of guilt. Most people nowadays who speak of forgiving themselves explicitly repudiate the notion of personal guilt. Katherine Power is a typical example. Her husband denied that guilt had been a factor in her surrender. She only wanted to feel better about herself, to “answer [an] accusation from the past”—to be whole. An admission of guilt today clearly is considered incompatible with the popular notion of “wholeness” and the need to protect the fantasy of a good self. Guilt Bashing Our culture has