Criticize less, forgive more (Jan 19)
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
Critics of President George W. Bush are rushing to get their final, anger-driven licks in before Barack Obama is sworn in on Tuesday. Their hatred of Bush is palpable. It isn’t enough that Democrats and their supporters in the media treated Bush as they would have treated a pinata during the preisdential campaign, but it seems they have to continue hating him even as he heads out the door of the White House.
Of course, feelings about President Clinton among Republicans and their backers weren’t much different in 2001, just before Bush took office. Clinton was roundly despised among Republicans, not so much for his policies, but for his personal behavior while president.
All this hatred, all these resentments, must have something to do with a certain lack of maturity on the part of those who feel them. Some people have been taught that they have the right to be resentful toward others. “Justified anger,” we are told, can be a good thing. But that goes against the advice of the great ethical and religious teachers.
Psychologists agree, telling us that those who feel resentment toward others are most likely to behave in ways that can lead to others resenting them. Most resentments, they say, are the result of being unable to deal with one’s own emotions. Such folks, unable to deal with such feelings, wish to justify them.
“Resentments give you an excuse to return to your old ways,” writes Dr. Wayne Dyer. “This is what got you there in the first place!”
Ultra-liberals, most of whom voted for Obama, are getting ready to despise him because he doesn’t seem inclined to put their agenda at the head of the train right after he becomes president. That is sad.
We seem far too quick to criticize, and far too slow to forgive — for our own good.
