Turn the other cheek

Transgression and forgiveness, good topic for Christs' b-day. For anyone with an urge to shake up their worldview, I suggest visiting the Hiroshima Peace Museum. Memories of it have unexpectedly bubbled up today, months after the experience.
People have been doing some amazingly rotten things to one another since before we were actually people and nuclear attack may not even be the worst of it in terms of scale or cruelty. But this is whats so terrifying: An unexpected, instantly devastating flash that leaves a lingering, invisible agent of agonizing death in the form of radiation. That's some nasty shit to do to children, but I guess burning them alive and hacking them up is also pretty bad. I don't want anything to do with any of it, maybe that's why I'm out here, shrouded in fog and hanging off the end of the continent... but that's another story.
The encouraging part about visiting modern Hiroshima is that the tone throughout the museum and memorial, in exhibits, text, and architecture, did not express a hint of bitterness. In its mission to keep this from happening again shock is sometimes used, but never shame - that is naturally occurring. The museum does not point an accusatory finger at America, in fact, it points out that Japan started the war and outlines other atrocities of all types committed by all nations involved. By simply presenting artifacts and photographs with a complete lack of nationalism, the message has great credibility. I wonder if its a "Japanese thing" or such an objective and clear view is granted only to those that have been through such a horror. I would guess its a combination in a very unique situation. This is where the big J comes to mind, supposedly (if he actually even existed), he forgave under the worst of circumstances. What Hiroshima did was not only to forgive, but to acknowledge their own role (however small), and in doing so, provide something much more useful than a martyr.