Before we take any action, that action is present in the
mind in the form of an idea. Sometimes, ideas and the actions that follow them
are neither good nor bad, just trivial or inconsequential. Most of the time,
however, how we think is significant, and we can depend on the following
formula holding true:
If the
idea is good, the actions that follow it are good and constructive to society;
and if the idea is bad, the actions that follow it are harmful and destructive
to society.
Note that, in this formula, an idea is considered good or
bad depending on the effect it has on society, that is, the effect it has on
the law-abiding, good, honest, and decent people of society.
If you are a person
of good mind and goodwill you do not want bad ideas to cause you to harm your
good government or the good people in your society.
People of ill will like
criminals, however, do think differently. Good ideas to them are bad ideas to
us and vice versa. Their ideas are bad to us, because the consequences of their
actions are harmful and destructive to society.
In view of this, we must consider good ideas those which
are designed to control these antisocial elements. Those ideas should not be
regarded bad just because the actions that follow them bring negative
consequences for those who break the laws.
If I kill a criminal who is
attempting to murder a good person, that is a good idea and a good act. The end
result is good and constructive for society in general, and for the innocent
saved-from-death victim in particular.
Can God, Mother Nature or the physical laws of the universe
give us any guidance as to what is proper justice? I think so. Remember the
multiplication of signs in algebra?
The same reasoning follows when we apply
those laws to the relationships of good and bad people in society.
Of course,
the examples shown below can serve only as a “general guide,” a starting point,
because it is overly simplistic to divide people into just two classes: good people
and bad people.
In reality, there are many shades of good and bad, and we
should adjust our way of thinking and our actions depending on the specific
character and history of the individuals we are dealing with in a particular
situation, and on the circumstances surrounding the events in question.
In order to explain these relationships, I will use the
traditional meanings of the words “good” and “bad” in the examples below. Thus
a “bad” deed will mean one that includes some degree of violence, harm,
destruction or punishment.
Example A: + (a plus) x (multiplied
by) + (a plus) = + (a plus)
A positive value times a positive value yields a positive
result. In terms of justice and society, “A good deed done to a good person
yields positive social results.”
Example B: - (a minus) x
(multiplied by) – (a minus) = + (a plus)
A negative value times a negative value yields a positive
result. In terms of justice and society, “A bad deed done to a bad person yields
positive social results.”
Example C: - (a minus) x (multiplied
by) + (a plus) = - (a minus)
A negative value times a positive value yields a negative
result. In terms of justice and society, “A bad deed done to a good person yields
negative social results.”
Example D: + (a plus) x
(multiplied by) – (a minus) = - (a minus)
A positive value times a negative value yields negative
social results. In terms of justice and society, a good deed done to a bad
person yields negative social results.
Examples “B” and “D” go against the Christian principle “Love
your enemies,” and so be it. While loving our neighbors is a good first
principle, loving our enemies is simply suicide because evil people will not
love us back. They only want to harm us.
If Jesus actually said, “love your
enemies," and if he meant it in the sense that we must always repay bad deeds
with good deeds, then Jesus was not and is not “The Christ.”
The Ultimate
Savior could not possibly advocate "that" moral doctrine. To reward people who
have no regard for law and order in society goes against the laws or reason and
morality.
When we do that, we teach other people that it does not really matter
how one behaves.
We should be willing to forgive and rehabilitate people who
have just gotten started on a life of crime and who have committed only a few
sins, as long as these have not been serious offenses.
We should be willing not
to consider them “bad persons” if they show honest repentance, make amends for
their transgressions and start a good way of life, what evangelicals would call
“to be born again.”
If they become habitual offenders however, or if they have
raped, or if they have murdered, or if they have kidnapped or harmed some good
person or child,
of if they have grievously betrayed the public’s trust as a
public official, or if their corrupt way of conducting business has seriously
hurt the average citizen or innocent consumer,
or if they have committed any
other serious offenses, then we should consider them bona fide “bad persons”
and our legitimate enemies. Aren’t they?
Consequently, we should do everything within our powers to
jail, exile or destroy them, depending on the specific nature of their
respective crimes.
Furthermore, anyone who does a good deed to them should also
be our enemy, because he or she is either one of their kind, or a misguided soul
who neither has the mental lucidity nor the intestinal fortitude needed to help
create a good society.
What other options do we have? Should we let them loose so
they can harm more good people?
If these souls have not received the death penalty and they
honestly want to rehabilitate their lives, they will have to get our attention
with a spectacular showing of model behavior.
They will have to complete their
sentences. For all the evil they have perpetrated, they will have to humble
themselves before our society to ask for our forgiveness and for our
transformation prescriptions. Then, if they want us to reconsider them as “good
persons,” they will have to follow those rehabilitation instructions to the
letter.
Those convicts who abide by the above guidelines may be
given a new start in life, but those who fake their desire for rehabilitation,
and those who stupidly fall prey again to their old criminal conscience should
never again be given another chance in this lifetime.
Joseph Marchante
Copyright © 2022 by Joseph Marchante