Can we ever have a system of both justice and Love? It seems nearly impossible to have both as they are on opposite sides of the balance scale.
A thought experiment that I have found to best explain this issue is one where you picture someone you love dearly, be it a child, spouse, friend or family member. Now imagine that this person rushes home to tell you that they were driving home after having a few drinks and had by pure accident impacted a small child that had ran out into the street without looking to chase after a ball. The child was pronounced dead at the scene. Once your loved one explains the story to you what is your first reaction? When it is time for trial do you scream for justice and the death penalty or are you seeking the courts (judge and jury) to extend a hand of mercy over your loved one?
Now draw up the same situation, however, with this new thought experiment imagine it was a random stranger that you have never seen before that was the driver of the vehicle and now picture your loved one that ran out into the street for whatever reason without looking.
In majority of cases that I have presented to various people with this exact same thought experiment the outcome is nearly always the same. Request mercy for the loved one and seek justice for the stranger.
With this being presented we now need to ask ourselves which is a society that we truly want to plant our roots down into and to grow to be the very best versions of ourselves as possible. We cannot do that by pointing fingers and seeking justice. We need to see that only through mercy, compassion and ultimately Love will we as a species ever begin to truly walk the path towards our own evolution.
Studies still continue to show that seeking justice via death penalties have done absolutely nothing to curb the pain and sense of loss from the victim’s friends and family. From tragedy begets further tragedy and the cycles continue to repeat themselves.
There will be more to come on this and other philosophical topics, please feel free to comment and engage the topic for further discussion. Thank you for taking the time to read!