Comment by mynameisvlad
5 years ago
“I apologize for stabbing them.” Period. End of sentence.
Not “I apologize for stabbing them BUT they started it”
The latter is just trying to justify and excuse the bad behavior and save face. A true apology shows remorse and that’s it.
Bingo, apologizing and then going "but <they deserved it / totally provoked me / blah blah blah>" is anything but an apology, it's just a cheap attempt at winning in the court of public opinion: "Yeah I was wrong but I was right, actually" is just a confession with some faux remorse veneer and a rationalization stapled to it.
what if they deny that they started it?
> The latter is just trying to justify and excuse the bad behavior and save face
Ok, but in the example that was given, it does justify it, a little bit.
It doesn't justify it completely, but I would absolutely have more empathy for someone who stabbed someone out of some amount of self defense, than I would for someone who stabbed someone for no reason.
Do you really believe, that in the stabbing example, someone who stabs someone, for literally no reason at all, is exactly the same as someone who did it, in response to being assaulted first?
If your goal is to apologize, you don’t need to justify your actions. That’s what people are criticizing.
So then you agree or disagree, in the specific example, of someone responding in self defense, as opposed to stabbing someone for no reason?
You think these 2 actions are the same, or is it that 1 situation is probably not as bad?
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