Gracchus said:
But we should love them even if we don't understand them. Perhaps those we don't understand we should love most of all.
Agree'd.
Gracchus said:
Psychology has demonstrated that punishment to be a deterrent must be swift and certain, which punishment seldom is. And justice is not something that human beings are wise enought to mete. The best we can hope for is that we may prevent offenders from offending again. And consider this, your enemies may not be evil. And if you could eradicate the evil from your own heart, you might see that.
That is generally true. But
(1) punishment is, in general, fairly swift; people are put into jails and often held there for even their own trial. And also, I think that
(2) people are generally smart enough to mete out fair punishments; is it absolute? No. And we could debate punishments until the day that we die, being that there are so many different philosophies behind the administration of justice.
(3) And yes, my enemies are generally not evil; evil is also generally not existent in the way that we think of it. Very few people think of themselves as evil; we generally think that we are doing the right thing. I do not think of them as evil, but rather as misguided in the pursuit of their own interests.
Gracchus said:
That's wishful thinking. Love is a gift, not a bargain.
We should love everyone -- we should love our neighbors as ourselves, as Christ commanded us. And though certainly we will never be able to fulfill this burden (who can rightfully feel a legitimate love for some of these characters besides their loved ones themselves?), we should try to and should practice understanding first and foremost.
Gracchus said:
Love will not protect you. Love makes you vulnerable, and to love is to accept the consequences of that. Love is art for its own sake.
Love makes you vulnerable in some senses -- vulnerable to being emotionall hurt by others, and the instances of putting too much trust and faith into humanity. But I feel that it is not a vulnerability.
What makes someone who loves others so vulnerable? I can see instances of it but i do not see it as people who are loving become victims. I can see your argument but I would need to see more proof and more ideas behind it to really become convinced or confront it.
Gracchus said:
Humans have the capacity for good and evil. I have been told that Jesus was the only man who never did an evil thing, but I doubt that anyone has exhibited lifelong moral perfection.
Evil is generally doing things out of self-interest and benefit that are hurtful to others, and it is the natural inclination of mankind; notice that children are generally very bossy and demanding of your attention.
And Christ was perfect, for He was God with us.
Gracchus said:
Justice is a fantasy at best and usually only a mask for veangeance.
KJV Matthew 5:44
That doesn't say a word about bringing anyone to justice.
Justice is attainable; justice is when good things happen to good people, which at least in my life has been the norm for most of it. Tough of course there are moments of injustice, I find that life is generally a beautiful and good thing.
And furthermore, that is a passage dealing solely with the concept of loving your enemy. It has nothing to do with 'bringing people to justice' obviously, but it was not as if Christ's famed role was as a lawyer.
Christ's message did not include an ideal penal system for mankind to implement, unfortunately, so we will have to discuss this amongst ourselves.
