- And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it."
Justice is not just for people you like. Everyone is redeemable. People in prison still count as people. We incarcerate at a higher rate now than any country on earth--I know Americans aren't the worst people on earth. People complain about high recidivism rates, and want to get ever tougher on criminals, but the truth is that the highest recidivism rates they complain about are less that half. Most people in prison will never return to prison. They'll spend the rest of their life around us. Most of them would never have gone to prison except for some failing of love in their life. And it doesn't take that much love to be transformative. So we should welcome them into our society with peace and love and justice, (and work), and if some of them aren't healed or can't heal and they do bad things again, the answer isn't hate, but more love. (Though like children, sometimes you do have to keep them separate until they learn to behave better--it's just that we do nothing to love and help those incarcerated learn these lessons--just the opposite.) We can protect others better by transforming the damaged members of our society.
There's also no justice if you ruin the earth for people less advantaged, or for generations to come. To me, love and justice doesn't stop with human beings, it applies to animals and plants and to the whole earth and beyond. Kids need to learn that love isn't JUST passion but is often hard work in boring conditions--it's sacrifice--and it's love that makes it so damn rewarding, and so damn frustrating.
Just love.
Thanks,
Patrick
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