Forgive not, lest we not be criticized: Taylor Swift and the virtue of resentment

Comment published on New York Times blog, in response to opinion essay by Philosophy Professor Scott Hershowitz, “Taylor Swift, Philosopher of Forgiveness,” September 7, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/07/opinion/sunday/taylor-swift-lover.html#commentsContainer&permid=102400613:102400613:

Our culture has a prejudice, affecting women even more than men, in favor of according authority to those who have it by pretending that asserting yourself or disagreeing and being "argumentative" are in principle wrong, and for the reason that this is not considerate or nice.

There are unfortunately aspects of Christianity including the Gospels that have suggested that justice and love are incompatible divine names, and that one should not judge others or perhaps even oneself. In fact, people should feel good about what they are doing, but they should also do the right thing and feel good because they do. Judge and be judged: say what you think things and people are or are like.

A conservative culture will make rare the political as a quality of social life and interaction. The political is a problematizing of what was thought normal and good. Demands for niceness and respect always accrue to the powerful and weigh on the powerless. Some say no one is "entitled." Some Christian and Jewish (Levinas) ethics hold that justice is what an "I" owes a "you," but this is reversible as pronouns are.

Resentment need not mean "You have ruined my life, and I choose to feel ruined." Maybe a better word is judgment, or even negation. Judgment attributes to a situation and person a moral quality, like "This is wrong; you do me a wrong."