Re: Scottish Compassion

"Bill Baka" <bbaka@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:h6qdg4$e5r$3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Evelyn wrote:
"Nantz" <thenantz@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:94de7a66-b723-425d-b2ca-8af6352e4d88@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Aug 22, 10:49 am, "Evelyn" <evelyn.r...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Nantz" <thena...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> Prisons are full of people who had miserable childhoods but that
does
not excuse their crimes. I'll feel sorry for them as long as they stay
in prison and are denied the opportunity to kill , rape and rob the
rest of us.

Nantz

**************

There are no excuses for bad behavior of course.
But if one doesn't find a way past endless anger, we remain their victims
forever.
> Evelyn

To be frank, that sounds like a silly statement to me. I'm not angry
with any of them. I just want them to stay where they are.

Nantz

*************


OK.... here is what I mean;

Our attitudes and our anger can enslave us.

Without a doubt there are plenty of criminals who are too dangerous to every human being they encounter. For their own sakes not to mention the safety of the rest of us, they need to stay in jail..... maybe even for their whole lives.

I am speaking of our own mental peace. Our own emotional comfort. For that, one needs to let the anger go. Anger rots the vessel that carries it. It is a burden in ones own mind to nurture, fester, and continue anger.

Compassion doesn't mean to excuse what they did. Compassion doesn't mean that you let them out. Sometimes it means you lock them up forever to save others from being hurt by them.

Recognizing the causes and conditions that created their mindset.... that made them think it is OK to blow up airplanes, should engender some compassion for the horrible disfigurement of their thought processes. It doesn't mean you let them out to do it again.

Hope I explained it better.

It is the buddhist way of viewing these things, and I have found it helpful. I have lots of things I could choose to stay angry about and therefore, lots of reasons to let those things go for my own peace of mind.

Why do we not just turn obvious murderers into dog food and be done with it? If someone is guilty beyond any hope of a doubt then why support that person with our tax dollars? We have better things to do with our money than keep building more prisons.

Bill Baka



For the umpteenth time what I have said has NOTHING to do with how we treat the criminals.
How is it that no one seems to get that?

My comments had to do with ones personal attitude regarding such criminals, not whether or not they did time. Specifically we were speaking of a Muslim criminal who is dying of pancreatic cancer and was let out only to go home and die. Pancreatic cancer is a horrible disease and you wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy..... (or maybe you would). The guy is a dead man walking and there isn't any cure.

To some degree I agree with Bill in the fact that the prison system doesn't really work. The rate of recidivism shows that. A child molester does his term, then he's out and he is not at all reformed. An ignorant criminal is still ignorant after completing his sentence. Some prisons DO have psychological counseling and some even allow the inmates to learn something. But for the most part prisons don't really reform people. That said, it is the best we have.

--

Evelyn

"Even as a mother protects with her life her only child, So with a boundless heart let one cherish all living beings." --Sutta Nipata 1.8

.

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