The older I get the more I see a scary by-product of age. One by one, I notice my friends turn into bitter, hateful old men and women… especially when it comes to the issue of crime. I hear them talk about draconian measures, death penalties for children, and even with no sense of irony cutting hands off of thieves. I feel like saying “How very Muslim of you” though they probably wouldn’t get it.
It concerns me because I hate to see my generation gobbled up so obediently by the previous one, taught to believe all the falsehoods that they themselves chose to believe. This leaves the hope in the hands of the next generation but it is too often an empty one, as I see them misunderstanding so much as well.
After all, what’s the point of our justice system? Is it to help bring people back to a point of understanding, so that they don’t repeat the same mistakes they once made? Because if that’s the case, death penalties for children and the forcible removing of hands is going the wrong way. On the other hand, take or leave the pun as you will, if the point is to eliminate those who offend us, then we should all form a line and get ready for a bullet to the head.
Laws are not established in order to provide us entertainment, so we can watch our government murder and maim. A more perfect society is not formed when we greet misdeeds with hate. The fact that nobody is perfect too often eludes even the best of us and it is the expectation that everyone should always be at their best that shows our petty, small selves and creates a society that is no more than a reflection of what we make of it.
2 comments:
After all, what’s the point of our justice system? Is it to help bring people back to a point of understanding, so that they don’t repeat the same mistakes they once made?
Now if you had bother to read the entire artical you would have seen he was just released from prison... JUST RELEASED. He lunged at them. The students defended themselves.
But I guess we should all just roll over and be victims
Pere,
I think I know what article you're referring to. It's been all over the news. You're right. In that situation, the perp lunged and the student defended himself as far as we can tell.
But that's not what I was writing about. I was writing about the certain glee I see my peers and other take in the administration of punishment, the satisfaction expressed at the killing of another when dressed in the clothing of propriety, the fun they have at the thought that someone else's hand has been chopped off. This article was not about the definition of justice but the definition of a just people, one that does not take satisfaction in harming anyone.
I apologize if I wasn't more clear.
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