No Foe In Sight

There is no excuse for the actions of others, it is on their shoulders. However, although that may be so, we can always look with compassion and mercy. And though they shouldn’t shirk discipline that will help them change, we can always look at the bigger picture.

Everyone is a victim and no one is the enemy. That is the greatest truth. For every bad person out there, or person who has ever been rejected, tricked, or beaten up, they in many ways are the same, but only at a different point of time.

An example would be bullies. Bullies are people who want to control others, because they want control. Often this need for control can stem for having a need to feel in control in their life where there is no control else where. Why because, the bully is bullying someone because he/she is being bullied.

The thing is, we may think that we are a victim because someone has done something to us, but often they are doing something because someone has done something to them. It would be like how you might have had a bad day at work so you are short with others.So just like that bully, you are short with someone because something someone did to you.

While that might seem simplistic, in many ways it is just how it is. The bully, is often just a victim as the victim, that is why no one is really your enemy. Everyone is hurting, some just hide it better than others. Sometimes we never notice simply because we are lost in our feelings that we never question or analyze what maybe be going on in others.

In many ways, that is why justice should not be about punishing people. It should be about giving justice to two people. To the victim and the perpetrator. No one is our enemy, that is why justice should be about helping the victim as much as the perpetrator. The victim should receive recompense and the perpetrator should receive help to turn from their ways.

Compassion or mercy does not mean judgment or discipline is not passed. Rather they are things that are still given even though some form of punishment is dealt. They are like extras. Things that you wouldn’t get unless by the goodness of someone else’s heart. Those two qualities are something we should keep in mind in the face of an enemy, or when we are hurt by another being.

It does not mean that others should walk away scot-free, but rather that everyone deserves the chance of given the chance to be understood. Even if this understanding is a hand that is open palm with one hand, and clenched with the other hand to deal out swift retribution.