"That which is right, just, and true can still prevail."

Reading this - So Jonah Lehrer Has Apologized. For Money. - and it reminded me of guys who've done wrong in the sex abuse scandal - Bernard Law, Roger Mahony, and yes, the pope - but who have never admitted actually doing any wrong. Yes, they've apologized, but not for what they themselves have done, only for the situation in general.

I kind of get this - in my family, once you had done something bad and had admitted it, there was no coming back from that, no way to redeem yourself, no way to not "be" bad. It took me a long time (and I'm still working on it) to come to the conclusion that, paradoxically, unless you admit that you're responsible, rather than avoiding the badness, you're forever stuck with it.

I've been re-watching Stargate: The Ark of Truth and there's a scene where Teal'c, who had been a commander in the armies of the evil Goa'uld but then joined the good guys, talks to Tomin, who had commanded the armies of the evil Ori but who has now seen the light. As I listened, I thought of Law and Mahony and the pope and of how this bit of dialogue wouldn't touch them because they don't think they've done anything wrong ...