Warning: crazy theological/parenting-style musings ahead

Disclaimer: I do not, have not, and will not claim to have all the answers. Just a whoooole lot of questions. ;) Now onto your regularly schedualed blog post.

The ideas of justice, mercy, and grace have been swirling around in my mind a lot lately, and the phrase that keeps coming to the forefront of my thoughts is "Can you right a wrong without mercy?"

I hear a lot of calls for "justice" when someone does something that breaks the rules, and/or harms another. Send'em to their room. Lock'em up. Give'em the death penalty. PUNISH them. Do it do it do it! Justice isn't served unless and until they're made to suffer!
And I think, are those things really righting a wrong? Do they prevent a wrong from being committed again? Do they "correct" the behavior? I'm torn on whether or not they actually do.

"An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind"

Is "justice being served" sometimes just another way for saying "spread around the pain"? Not that wrong-doer's shouldn't have consequence for their actions, but if our reactions to their actions require stooping to their level, aren't we just adding more negativity to the world?

The Treaty of Versailles was supposedly meant to "right the wrongs" done by Germany, in having them repay the rest of the world for the devestation their actions in the war caused. I'm sure a lot of people at the time thought it served them right. They deserved it! Make them pay! But was good brought into the world bringing an entire country down to such a level of destitution? Did the German people "learn their lesson", or was even more hatred bred?

I remember being sent to my room as a kid when I did something wrong, and instead of thinking about what I'd done, I spent my time trying to think of ways to "get back" at my parents for punishing me. I'd pop the screen out of my window and run away. I'd sneak into their room and break something. I'd show'em. I never did any of those things, but I also never really learned why what I had done was wrong. I avoided the behavior in the future because I knew it would bring down the wrath of mom and dad, but I didn't really learn why it was *wrong*.

It's a big reason why I have a hard time sending my kids to their room. The only time I truely feel comfortable doing it is if they're hurting someone. I'm a bigger fan of "time in", where I go into the room with them, and talk to them about what exactly they did wrong and what behavior I hope to see instead.

I think of my Savior, who leads and guides and quietly whispers to try and guide us onto the right path. He doesn't hit us. He doesn't yell at us. He doesn't try to drag us down into a state of misery as punishment for our sins. Infact, He shed His blood and suffered unimaginable pain so that we *wouldn't* recieve the just punishments for our sins. He extends his Grace to all of us, no matter how filthy our sins are, and offers to lift us up.

Does He expect less from us? As parents? As co-workers? As members of society?

Can we say we righted a wrong done to society by dragging a person down? Can we say we *raised* a child, when they're only accustomed to feeling shame? Perhaps forgiveness and mercy are the only way to eliminate the pain caused by sin, regardless of whether it was our sin or the sin of another.

These thoughts have just been swirling around in my head for the past week and I had to get them written down somewhere before my head exploded. My congratulations if you managed to read this far. ;)