protection. Anger tends to eat away at the soul if it goes on to long. But it is also important to recognize that anger is also a form of self protection. It certainly can distance us from people who harm us, physically or emotionally. And when it comes time to forgive, I think it is also time to really look at the object of one’s anger and determine if one can have them in one’s life. If someone is hurtful, the answer really has to be not to have such a person in one’s life. Forgive them…yes. Let them keep hurting you. No way!