Helen Whitney, who directed the documentary, interviewed Shriver about forgiveness at the political level, especially in the case of modern Germany as it has sought to move through its past.
“I say that forgive and forget is a very bad motto,” Shriver said. “The better is to remember and forgive.”
Those who do not remember what the evil is and do not honor those who suffered from it have no right to get beyond the past, he said.
Both Shriver’s most recent book, “Honest Patriots: Loving a Country Enough to Remember Its Misdeeds,” and his 1995 book “An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics” deal with forgiveness.
