Just apologize, dude. For REALZ.

[judecorp]

Okay, this is annoying. It's a total pet peeve of mine. Or really, more than a pet peeve. It's something that I get really REALLY angry about.

Pope sorry for reaction to his remarks.

I don't care if you are the Pope or whoever, you do NOT apologize for someone else's reaction. You apologize for your mistake, or your action, or your decision, or YOUR anything. "Apologizing" for someone's reaction or feelings is not apologizing at all!

I would feel a lot better if the article said, "Pope sorry for words spoken during oration," or something like that. Instead we get:

"At this time I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims," the pope said Sunday.

Few things irritate me more than when someone "apologizes" to me saying, "I'm sorry you're hurt/sad/upset." I tend to snap back, "Please don't apologize for me." I just can't stand it.

Way to victim blame, Pope.

Comments

[thinksnow.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. FWIW, I don't think you should apologize if you don't think you have something to apologize for, either. Problem with political figures, and the Pope is, of course, is that they sometimes are forced by the nature of global politics to offer apologies wether they feel they should or not.

Your example isn't quite on the mark: if someone actually feels bad about their remarks and has regret for saying the words themselves, then yes, they would/should apologize for saying those words. It's tough to find a fitting example, though, because most often the person seeking an apology is doing so for reasons appearing irrational to the person "inflicting the harm."

I think that we are pretty much agreed on the issue, though, so I'm sorry if my going on about this distresses you. :)