Quotable-quote 2006

Actually, it wasn't really a quote. Rather, it was a line from the movie I watched 7 hours ago. The movie's "Le Grand Voyage" - about a son driving his father - a Muslim - for his pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's holiest city. The journey started from France, passed through Italy, eastern Europe, Turkey, middle East and finally Saudi Arabia.

I was glad that after some 100 minutes, despite the absence of spectacular cinematography or fancy CGI effects, it was still possible to exit the cinema without questioning if I had spent my $9.50 wisely.

I was emotionally moved by the simple plot and realistic acting. However, what perhaps had impressed me most was a line said by the son to his father, after father was mad over son's behaviour and wanted to head to Mecca alone. Son, in realisation of his folly and in order to get dad back into the car, uttered this: "Don't you practice forgiveness in your religion?"

It stopped dad dead in his tracks.

How sad. Isn't it in most religions to advocate forgiveness? But do we need to subscribe to religion inorder to learn the virtue of forgiveness?

Oh wait, do we care about virtues any more?