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Good evening, I can still vividly remember a black mother at one of the hearings of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission,

as two white policemen talked of torturing and killing her son,

knowing that, however dreadful their crime and they were cruel almost beyond belief,

their confessions put them beyond the law. What happened to justice, she said tearfully afterwards?

Well, the reality is sacrificed for what many regard is a greater good, drawing a line under a

conflict that might otherwise never heal. In Northern Ireland, too, where the Legacy Act, which mandates forgiveness for terrible things

done during the troubles, is currently being challenged by those who see it as, literally

in some cases, getting away with murder.

Forgiveness is the most difficult of virtues, a philosophical and religious prerequisite.

Christians say we must forgive those who've sinned against us so that God in turn will forgive our sins.

The utilitarian case for forgiveness goes beyond seemingly intractable conflicts to the culture of our institutions,

like the NHS where it said removing blame and punishment might make it

easier to own up to and learn from mistakes.

But is forgiveness for serious wrongdoing actually immoral, a rejection of the ethical balance that

keeps society civilised? Isn't it the very prospect of blame, disgrace, retribution that keeps us

good and careful? Where's the justice? Where's the morality in forgiveness? That's our moral

maze tonight. The panel, Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies at

Edinburgh University, Ash Sarkar from the Navaran Media Group,

the historian Tim Stanley, and the priest and polemicist Giles Fraser.

Christians, Giles, are big on forgiveness, aren't they?

At its heart, what we're debating tonight is a battle between peace and justice.

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