The ‘Absolvo!’ spell

By SKIP MENDLER

A few weeks ago, you may recall, a flurry of discussion followed after J.K. Rowlings announced the possibility of some casualties in the last book in her Harry Potter series. People all over the planet are awaiting the resolution of this saga, which like most good sagas pits ultimate evil, in the person of the dreaded Lord Voldemort, against the forces of love and simple decency, as embodied by Harry and his friends.

Many folks have put forward their ideas for the final installment—so let me share mine with you. (I’m assuming that you’re familiar with the basic premises of the story—if not, please excuse me, and consult your nearest 12-year-old to help you get up to speed.)

In my version, in the final, climactic battle, everything comes down at last to three people: Harry, Voldemort and the long-suffering and frequently hapless Neville Longbottom. Harry manages to zap Voldemort with a new spell he’s devised, “Empathico!” that opens the evil wizard up to feeling all the pain and misery he has caused others. This fells the Dark Lord, and saps all his strength—but it doesn’t finish him off, and the energy needed has all but wiped Harry out. It’s up to Neville, who has suffered even more at Voldemort’s hands than Harry.

He looks the now-helpless wizard in the eyes, sees something else in there, something human underneath the evil—and then lets him have it with a spell that only he could discover…

“Absolvo!”

It’s the spell of forgiveness.

“Voldemort” ceases to be—after all, an evil truly forgiven is an evil that never occurred. All that is left is an ancient Tom Riddle, the young man who became Voldemort because of his fear of death, and he soon passes away, his soul at rest.

Forgiveness.

That is probably one of the toughest words to contemplate right now. On the one hand, can we see ourselves actually forgiving the 9/11 attackers? On the other, can we actually forgive George W. Bush and his cohorts for their deeds in Iraq and elsewhere?

I’m not quite in either place myself yet, I have to admit. But I know, intellectually at least, that forgiveness is indeed an awfully powerful force, and the establishment of a truly peaceful planet isn’t going happen without a lot of forgiving going on. It’d be nice to know that on both sides someone’s gotten zapped with that “Empathico!” spell first—that extremists of whatever stripe might magically be gifted with the ability to see beyond their perceptions of the Other, and gain some understanding of the Other’s humanity and feelings.

Can I do that myself? Yeah, at least as far as the rank-and-file of the folks who might disagree with me are concerned. I can see their perspective. I know it’s not their fault: they’re getting hit by fearmongering on all sides—on the one hand, gory execution videos from Iraqi extremists and continued threats from bin Laden’s guys, on the other, dire predictions of doom and (of all things to hear again) domino theories from the Bushites.

Take these recent attempts by the administration to recast the so-called “War on Terror” —which includes, by their logic at least, the ongoing occupation of Iraq—as WWII redux, a worldwide fight against some supposed juggernaut called “Islamo-fascism” (a technically incorrect description, by the way—but that’s another column). Those who disagree with administration policy can then be cast as “appeasers,” to use Rumsfeld’s term. Such rhetoric, of course, is designed to make sure that no one ever thinks about any kind of reconciliation or forgiveness at all; in fact, it’s designed to escalate the divisiveness, fear and anger on all sides. One might almost think they were trying to escalate the conflict, and provoke even more violence.

It’s hard to forgive them for doing that. It would be easier if I thought that they were sincere, and not engaged in some cynical manipulation of the populace designed to enhance and perpetuate their own power. But frankly, the ongoing attempts by the administration to circumvent Constitutional protections and remove all checks and balances on their authority, far beyond what might be needed to adequately protect American lives, suggest otherwise.

It may be that before these powerful individuals (whatever their side) can be forgiven for abusing their power, they have to be stripped of it first.