“Physical or violent measures can only restrain others’ physical behavior, never their minds.”
“To forgive is not the same as to forget. After all, if one forgets a wrong that has been done, there is nothing left to forgive!”
I still struggle to understand how justice can be applied with compassion and aimed at preventing the wrongdoer from committing the deed again. Yes, we can and should remove the death sentence and apply justice and set up punishments proportionally to the crime. Yet, it’s still a failure.
I understand the arguments against a compassionate approach to justice. But the Dalai Lama is right. The justice should be compassionate, recognizing that people can change. Probably that’s the half summary of the chapter. The other half is “to forgive is not the same as to forget.”
We need to separate action from the actor. How can we punish the action and forgive the actor? According to Adler, the human mind and body are one and the same. The only forgiving can happen person-to-person. When someone hurts another, the person can forgive, but the justice system will punish the action. That’s why I don’t see a way out besides educating people not to do the harmful action in the first place.
Additionally, the punishment alone is not enough. Although we can put the most balanced justice system, the majority of perpetrators repeat their actions because our punishment system doesn’t prepare people to go back to life without a big struggle. I believe we should incorporate more compassion into how we apply punishment and enable perpetrators to have a better life after serving their sentence. Once the punishment is served, they shouldn’t seek to return to jail because they don’t feel they belong in the community outside of prison.
- Related Note(s):
- Forgiveness is within our control; focus on what you can change. Justice is no longer in our hands.
- You need to face all your emotions head-on to be able to forgive.
- Not everyone had the same life as you. People make mistakes. If you surround yourself with diverse people, you’ll already develop a habit of interacting with a variety of individuals and can build empathy more easily.
- Source(s): Beyond Religion by Dalai Lama
