The Quality of Mercy: Justice, Forgiveness, and Public Discourse—Debating Repentance and Redemption in an Era of “Cancel Culture”

Critics across the political spectrum are decrying a new wave of censoriousness and intolerance in American society: a “cancel culture” that they say inhibits public discourse and development. But is the heart of the problem also spiritual and religious? Are we witnessing a kind of “neo-Puritanism” that has deep roots in U.S. culture? And can religious traditions point a way toward a solution? Can we recover the practices of repentance, forgiveness, and redemption that are central to the great spiritual teachings?

This panel of distinguished writers and scholars examines the state of America’s soul and remedies for our current predicament.

Panelists

• The Rev. Charles Howard is the University Chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania and a widely published writer who sees his vocation as working for “a communal increase in joy, peace, justice, and love.”
• Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, of the National Council of Jewish Women, is an award-winning author whose latest book, to be published in fall 2022, is titled On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World.
• Stephen Pope is a professor of theology at Boston College and a popular speaker who teaches and writes regularly on issues of mercy and forgiveness.

David Gibson, director of Fordham’s Center on Religion and Culture, will moderate the discussion, including questions from the online audience