Apr 06, 2006 11:52
I have heard a lot of talk recently of "justice". Bringing Saddam to "justice". Bringing Massaoui to "justice". "Justice will be served" if either one or both of these men are executed.
I think, in the end, "justice" in the vernacular is "retribution" in reality. We do not want to see justice done, we want those who have committed immoral or illegal acts to "pay". We want them to suffer. We want to hurt them as they have hurt us.
This is understandable but it is also very immature. When we are children, we strike back at those who hurt us because we lack the wherewithal to deal with hurtful situations. If John takes Jane's toy, Jane kicks him because she does not yet have the verbal skills to talk to him or to take it to an adult.
As we become older, striking back becomes less acceptable and certainly less understandable. This is because it is expected that, as we move toward maturity and toward adulthood, we should be developing the skills to communicate in a more acceptable manner. To voice our anger or distress in ways which do not inflict unnecessary harm upon those who have injured us.
Ironically, the death penalty is drawn from a very archaic concept of "justice" and perhaps a concept which worked when humanity as a whole was much younger and maybe only slightly less mature. If you ask a religious fundamentalist, they will tell you that it is based on the "Ten Commandments", although this is really only a wee bit true.
Is is humorous that, when asked, religious fundamentalists will tell you that the reason they hold to the "Ten Commandments" and not to the dietary law and other bits of Old Testament Law (such as the law that a child who does not respect his parents is to be dragged out in the street and stoned to death) is that, because of Jesus, we are living "in a state of grace." So, Jesus sets the rules and offers the forgiveness? We must ask the fundamentalists, "What would Jesus do?"
He instructed his followers: "You have heard it said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' but I say to you if a man strikes you on the one cheek, turn to him the other." Later, when hanging on the cross for a crime of which he was convicted through machinations worthy of a Hollywood dirty cop film, he asked God to forgive them all.
After that, the fundamentalist view falls flat. Although they will argue that it does not. They will tell you that we have to kill the killers because otherwise they will be out on the street. Of course, they ignore the fact that life imprisonment will handle that just fine. Then they will tell you that prisoners live too well and don't deserve all the "amenities" provided by prison. Apparently, salad tossing and prison rape, and no personal freedom are amenities.
The fact remains that we cannot fight the monster by becoming the monster. We must become better than the monster. We must become like Christ, like Gandhi, like Dr. King and let our forgiveness of the evil in others outshine and overcome our base and childlike desire to hit little Jimmy because he took our shovel on the playground.