Text me a question I might answer through the showI enjoyed this wonderful conversation as we explored the following profound and often perplexing questions: Why forgive? How does psychology define forgiveness and how do Judaism, Christianity and Islam see forgiveness? Does forgiving mean we are pardoning bad behavior? Do you need the offender to participate if you want to forgive? What steps can we take to forgive and how do we do it? Guests for this episode bring the perspectives of Judaism, Islam and Christianity to the topic. Rabbi Mendel Dubov serves as faculty at the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, NJ, USA and as Director of Chabad in Sussex County, NJ. Saifulla Chaudahry serves as Propagation Secretary for Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of North Jersey. Pastor Michael Bos, Ph.D. serves as the Senior Minister of Marble Collegiate Church of New York City and is the President of the Collegiate Churches of New York. Dr. Bos established the first interfaith religious diplomacy center on the Arabian Peninsula, and received the U.S. Ambassador’s Award for Community Service. Psychology studies have found that when people forgive it decreases anxiety, depression and obsessive thinking about the offender. Multiple studies have also found that forgiveness improves mood, psychological health and the quality of one’s relationships overall. To read & explore further about forgiveness , may I suggest starting with a search of psychology studies by Robert Enright and Richard Fitzgibbons. I hope you will enjoy and learn from this very special episode! If you have enjoyed Psychology America with Dr. Alexandra, there are a few ways that you can show your support: 1) visit iTunes and leave us a 5-Star rating, 2) order a book from PsychologyAmerica.com where there is a selection of books I’ve personally chosen (your order will go seamlessly through to Amazon.com) or 3) press subscribe to continue to receive new episodes. Would you like to teach your child nine and under about how to have an optimistic outlook even when things go wrong? Consider purchasing my book entitled: “There’s Always Hope: a Story About Overcoming.” It can be found on The PsychologyAmerica.com website or at Amazon.com. The beautiful illustrations were painted by Philadelphia resident, Briana Giasullo, and the book also imparts empathy for the disabled. Support the showThis show was created with love on my volunteer time. One small gift you can give me back is to take the time to leave the show a comment and rating on iTunes. You can also support the production costs of the show by buying me a $3 coffee at buymeacoffee.com/dralexandra. I will be encouraged by your support, and thank you!

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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