Bad Acts

The discussion of human faults is one of the most lucrative subjects that you can engage in. Books, TV shows, newspaper articles, magazines, and internet gossip are all full of stories of people who have done something criminal or socially unacceptable. We have the false belief that God reads all of these articles, etc. and is directly involved in the punishment of bad behavior. Not so! The rules of the road are automatic. When you hurt somebody, small or large in extent, you will ultimately receive the same treatment back. This is called Karma. God is more interested in how you overcome the tendency to commit such acts. What God seeks in human affairs is balance. The Golden Rule is the ultimate rule in regard to balance. It is not optional. Karma sees to that. What does this mean to us? Everything! When you get angry at your neighbor over his misconduct, it is necessary to forgive him before you attempt to judge him. The Native Americans had no prisons. The same crimes were committed, but they lacked the means to punish people as we have now. This does not mean that their system was better than ours. They could be and were extremely cruel in some of their punishments. However, they could not afford to get rid of some of the most effective members of the tribe, so they had an elaborate system by which misdeeds could be acted upon, and in such a way that nobody was left out. Our prisons are currently full of inmates who are simply sitting there getting worse, and who are lost to our society. Is this the best system? Surely, we need to isolate the sick and the venal who cannot live in society without hurting and killing people, especially our children. These are a small percentage of our prison population. Many of the remaining could be handled effectively by other means. Perhaps we should check out the curing ceremonies of the Navajo. Also we might try doing better with the Golden Rule. Draconian punishment may make you feel better temporarily, but over the long haul, society is worse off for the most part.

Does all of the above make me one of those liberal do-gooders who everybody hates? Yes, and I'm proud to be one. Come on in, the water is fine.