Nicola Staff asked 3 years ago
There is much truth in what you point out here, that all too often the seeking of justice is more the seeking of retribution than to obtain an accounting and some kind of restitution that makes sense in a practical and meaningful way, especially for the victim. There is much grand and sweeping speechmaking about paying debts to society and to right the wrongs done by the criminal through their trial and sentencing to punishment, whether incarceration or, in some cases, death. We see this as a wholly faulty system and orientation to begin with—two wrongs do not make a right. When someone takes the life of another, it is just as immoral and a transgression, from a divine perspective, to kill that perpetrator and take their life. This is a twisted view of restoration for the victim; it will not bring them back if they are the deceased victim of a perpetrator; it will not, in the end, do much for the loved ones of that victim to see someone else suffer. Some who do not see and think very deeply about life may take some kind of satisfaction that somehow the books have been balanced and that the guilty party, or parties, have atoned for their sins and have paid a high price for their transgression—that is retributive justice and represents a human-level perspective.
All acts of criminality are a demonstration of being out of divine alignment. That is a true dilemma, and that person is suffering and has become a victim themselves. Even as they might be a perpetrator and causing harm to others, they are nonetheless a victim in their own right and their soul will suffer greatly, not only from whatever has led them to lower themselves in that way, but from anything they might do going forward to cause more harm to those around them. All of that negative karmic trauma will circle back around and weigh on them heavily; there is no escaping it. In that sense, one does not need the legal system at all for there to be fairness in the universe—that is seen to automatically by the Law of Karma. So it is very much the case that anyone who seeks retribution, whether a victim themselves of someone’s actions, a loved one with close ties to the victim, or simply someone whose role in life and duty, perhaps as a law enforcement official, is to rein in the criminals and see they are punished, are nonetheless on a karmic treadmill. That, in effect, draws them into a downward spiral of lowered standards and karmic mischief that will enact penalties that grow over time, rather than lessen and be replaced by something more lofty. That is the way to truly right the wrongs of history, not by causing more pain and suffering, but upliftment, inspiration, and loving kindness to be increased and enhanced. That is a far better tribute to the sufferings of a victim than putting people in cages and treating them like animals where there is no possibility, except in the rarest of circumstances, for someone to improve their lot and return to a better path rather than a worse one, often as a hardened criminal with a bitter and greatly enhanced resentment of their treatment by society.
When the absence of love is the reason for criminal wrongdoing, to treat them with hatred will only compound the problem and not improve things. This can be done without raising up and exalting the perpetrator so that, in effect, they gain something from their transgressions. There are many ways that wrongdoing can be rebalanced by the perpetrator that will, in effect, represent a penalty and a sacrifice of theirs to see to, and that is the best way with the best chance to help them turn things around and approach life with a higher perspective, and seeking to gain something better for their efforts instead of criminal activity that will always be a liability and come back to haunt them.
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