Inhuman Criminals

 

Published 1/20/08

 

“How are we different from inhuman criminals?”

 

In “The Heart Of The Buddha’s Teaching” Thich Nhat Hanh shared an insight he had found while making a batch of cookies:  “I imagined that the moment each cookie leaves the bowl of dough and is placed onto the tray, it begins to think of itself as separate.”

 

This, I believe, is how those who advocate cruel, violent punishments for certain criminals view themselves.

 

We all come from the same physical source and are thus made up of the same ingredients.  Each of us also possesses the ability to commit any good or any evil.  The degree to which each of us develops each of these abilities varies in infinite ways for infinite reasons, not all of which are within our control.

 

Knowing my weaknesses as I do, I’m glad that my goodness has flourished enough to overshadow those weaknesses and prevent them from coming to fruition.  I also understand that others may not have been fortunate enough to have the same chemical balance as I do, or to have enjoyed a life that was relatively free of violence and injustice.

 

People, I believe, commit horrible crimes either because they have something wrong with their brains, or they are seriously sick or troubled by life.  How are these people different from someone who has a physical illness?  Only in how the consequences of their sickness effect others.  That is all.  Does this mean we should hate them or take pleasure in their torture and destruction?

 

I think the people who advocate or take pleasure in such things demonstrate their own evil side.

 

As Marcus Aurelius observed, “When men are inhuman, take care not to feel towards them as they do towards other humans.”

 

I would add my own observation – “Our ‘natural reaction’ is the one we indulge without thinking.”