That thing I have about non-apologies..?

Yesterday I apologized to Sunita for my poorly worded response to a comment in her blog.

I didn’t mean to offend, but my words did cause offense, and so I apologized. Was the apology necessary, once I explained myself a bit better?

Yes, it was.

Because we shouldn’t only apologize for what we mean to say or do.

We should apologize for the harm we cause when we are thoughtless and rash.

And we should never, never, do the asshole “well, it’s not my fault you took offense” thing.

Like, say, Bethany House, publisher of For Such A Time (background through this post)

This is what an exclusionary society looks like.

(This post has been edited to add more links

for further reading as I become aware of them;

there is a second edit to address my inaccurate reporting

of the ending of a book I have not read)

This rant, which has been percolating in my brain and heart since the morning after the Ritas were handed down,¹ is brought to you by the inclusion of the book For Such a Time, by Kate Breslin, into the list of finalists for RWA’s Rita Awards.

Why would that be a problem? you may ask. Well, a couple of reasons, which have been thoroughly discussed in several places, but let us start with a quick summary, shall we?

The novel, set during WWII, is about a blue-eyed, blonde Jewish young woman–described as Jewess in the actual blurb, I kid you not–who is ‘rescued’ from Dachau’s concentration camp by the SS officer in charge of Theresienstadt concentration camp, and how they fall in love. The book ends with the Jewish protagonist’s faith being healed by the Bible (New Testament included), and with the SS officer having been redeemed by the power of (Christian) love.

Chew on that for a second, if you would.