Corrie Ten Boom Research Paper

Forgive, not because they deserve forgives, but because you deserve peace. It’s not easy to stop blaming someone’s fault, especially for someone who do wrong to us. In the book The Sunflower written by Simon Wiesenthal, a survivor of the Holocaust during World War II, he described his conflict with Karl, a dying Nazi soldier who killed many innocent Jews and begging for forgiveness for his outrageous crime at the end of his life. At the end of this sad and tragic episode, Simon did not response to Karl’s request directly; instead he left us a tough question: “What should you have done?” Based on what Karl had done during World War II and his repentance, each person might have their own point of view about where should we draw the line of forgiveness.

I feel that forgiveness is not for the other person, it’s a process that provides you the energy and the self-confidence to move on.

We are humans and a majority of us have dealt with heartache, pain, broken promises, along with the joyous things like dreams, aspirations, and successful futures. Humans mess up and make mistakes, but we have to remember that forgiveness is a very prestigious and powerful thing. Forgiveness affects people’s lives in positive ways through the hardships, difficulties, and struggles of life. There comes a time when forgiveness should not be available to some individuals. However, this depends on the past situations that have occurred in your life as well as other individuals. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls, was a girl who did not live the ordinary lifestyle. She had to overcome many occurrences with her family, from living a rough life

What makes one person want to harm another? One reason a person may want to harm another is to get revenge. In the book The Year We Disappeared by Cylin and John Busby, John wants desperately to get revenge on the person who shot him in the face while he was out on a night patrol. John finds himself desiring to inflict harm on John Meyer, the person he assumes shot him, yet he does not know if this is the right thing and considers forgiveness as an option. Since the start of mankind, humans have had to contemplate these three ideas when deciding between forgiveness and revenge: the reasons people forgive, the reasons people commit revenge, and how their choice will impact others.

The Sunflower is a memoir of Simon Wiesenthal’s experience in a Polish concentration camp and his internal conflict of whether he did the right thing by remaining silent when a dying SS man asked him for forgiveness. Wiesenthal wrestles with this choice and at the end of his memoir, he extends the question “What would you do?” to the readers. Drawing my own opinion from a number of people including “theologians, writers, human rights activists, Holocaust survivors, political leaders, and victims of attempted genocide in Bosnia, Cambodia, China, and Tibet” whom have responded to this question. I personally would have been just as conflicted as Wiesenthal was, but ultimately I would have chosen to forgive him.

Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.”(interview) This quote talks about the validation of death and how the events he went through took away his will to fight for his life. “How could I forget that concert, given to an audience of dying and dead men!"(90) This statement validates the dead and he accepts the fact that everyone at the concert wasn’t alive they were all lifeless. Remembrance, validating the dead, and recent events are all important reasons to show why the holocaust is important to learn

Women were an important aspect to the Civil War. One of those woman was Clara Barton. She took on many roles during the Civil War that were focusing on helping others.

The world is filled with hypocrisy, prejudice, and hatred that spreads and festers like a disease that no one can contain. Some individuals see this and choose to look in the other direction while others choose to bring it to a focal point. Tracy K. Smith is a poet who chooses to bring awareness to some of these issues through her work. One of Smith’s poems that focuses on these worldly problems is, “They May Love All That He Has Chosen and Hate All That He Has Rejected.” In this poem, Smith elaborates on the four steps of forgiveness to emphasize the themes of discrimination, hatred, and forgiveness.

Clara Barton dedicated her adult life to helping those in need. She began her work in 1861 helping the men in uniform who were injured. But it did not end there. She worked tirelessly on the “Search for the Missing Men” (Wikipedia). Her bravery and virtue guided her ambition and desire to help those around her in the civil war and with the American Red Cross association.

Clara Barton was born on December 25, 1921 in Massachusetts. She quickly realized her affinity for helping people when she began caring for her brother, David, after he was injured in an accident. Barton received most of her education by working as a bookkeeper and a clerk for her older brother. She started teaching at the age of fifteen, after taking the advice of a doctor who recommended she begin teaching to overcome her shyness, even though at that time it was more common for men to be teachers. She eventually opened up her own free public school in Bordentown, New Jersey in 1953, although she was later replaced by a man. She then moved to Washington D.C. to work in the US Patent Office until the start of the war.

Bernice Irene Bilyeu left her mark on the world over many years. She lived to be a 105 years old and survived through many hardships. Bernice was always kind and greeted everyone with a smile. She was a very hardworking woman, and the best great-grandmother anyone could have

In the book The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom, the reader journeys through the events that unfolded during the holocaust from the perspective of a Catholic. Corrie Ten Boom may not have fallen victim to the Germans, but she certainly didn 't agree with how the Germans were treating the Jews. Despite it being against the law, the Ten Boom family decided to lie in order to maintain the Jews safety. In this case it is simply to lie in because they are lying for the greater good of saving lives. When people make decisions they weigh the pros and cons, so when it came to the time where Corrie made her decision, she knew the good most definitely outweighed the evil. Corrie made the decision to lie and save the Jews because they are still people, it was God 's will, and the only person that should be feared is God.

Everyone has heard the saying “nobody is perfect” and it is true we are all humans, we all make mistakes sometimes, but to what extent does someone stop forgiving when they have endured all the hardship a person gives them after they have been forgiven several times. There is a certain point in life when some people do not deserve to be forgiven because every time that person is forgiven, that person takes advantage it because that person knows they will be forgiven. There is one very prominent character in a story who fits the reason of why some people do not deserve forgiveness, especially when they've been given multiple chances to do the right thing. That person is Amir from the book the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

“This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.” Corrie ten Boom wrote this in her book The Hiding Place. She hid Jews and was imprisoned for her good deeds. This experience revealed her future, which was to tour and share how God was with her through rough times. Corrie Ten Boom is admirable because she showed bravery, selflessness, and sacrifice during hard times and she used her experience to inspire others to follow her example.

Forgiveness is a vital element of a functioning society and is something people have to deal with everyday. It gives people the necessary room to fail. A society must respect one another enough to understand that people mess up. Some, on the other hand, have different views on forgiveness. Bob Brody, in his article “To Forgive is Good but Sometimes I Want to Stay Mad,” argues that in some situations forgiveness is not necessary. In his article, he lists a few scenarios which would require a tough forgiving, talks about the perks of not forgiving, and why it is not always the best way to settle a dispute. Brody’s claim that forgiveness is not always necessary is flawed because grudges do not help the recovery of the transgression, grudges do not equalize the wrongdoing, and choosing not to forgive is immoral.