Q&A: Repentance
Repentance
Question
During the self-examination I did, I ended up classifying things into two types: A. sins that stem from small-mindedness / pettiness (laziness and the rest of the various desires). B. sins that I supposedly “stand behind,” but not completely. For example, dismissing various rabbis’ opinions and the like (that is, concluding that they’re incorrect and not taking them seriously).
The problem is that on the one hand, something tells me this isn’t proper, but on the other hand, that’s what I think—so how is it even possible to repent or regret something like that?
For the sake of the example, I thought of a secular person (who genuinely thinks that way). Seemingly, it doesn’t make sense for him to repent for his heresy, does it?
So my question is basically: does the concept of repentance apply to things that are not about desire and giving in to myself (weakness of will)?
I hope I presented the problem clearly… Thank you very much.
Answer
There is no need whatsoever, and also no possibility, to repent for things you genuinely think. One repents for behaviors and attitudes, not for thoughts. (When I think badly about my friend, that is an attitude; when I think that X is the case, that is a thought.)
By the way, a secular person (consciously secular) can repent, but cannot be a penitent. That is not the same thing. In contemporary usage, “someone who repents” means a person who changes his worldview. But a “penitent” is someone who repents for his sins (where already at the time he sinned he knew those were sins—weakness of will).
Discussion on Answer
A thought.
When I hate him, that’s an attitude.
Of course, this assumes that you’ve examined carefully and that in your opinion he really is stupid. If you reached that conclusion rashly, then it’s simply incorrect. For that, one can be more a person who repents than a penitent.
Thank you
When I think someone is stupid, is that an attitude or a thought?