| The Power of Forgiveness | |
| Director: | Martin Doblmeier |
| Music: | John Keltonic, JDK music |
| Cinematography: | Brendan Galvin |
| Editing: | Adele Schmidt |
| Runtime: | 78 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
The Power of Forgiveness is a 2008 documentary film by Martin Doblmeier about the process of forgiveness. It features interviews with renowned Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, best-selling authors Thomas Moore and Marianne Williamson and others.[1]
The film was released in 2008, had its world premier at Dawn Breakers International Film Festival[2] and was broadcast on television stations across the United States.
The documentary was founded by Fetzer institute (part of Love and Forgiveness campaign) and the John Templeton Foundation.[3]
The documentary explores the reason, effects and benefits of forgiveness. Begins with comments on the fight between Protestant and catholic members and 1980 Good Friday Agreement, the introduction of forgiveness curriculum in primary schools that includes mercy, and to seek and give forgiveness. It explains how Amish societies do not teach forgiveness explicitly in the families, but it is teach in their way of living.
It presents diverse circumstances in which crime and forgiveness are present, among them the following:
It shows when Elie Wiesel asked the President of Germany to ask Jewish people for forgiveness and how 2 weeks later the president of Germany went to Israel and asked forgiveness for the crimes committed by the Third Reich. explains the physiology of revenge, and how the pleasure pathways fare up when a person plans how to make an enemy pay their offense as a craving for revenge, being this the reward or motivation for paying back an offense.
It also shows when the relatives of victim of crimes deposited in the Garden of Forgiveness the rest of their beloved ones in a space surrounded by a Mosque, a Synagogue and a Christian church and not in a Landfill.
Capt. Cindy Gass described the scene encountered on January 1, 1996, during the investigation of the burglary they found the body of Frances Worthington (Everett Worthington's mother) after the criminal(s) beat her, struck with a Crowbar and killed her during the sacking of her house.[4] Everett Worthington explains how the play of both roles, the offended and the offender could help people to understand and to forgive.
Thích Nhất Hạnh founder of the School of Youth for Social Services in the 1950 to provide schools and clinics in rural areas, this work changed with the Vietnam War in 1955, the army went to the school and killed the students at a time when Thích Nhất Hạnh was not present, after it he promoted peace and founded the Plum Village in France.
Tony Hicks was raised by his grandfather, at the age of 11 he joined a gang, and in an evening of 1995, when he was 14 year old, visited three of his friends, whom gave him drugs and alcohol, he was asked to kill and shoot a person as a part of a gang initiation, they invited him to a robbery and gave him a 9 mm handgun, a 18 year old who commanded him and two 14 years old boys, his friends ordered pizza, and when driver, Tariq Khamisa delivered the pizza, Tony shoot and killed him.[5] [6] [7] [8] Ples Felix (Tony's grandfather) and Azim Khamisa (Tariq Khamisa's father) created a foundation to prevent the fights and killings between children with three mandates, to save children lives, to empower the right choices, and to teach the principles of non violence, empathy, compassion and forgiveness, teaching them tools that they can during their life: learn to meditate, to be peaceful, to be centered, and learn to interact with other children in a kind way. Azim Khamisa believes that punishment does not fix society, but instead prevent society to find and solve the causes of crimes and violence.