Australia Says “Sorry!”

So, “sorry” is not such a hard word to say, after all. After many years in which the word Reconciliation has been on the lips of virtually all Australians, finally a newly elected Government down under has done what previous ones have steadfastly refused to do — to say “Sorry” to the Aboriginals. It’s an apology that the indigenous people of Australia deserve in recognition of the centuries of abject cruelty, dehumanization, mistreatment, genocide, marginalization, ethnic cleansing and family destruction visited upon them by the white settlers until not too many years ago. They stole children from the said ‘savages’ and gave them to white folks. These children became known as the ‘stolen generation.’

The people of Australia have for a decade or more been thirsting for this gesture of reconciliation in a way that the people of America have not - for all that they feel deep anger and shame about slavery and segregation and the Native American holocaust. Both still await an apology and some semblance of reconciliation.

I wonder when we will demand it of our government like the Australians demanded it of theirs? When will we have a government that will say “Sorry” to African and Native Americans so that a genuine healing can begin. It is overdue. (Obama might be the one to do it!)

But in Australia today, there is much rejoicing and tears of joy. Maria Malone, a coach living in Sydney who never fails to be on the monthly Tuesday call, wrote to the coaches group that she was ecstatic about it. JoAnn and I are ecstatic about it too, because we became in a very small way part of that national reconciliation process.

We spent half a year in Australia in 2000 - 2001 dedicating ourselves to teaching radical forgiveness as a way of bringing reconciliation to this great land. I wrote a book and published it there. It was called Reconciliation Through Radical Forgiveness. I wrote an article in a leading newspaper in Melbourne entitled, Sorry is NOT the Hardest Word. In Alice Springs we participated in the celebrations of the Centenary of Federation, which was commemorating the coming together 100 years prior, of the separate states and territories in order to create a united Australia.

They really made it an Aboriginal Affair. They had five separate stages set up in the field and the huge video screen that was used at the Sydney Olympic Games. They brought together, for the first time in history, aboriginal people from all over the country, and each tribe performed their own Creation Dance. All five stages featured these dances and it went on for two days, non-stop, night and day. While we were there in Alice Springs we did the Radical Forgiveness Ceremony and a special ceremonial version of the Group 7-Step Process for creating a healing between aboriginals and whites. Then we went to Uluru, the sacred rock in the center of Australia (the Europeans call it Ayers Rock) and did a special healing ceremony there. It was a joy.

It was while we were at Uluru that we heard the news about 9/11. We didn’t know what to do so we decided to walk the 3-1/2 miles around the base of Uluru in silent meditation and prayer.

Now you might be wondering why, if everything is perfect and nothing wrong ever happened — which is the basic tenet of Radical Forgiveness - why is an apology is even necessary and why would I personally join with others to push for it. The answer is that an apology can open to door to Radical Forgiveness. An apology is a act of compassion, regret and contrition and is appropriate even within the spiritual philosophy of Radical Forgiveness as being a part of the soul’s learning process. It is an act that might awaken us to the truth that separation is the myth. When I realize that when I hurt my brother I hurt myself, I begin to connect with the principle of oneness.

Let’s look at the difference between an ordinary apology and a Radical Apology.

The Ordinary Apology:

An ordinary apology recognizes that someone was hurt, disadvantaged or in some other way damaged because of something we intentionally did - and that what we did was wrong. It is a direct communication to the aggrieved party that we are in sorrow, guilt and regret that the event occurred and we wish that the party knows this.

It may also be an appeal for forgiveness. However, because there is no recognition of any underlying spiritual purpose in what took place, and that victim consciousness is fully maintained, this kind of apology is not compatible with Radical Forgiveness.

The Radical Apology:

A Radical Apology recognizes in just the same way that, in human terms, someone got hurt and that it is something to be truly sorrowful and perhaps even ‘appropriately’ guilty about. We also accept full responsibility for what happened in human and worldly terms and are willing to be accountable for what we have done.

At the same time, however, we are open to the possibility that some higher purpose was being served and it had to happen that way for whatever reason. We are, in effect, seeing the situation from the perspective of both the World of Spirit and the World of Humanity at the same time. This has the effect of raising our own vibration while at the same time releasing the low vibration energy tied up in the situation itself — thus enabling a healing to occur for all concerned as well as a general raising of consciousness such that there will in the future be less need for such hurtful things to occur.

However, since it is still difficult for us — as the perpetrator — to really ‘know’ that there was a perfection in the situation, and probably even more difficult for the victim, it seems that a genuine expression of compassion and sorrow (rather than regret), might help us both. The sorrow is not so much because it happened but that the person (a human being) was hurt or damaged. If nothing else, it opens the energy up for Radical Forgiveness to enter into play — especially for the victim. Therefore a Radical Apology is a BRIDGE to Radical Forgiveness and Reconciliation. It is also a preliminary step in the direction of clearing one’s shadow.

Now governments can say "Sorry", and perhaps one day the American government will follow the example of the government of Australia. There is no gainsaying the symbolic value of an apology coming from on high like that. However, we in America can do what ordinary people did in Australia. They made their own individual apologies. You could walk into any store, even a post office, and there on the counter would be something you could sign as a declaration of desire for reconciliation. You could say “sorry” and sign your name.

But those of us who understand Radical Forgiveness can go one step further by making a Radical Apology on behalf of ourselves and America to all those groups that have been hurt by us.. You can do this right now by going to our web site, www.radicalforgiveness.com, click on Radical World Peace and on that page sign a Radical Apology just like this one here. This one is a blanket apology to a range of people to whom we as Americans owe an apology but you can write one of your own that focuses on one specific issue if you wish.

The Blanket Radical Apology

1. Even though I know that everything was, is and always will be in Divine order, I as a representative of America, am nevertheless now willing to make a blanket statement of Radical Apology to everyone and everything that I have caused to be hurt or damaged in any way. I do this in the knowledge and comfort that this will begin the process of clearing mine and America’s shadow and, hopefully, healing the pain of those who have been hurt. In particular, on behalf of all Americans, I put forth sincere Radical Apologies to:

African Americans

American Indians

Hispanics

Chinese Americans

Japanese Americans

Other races discriminated against ____________________________

Women

American citizens wrongly accused, incarcerated and/or executed

American citizens subjected to witch-hunts by government agencies

The people of Nagasaki and Hiroshima

The people of Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and others we have bombed.

Thanks for being willing to say Sorry.