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To me it is not a moot point. I think scripture is pretty clear that if we confess our sins, He is able and willing to forgive sins. That's our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Now I'm not getting hooked up in semantics whether we need to individually account for them or not. But the premise is that we are asking for forgiveness because we are sorry about our behavior. We ask, He grants. In human relationships this also is a key factor. Those who unrepentingly treat other humans with impunity do not ask for or receive forgiveness from other human beings. Forgiveness among humans is a two-sided contract. Jesus and Stephen I look on as a special case. IMO they are forgiving the mob - the pawns that were swept up in the game played by the manipulating Pharisees who orchestrated their deaths. They forgave the individuals involved IMO on the premise that later on when they were not swept up in the passion of the moment they would repent. Remember their words at the moment - "Father forgive them for they know not what they do". IMO this definitely is NOT addressed to cover the Pharisees who orchestrated their deaths - they very much knew what they were doing. The Pharisees will answer at a later date for the hardness of their hearts and their actions which consisted of conspiring to commit murder. I completely disagree that "unforgiveness", whatever that term means, is a form of bitterness and anger. To me not forgiving those who have treated me with impunity and unrepentingly wronged me in the past (such as TWI's BOD) is simply that there is no contract in place - no asking for forgiveness, and no granting forgiveness. I am not bitter any more towards them or angry - I am moving on with my life. But with respect to forgiving people, I simply note their behavior and whether or not they are repentant of it. And I document that fact. If people are behaving in that fashion to a large number of other people as well, then I feel it is probably worth warning others about it. But to me it is funny how people use the topic of forgiveness to excuse the unrepentant evildoers who treat others with impunity and to blame those who simply note that fact and behavior as the ones with a problem. That type of thing to me is being an enabler to evildoers and helps to propogate the abuser / victim relationship behavior cycle.

Thanks for the note. I'm not so sure about your statement that excusing and forgiving are two different things. In common language, to forgive a debt is the same as to excuse a debt. And then there's the John 20:23 record regarding the remitting and retaining of sins. Remitting there is the same word as forgive in the NT. IMO abusers by virtue of the unrepentant behavior have sins that are retained. However, it is not me that holds the paper on those sins, it is God. That's where the "vengeance is mine I will repay" scripture comes in. We're talking around the same concepts though. We need to hold abusers accountable but not allow their behavior to encompass our lives. Living well is the best revenge. God will take care of the rest. So far voting is unaninimous. It seems pretty clear that the BOD of TWI displays unrepentant behavior, despite the trail of bodies behind them they have slandered, marked and avoided, blackballed, ruined, probationed, etc. God will deal with them in His time.

I completely understand where you are coming from, trust me. If you are not bitter or angry, and I'll add not seeking revenge. If you are not waiting for them to repay you for the wrong they have committed against you, then you have, in fact, forgiven them. That's all forgiveness is, it is a letting go of expecting repayment. It's a tearing up of a debt owed to you. It is leaving them in the care of God, or higher power, (or whatever you believe) trusting that God is just, and will deal with them accordingly. It is a very very powerful weapon. It is not "excusing unrepentant evildoers". Quite the contrary. Forgiveness says "it's not okay, what you did was terrible, but I'm tearing up the bill you owe me. This is no longer in my hands, I seek no revenge." You're right that excusing evil behavior enables evildoers and helps propogate the abuser/victim relationship. Excusing and forgiving are two different things. Forgiving and reconciling are also 2 different things. If I have a relative who abused me in the past, I may forgive them. That is, I'm not holding any ill will against them, but darned if I'm going to let them watch my kids. I believe you also said, or someone said, that telling the truth about someone and about what they did is not unforgiveness. It is telling the truth. That's true as well and in some cases it is necessary to inform others about actions a person may take. Again, that is a separate issue from forgiveness.