Re: OT - I may be in the minority


"Eliyahu" <lrooff@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1146855378.346032.256470@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Haven't attended any. I just know what I've heard and read from the
Religious Right: Law and Order; Tough on Crime; build more prisons;
etc. etc.. It's increasingly clear that their idea of forgiveness
applies only to little stuff like sassing mom, not putting your clothes
away, and things like that. Major sins must be punished, and punished
as severely as possible.

Eliyahu

Come on, Eli, you're way too intelligent for that sort of stereotyping
rhetoric.

That said, forgiveness and social order are two different things. Only the
victim can forgive, and in our system (I don't have to tell you), it is not
the victim who maintains social order by convicting and punishing the
perpetrator. In the so-called victimless crimes, forgiveness isn't even a
factor. We can't just go around patting those who commit crime on the head
and saying, "Go and sin no more," and expect not to devolve into complete
chaos. Nor should the commission of crime be a ticket to free
self-improvement. There must be some punitive aspect to it. What do you
recommend?

Sandi


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT - I may be in the minority
    ... forgiveness and social order are two different things. ... victim can forgive, and in our system, it is not ... punishments and conditions of confinement. ... cells here at the local prison, most are approximately four by eight ...
    (sci.med.transcription)
  • Re: Punishment - why?
    ... You are saying that legal retribution is to give reason for not 'taking one's own revenge'. ... >>>Repentance is part of forgiveness. ... attention and resources and ignoring the needs of the victim. ... (I hadn't omitted restitution - which means making good in every sense ...
    (uk.religion.christian)
  • Re: Punishment - why?
    ... Snip content by all means, ... Punishment is intended to discourage and reform us. ... >> Or are we saying that punishment is part of forgiveness? ... attention and resources and ignoring the needs of the victim. ...
    (uk.religion.christian)
  • Re: Punishment - why?
    ... probably impssible and arragant to say that God agrees with you. ... forgiveness, we may have to a) acknowledge that we were at fault, b) ... attention and resources and ignoring the needs of the victim. ... Restitution is OK for civil matters; ...
    (uk.religion.christian)
  • Re: Lalla Ward married Richard Dawkins?
    ... I`m genuinely interested, if you went to visit a member of your family only to find them beaten bloody on the floor whilst trying to stop a burglar...your family member ends up brain dead in hospital whilst the thief gets sentenced, can you honestly say you could "hate the sin, love the sinner"? ... She died some days later in hospital, but before a day or so before she died she told a friend that she did not hate the gunman, but that she forgave him and if he was caught she wanted him to have her bible. ... The gunman was caught and convicted some time later, and the friend visited him in prison and gave him the woman's message of forgiveness and her bible. ... That message of forgiveness and love from his victim, who clearly had nothing to gain from it, was enough to cause him to repent and after his release he worked trying to end the violence. ...
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