Justice vs Payback

A post about justice.. and the way the world seems to understand the word.

This morning i found myself reading articles about a 6wk old puppy named 'Buckley' who was found in a school yard in VIC earlier this month with his ears and tail hacked off. A 32 year old man was charged and is now spending time in a rehabilitation unit for an undetermined amount of time.

Ive never really looked into animal cruelty - never really experienced anything that spurred me to. I used to live with a vegan who was dead set against any form of cruelty.. which is probably what most people would claim as their stance. She was pretty extreme - but had a different understanding of justice compared to those who have posted their opinions about the recent puppy attack.

While reading through some comments that were posted online I began to feel a real sense of evil at work. Here are some comments posted on a forum about the puppy

Moresio:
"If he is allowed to live, one day he might try it on humans. For all the 'Do Gooders' out there that think this person should be rehabilitated, i hope he tries it on you or your kids. He should be killed to avoid another occurance of this type of behaviour. Amen."

Selitti:
"There is NO excuse for that bastard did to poor Buckley, If i had my way i would cut his Ears and Testicles and see how he feels"

Dunk:
"hand the gutless 32 year old over to me ... i'll show him what pain really feels like .... he'll wish he had the death penalty when i've finished with him .... the same goes to anyone that harms an animal ....."

Terrence:
"why put em in prison........just shoot the basteds and free up the system ??"

Singh:
"The fucken prick that did this should be killed how would he like it if i cut his ears, dick,balls off and let him bleed and let him feel the pain he is a sick person , who needs help people like him should be killed .some people are fucked in the head."

Marquis:
"I think people who have this stuff in their right mind, should be punished with what they did to the victim then strung out in the desert to die slowly! Obviously put on you tube so all can see and laugh!"

I could post thousands.. literally. Reading through all the comments there was probably 1 in every 100 that didn't suggest hurting/killing the guy who did this. I spent a few hours reading these because I became so intrigued with the way people view justice. It seems the word justice = payback.

This makes me really sad. Justice is something that is talked about more in the bible than most other things that Christians focus on. It is so sad to have lost the true meaning and essence of the word.

The comments that upset me the most are the ones that acknowledge this guy has something wrong with him, but then proceed to suggest he should be killed because of it. I don't know about you, but this gives me the chills and it is something we need to start educating people about.. not in a 'come to a lecture and hear what I have to say about justice' way.. more of a live it out and show grace and mercy and compassion in the little things as well as the big things in our lives that show the true essence of justice.