I wonder what it really means to forgive another person. I think it has many layers of meaning. It's letting go of the desire for revenge or retribution, and figuring out a way to continue a civil relationship with the person who caused the offense. It's not dwelling on offenses, and not allowing our lives to be ruled by anger against real and perceived offenses.
Just about everybody we know, will offend us at one time or another. If we dwell on those offenses, we're not likely to have a happy or constructive life. Forgiving is a hard thing to do, but it's the only way we can carry on with life.

Now, about religion and forgiveness....I hate the bumper stickers that say, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven." It's an attitude of smug superiority that implies that the owner of the bumper sticker is bound for his/her "heavenly reward," and others aren't (and are probably damned to hell for all eternity). I think a case could be made that God is the essence of forgiveness, not somebody who doles out forgiveness only to Christians and damns everybody else. I found six instances in the Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures where it says that God is loving and forgiving, slow to anger, and rich in loving kindness. Some might say that to them, God is the essence or embodiment of every virtue, and that the quest of humankind is to reach out and attempt to attain those virtues.

The idea of a vengeful God who must be repaid for offenses, seems to be mostly prevalent nowadays among Evangelical Protestants - particularly in the United States. In days gone by, it was a concept popular among the power elite, who sometimes made use of it to control the unwashed masses. But through the history of religious faith, there has also been a view of a deity who cares for humankind and does not dwell on their misdeeds.

-Joe-