For They Know Not What They Do

Some of the last few words that Jesus Christ spoke in mortality were "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." It occurs to me that those words could apply toward a lot of people, perhaps everyone.

Many people are ignorant of the suffering they cause others. People's actions or inactions can cause hardships and harm to the people around them and also to people whom they may never meet. Particularly on my mind are the people who vote. Every time we vote for or against any law, measure, proposition, or politician, we are voting for or against someone or something that either may cause or may have prevented harm to countless others. We can't avoid it. No matter what people do, they will end up inadvertently hurting people.

So, we should try not to cause any more harm than we have to, we should accept the fact that our actions harm others without our knowledge or intent, and we should be patient toward those who harm us, especially when they didn't mean to.

Many people don't know how their actions affect others, and many of them would act differently if they did. Many people are ignorant, and therefore morally innocent, of the harm that they cause others, so we should forgive those whose actions (especially the unwitting ones) harm us.