An old man is pushed off a cliff while birdwatching and the perpetrator is released from custody. Murray Kirk reflect on the all-too-human cycle of suffering and justice.
By Murray Kirk
Our little hamlet of Victoria was shocked recently by a report that 78-year-old man who was birdwatching on a windswept cliff was senselessly pushed off that cliff by some crazed lunatic. According to the report, the old man was knocked unconscious, breaking bones and sustaining cuts, bruises and contusions as he tumbled down the craggy embankment.
It is difficult to overstate the sense of revulsion many people felt over this despicable crime. We were sickened by the thought that an ogre this vile actually lives among us. As if this nauseating report of mindless cruelty weren’t enough to inflame our passions, within a few hours, the demon was released from custody on his own recognizance while the old man lay broken, in hospital. At this point, any sensitive and reasonable person might feel rightfully mortified to be a member of this human race because at our worst we appeared as mindless murdering lizards while at our finest we appear as imbecilic morons in black robes dispensing a brand of justice that even Solomon would be pained to comprehend. It was one of those incidents which just seemed to exemplify everything that is wrong with humanity — a very low point indeed.
Mercifully, before leaping off tall buildings in despair, our constant companion Time, comes to our aid, giving us that precious and uniquely human opportunity to reflect.
If its frequency and predictability are any indication, suffering appears to be a default human condition: it seems that if you are breathing, you are going to suffer. When it’s someone else, the best we can do is help him or her endure the agony using whatever means we have to help ease the pain and hasten the healing while carefully concealing our feelings about the cause. Ironically, when its our own turn to suffer we are often less troubled with causes, perhaps because suffering is a full-time job. Dissertations on good and evil just aren’t that interesting when you are feeling like crap. I understand that the old man is getting an awful lot of very warm attention right now. I hope he is feeling better as a result, he certainly has my prayers and good wishes.
I’ve never heard anyone claim that jailing perpetrators of crime reduces suffering in victims, which is not to say we shouldn’t jail villains. I’m just sayin’. I’ve never heard any credible claim that jailing villains will eradicate or even reduce any villainy that may dwell within them. Even several thousand years of executing villains as a prescription for reducing villainy seems to have had little effect on the villain community at large.
In a purely theoretical model, if you were to shoot the worst the world had to offer in the way of villains, after a time you might find yourself alone with your gun, and in time you might even turn it on yourself (after all, you just finished executing the entire human race). Certainly, we must protect ourselves and our communities but “crucifying” dysfunctional people just doesn’t seem like an option that has any real merit. I hope the confused individual who pushed the old man comes eventually to live a happier life no matter which side of the barbed wire he physically resides on.
Judging others must be the shittiest job on the planet. Judges are constantly inflicting pain on someone, case after case, day after day, amidst suffering without end. In our own lives, we are all judges, and although we may fancy ourselves righteous or fair or honest, the only person we ever truly acquit is ourselves. Everyone else gets the rope, sooner or later.
I think what I may do is go and have a look-see if there is anything that I can do for the birds now that the old man is otherwise occupied; they might miss him looking at them. I’m not their friend like he may have been, but perhaps I can introduce myself and see where it goes from there, at least until the old man returns to the windswept cliffs.
Guest Author Bio
Murray Kir
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Murray Kirk describes himself as an optimist occupied in staving off pessimism when not working or enjoying caffeine.
Blog/Website: www.myvcents.com
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Photo Credit
“Plotting” Johnny Grim @ Flickr.com. Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved.
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