A massive crowd gathers in front of a stadium. The royal guard has brought a prisoner to be tried before the magistrate. This is an exchange which occurs in the midst of this chaos.
"Why do you bring this peasant before me?"
"Magistrate Lionel, this man has been accused of causing mass terror among the people, perpetuating lies, and is responsible for a world of existential fear, and tens of thousands of deaths."
"Hmm...? This peasant caused all of this."
"Yes, Magistrate. With his fancy rhetoric, and his inciting of the public he leads lots of common people to assault our way of life. He also inspires people in other nations to instill fear among their people."
"So what would you have me do with this prisoner. And what say you prisoner, have you no words to defend yourself?"
The prisoner remains silent.
"So you have nothing to say. These people accuse you of great and hideous crime and crisis of humanity. I have the ability to end your life or save it."
As this questioning is going on, the prisoner is sniped by a vigilante and runs away. The crowds rejoice at the death of this man who caused so much terror to the public. The magistrate is stunned as he was confused by the silence of this individual, and the whole process.
As one man dies, millions rejoice, because of the pain and suffering he inflicted on the whole world. There are two conflicting needs which need to be met. People have a legitimate need for justice for the fears which this person inflicted. Existential discomfort in any means is a hard thing to deal with (and I mean this to be an inclusive term, dealing with all sorts of sin and general awkwardness in interactions which occurs in relating). Some people inflict physical terror on others, others a psychological fear and harm people's mental safety. Either way, people want retribution for their suffering. There is also a need to engage why people are creating existential fear, and to realize that all people are capable of inflicting existential fear on others and as such we need forgiveness for ourselves and others.
First, the need for justice is something that all people have. Anyone who has been wronged, suffered betrayal, or had someone else cause existential fear to them wants justice for the suffering that was inflicted. Even if the person is thankful for the experience later, there is still a desire for justice in response to the discomfort people experience. Retribution is a part of justice, hence the Old Testament witness of "an eye for an eye" (Exodus). This desire in the Old Testament is merciful as it limits the amount of retribution which can be attributed to any particular individual. The case sample above presents a slightly different scenario though. Justice is only seen as accomplished when one person dies for the sake of a world of people's existential fears and sufferings. Justice is unbalanced as one person is the source of blame for all people's fears. However, there is a lack in thinking about justice. Since people fail and do many things to cause existential discomfort, justice can only go so far to meet people's needs. Returning an eye for an eye creates a cycle of hatred which never ceases, as someone is always wronging and wronged. Our search for justice is an existential need, but real justice goes unfulfilled when we focus on retribution as it never is complete.
Therefore, we need another step. We have to engage the other in understanding why people do the actions they do, and this may be something that happens explicitly (dialogue) or through symbol (crime profiling). For example, why does the prisoner in the intro story perform certain actions which cause existential fear for others that leads to his death? The prisoner doesn't give an answer in the story, as he is certain it will not change his fate. However, some people in acting leave symbols as to why they are doing certain actions. These symbols can come in different forms, (this is particularly important in examining crime scenes as the way a scene is left often tells the motives of the person who committed the crime). (For more, see shows like Criminal Minds or read some books on criminal profiling.)
Now, we cannot excuse the creation of existential fear when it becomes a sin against another person. Even if we know the reasons behind these sins, this does not justify immoral action. However, the understanding of the other enables us to examine ourselves in times when we sin. When we sin and when conversion comes, we want to be reintegrated into the community. We must attempt solidarity with the other, because if we have this experience, then it is reasonable that others can have this experience. To integrate people back into the community, after any fault, we need forgiveness.
Forgiveness does not mean we forget the faults of the other. Forgiveness means we try to meet the other where they are at, understand how and why they have hurt us, and figure out the best means of being/restoring relationship. This looks different for every situation. However, we cannot say that death is ever justifiable for forgiveness, as death ends the possibility of a relationship and conversion for the other. The death of the prisoner is a lamentable loss as well because every person has some means of teaching the entire world and with the death of the other, we lose the ability to learn from the other. Forgiveness, then requires meeting the other person where they are at, and restoring dignity and community to the person who has gone away. Forgiveness is not easy, as it requires pulling back our immediate response to meet our retributive need for justice, and seeking to meet the needs of the other. Our attempt must be to bring the other back into the whole community, and in dialoguing with the other, we might learn ways in which we need forgiveness for how we hurt others. Admitting our own wrongs is a great way to enable forgiveness as it creates an openness to love others, because we admit our imperfections, and place ourselves as we are. Also, by admitting our wrongs, we go to building a better future, because in admitting our wrongs, we can listen to others in their difficulty, before they get to a point where they sin against others. (Some of the existential doubts and fears can not be dealt with in the same way, as that is a shock about human difference, which is another topic for another day.)
Aristocrates
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