Theos-Talk Archives (January 1997 Message tl00096)

>Jesus said, "you have heard that it was said by them of old, 'an eye for an
>eye, and a tooth for a tooth.'  But I say to you, 'love your enemies.'"
>Did he mean to do away with justice and replace it with love, or might he
>have meant to balance the two?  Shouldn't love for others be balanced with
>standing up for one's own rights, or is it never right to be selfish in
>that way?  If love should rule over justice, does that mean that we should
>let others take advantage of us and trust that justice is inevitable?
>Isn't revenge based on the quest for justice, and yet isn't it also the
>antithesis of love?  Does forgiveness mean being a doormat?>

You come up with the darndest ideas, Tom. This, I think, is a good one. How
about there should be justice, but it should be meted out with Love. I
capitalized Love, because I think with justice goes more empathy, or apagape
kind of love. I would give as an example that a teenager might get into
trouble with the law out of sheer boredom, not having anything to do, not
having family which gives a hoot. I would put a kid like that in a situation
which would try to make up for the lacks in his life. I'd do it behind bars,
if that's what the situatiion called for, but I'd give him something else to
think about, like a ged, or a trade with which he could make a living, or
help his imagination so he'll do more constructive things with his leisure
time. I think that's loving rather than "stick him in jail, & let him rot,"
rather than expose him to being raped by the more seasoned inmates, and/or
getting him hooked some more on heroin or whatever. That's justice with a
vengeance, which in my estimation backfires. He'll be a crook for life after
he gets out. If somebody works with him, he may have a chance. That kidn of
love I think should rule justice.

I think it's perfectly ok to be selfish in that you need to stand up for
your own rights. I've found that usually what's best for one party, is also
good for the other. like if you're dealing with a bully, you put your foot
down. I don't believe in someone being totally unselfish. It's ok to be the
one to give in at times, but being a doormat isn't healthy, I don't think.
Sometimes you have to inist on having things your way.

As for forgiveness meaning that you'll be a doormat, I like to go by Martin
Luther King's non-violent dictum "Hate the deed, but love the doer". One of
my teachers, Serge King, taught us that if you're unforgiving, the
resentment festers inside you , and keeps you from feeling good. With that
in mind, I try my darndest to forgive. It's hard for me, because my whole
family works on holding grudges against each other, but I realize that isn't
the easiest way, so I try real hard to forgive the person, because they're
human & make mistakes. I don't have to forget what they did to me that upset
me so much.

Hope that helps to clarify.

Liesel