Why do we feel the need to reciprocate murder with murder?
As a journalist at a newspaper, I often cover crime stories, all of which we publish online and share on our Facebook page.
As has become customary in this bubbled world in which we live, a volley of comments always accompanies these posts.
In the case of crime stories, or the regular examples of less-than-satisfying municipal service, the droplets of opinion which cause the worldwide water bucket to overflow are particularly rife.
In addition to the point made in that overly long sentence, the comments are often negative, except when the article conveys a police success.
And, in the cases of criminals being injured or killed, the joyous animosity is especially evident.
My heart breaks when I read how glad… nay, ecstatic, people can become at the news of a human being having died.
I agree with them in one regard: criminals should be punished.
They chose their path and hurt someone in some way and, in the instances of the victims losing their lives, the punishment should be exercised more severely.
But that is the point, they should be punished with more prejudice, because life is precious and they stole it.
That person will never again taste hot chocolate, they won’t fall in love again, or achieve the dreams they had; instead, they will only be remembered with a facial smile and late-night tears.
Though the same goes for the criminal, doesn’t it?
They made a horrible mistake, yes, and they should be punished on Earth for that, but despite what ice troll songs tell you, people do change.
Humans make choices and can either reject rehabilitation, or leave behind the carcasses of their past to start afresh.
What I’m saying may be hard to accept for most, but an injection of conclusion is too final to wish upon anyone, irrespective of their past actions.
And, it is not for us to decide whether or not another person has earned their return to the land of the unborn.
We belong to the same species as any criminal and many of us have committed at least one small crime in our lifetime, so can we then judge those who turn to the darker side?
If we are prone to err in the same way, how then can we be trusted to dole out the tightened crack of the neck to these people?
As I mentioned, of course murderers must suffer more as they did take the most precious gift from someone, but I notice the same intolerance of lesser criminals.
After break-ins, people complain as if their very lives have been turned inside out.
Again, yes, it is wrong on the part of the law-crosser, but it is not worth a visit from the faceless harvester.
Perhaps that man or woman had not eaten since their ribs started showing again, and turned to something which they knew would either give them their next meal or land them behind free-feeding bars.
Again, I’m not saying thieves, robbers and especially rapists and life-takers should be given free reign and a clean slate.
But, above all, the only way this country and humanity as a whole will move forward, is if we can learn to forgive and not lower ourselves by wishing upon others what they have done to us.
Love, not hate should become the stick by which we measure ourselves, and that starts by accepting the single universal truth in this world, regardless of which religion conveys it (except maybe nihilists): life is priceless and should not be taken away, no matter the reason behind or rationality of the request.
