Forgiveness and Fight

This post is predominantly a response to a tweet I received last night. I had tweeted a rhyme about forgiveness; the response was "Forgiveness in my heart towards my enemies, yes; with Love & a Pure Heart. Forgiveness in court for their crimes, no. #Justice" This initially left me with a lack for words; I realized a tweet was not going to accurately convey what I wish to say. So I will reply here.

One of my favorite sayings is "Humanity asks God why He allows all these bad things to happen; God may be asking Humanity the same question." We are no longer children; we have a responsibility: to help one another. Where there is darkness, we need to bring light; this applies to correcting social injustices, not just "bringing them the Word."

Then there is the command to Love one another and Forgive each other. Where does that apply? All cases, all times, all situations. Does that mean we let "criminals get off free" and continue the acts we are trying to stop? Not exactly...

Forgiveness works at a different level than the guilty/innocent determinations of the court systems. As any good lawyer can tell you, things can be manipulated and presented to the best possible advantage to your case - whether that is beneficial to all or just one. Court and the laws apply determinations based on he actions and consequences that have taken place.

Forgiveness involves the people. Forgiveness' primary function is opening doors, not drawing lines. We are asked to look into the heart of the person, not just the mind. We are asked to continue to love them, not let our anger turn into hate. When we look upon another with anger or hate, we see actions, not the person. We may not even see actions correctly. Lawyers aren't the only ones to manipulate; our emotions do this too. When we look through the eyes of hatred, we see an enemy: someone to hurt, someone to harm, someone to stop and PUNISH. With hatred in our hearts, our perception WILL be skewed; this is basic psychology as well as spiritually founded.

Instead we are called to love them, to listen to them and find the root cause of the situation, then follow through and find positive resolutions. This may include following through with the punishment, the consequences for their actions. But, very sadly, too many stop there. They punish the person and never follow through with fixing the social causes that lead to the action.

For example, in my town, there was a young man that was arrested, convicted and went to jail for larceny - three times in a row, one right after the other. Many who hear this fact would right away turn a cold heart toward that criminal. He obviously did not learn the lesson! He should be thrown in jail permanently! Right?

Now I will divulge some more information in this case. He robbed a supermarket - the same supermarket, the only supermarket in walking distance to his residence. He had no car. He did not rob the cashier; he was convicted of shoplifting. What did he take? The first time was a canister of baby formula. The second time was formula and some small jars of baby food. The third time was a box of generic cereal commonly given to toddlers.

Do you see the pattern?

This young man did not have a job to pay for the items. With a criminal record from the first conviction, he was likely turned down a number of times. But ... he was trying to feed his CHILD! Why did he have to resort to theft? There are social services in place for that right? Well... The first time someone applies for food stamps or assistance, they are turned down flatly - that's the policy. One actually has to know the "game" to use the right terms, fill out the right forms and follow up with the right people. If you don't know the game, you loose. And they don't publish the rules.

Then there are several other factors. There are no social service locations in this town. Public transportation between towns is rare to non-existent. Without a car, one cannot access them. Plus as a father (instead of a mother) it is harder for him to access the services needed to care for a child. It's not a policy; but, sadly, it is a practice.

I don't know what happened to this young man or the child. The local paper stopped reporting after the third conviction. Three strikes and you're out, I suppose... Apparently not enough people cared, for I have seen little changes in the local social structures except to close more locations in the state due to "budget cuts."

Is this the case of all criminal activity around the globe? Certainly not. But if we are truly to Love one another and Forgive, we are also responsible to find the root cause of the activity. Why does it exist? What supports it?

If we did not glamorize the criminal side in movies/TV or let our starlets, corporate heads or politicians get away with actions the minimum-wage workers would not, perhaps the lure would not be so strong. Plus I bet if one were to follow every possible line of connections leading up to criminal activity, they would find not only hearts feeding on greed and hatred, they would also find people who find themselves in desperate situations, ones where they see no other option BUT to turn to the criminal side of society.

Follow these lines; help the desperate. Pray for the Lost. Fix the problems. Too often we punish those we find guilty and sweep the rest under the carpet, forgotten... And like mold in a damp corner, it will only continue to grow into yet more problems involving more people.

We need to not only light the dark corners of our world; we need to open doors so others find another path, starving the serpent that feeds on them.

It is not easy.
But it is worth it.

-ESA