“Forgive them for they don’t know what they have done”

Jesus’ last words, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they have done,” showed compassion beyond most of our comprehension. Having said that, and I am being a little cheeky here; he probably should have added: “… but you still should fire them.”

There are people who use “Oh, I didn’t know,” “I wasn’t aware,” and “Oh, I only now realized…” as their go-to excuse and explanation for everything and assume this should save them from “punishment,” such as getting fired. That said, it is a confession nonetheless; it may not be a confession to having done something out of evil intent, but it is very often a confession of incompetence and inability to perform the role expected of that person. While it may be an excuse that saves a person from punishment, it should still have consequences. And there’s a difference between the two.

Should they have known?

The question is: “Should they have known?” “Was it beyond a reasonable expectation that they’d know?” Think of Hillary Clinton. She accessed sensitive government files on foreign soil, and when those documents leaked, she explained she didn’t know it wasn’t safe to do so. She was, at the time, the defense minister of the most powerful nation in the world. THE DEFENCE MINISTER. If she’d been a man, there wouldn’t have been a single individual that would have a) believed she didn’t INTEND to leak the documents on purpose or b) wouldn’t have held her responsible for gross incompetence given her office and the purpose of her office.

Forgive, sure, but let them go.

Sure, forgive people who have confessed to the level of stupidity someone in their position shouldn’t be guilty of, but let them go. Cut your ties, fire them, call off the engagement, divorce them; you know? Not all excuses are professional; some are personal. “Oh, I didn’t know we were exclusive. I didn’t think you’d care,” might be the only such excuse that might actually be forgivable – sometimes we really DO NOT think another person would care if we strayed. But… Inform them that you care, and you care a lot. On that sidenote, if you pretend like you don’t care, don’t blame the other for believing you. Did they have a reason to think you’d care? Should they have known?

Can’t punish stupid – but you can move on from them.

While you should maybe forgive, while you can’t punish someone for being stupid or ignorant, you can certainly consider it a reason for dissolving a relationship; professional, casual, or intimate – especially after repeated examples of unawareness, ignorance, and plain stupidity. How can you trust someone who isn’t smart or aware enough to do the obvious things right? As much as you can’t help stupidity, you can’t trust a stupid person, either. Ever.

Whether they should know how to be responsible for your emotional well-being on their part and can’t do it, or they cannot perform a job because of their incompetence, they should not stay in that kind of a position. You’d have to be stupid to ignore stupidity in the people around you. Some are simply too stupid or ignorant to do the right thing, so they should not remain in that position, should they? Stupidity is a deal breaker. Unless you want to take on their share of the responsibility that should be theirs by their position, you have to let them go.

Subscribe to get a Daily Message