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Sunday Sermon - 5/6/2012

Sunday Sermon

Revenge and Justice

May 6, 2012

 

                This is a subject that I touched on a couple years ago in my apprenticeship.  What do you see as the difference between revenge and justice?  This is sometimes a very fine line for many people and even if we talk about specific cases of each it may still be a difficult line to see.  So how do you know which is which?  In my experience it comes down to intent.  Intent is a very powerful indicator for many things and this has been discussed before when discussing the different “Sides of the Force”.  It is also defines the good or evil in other situations.  For instance in general people will say that killing someone is evil.  So does that make our police and military evil? Or, what about the guy trying to protect his family from someone entering their home? For these many people would say well that’s not evil.  So what is the difference between them? It is the Intent.  So how then does intent affect Justice and revenge?

                Wiki defines justice and revenge as follows:

Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity.

Revenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived.

                So these are the bare minimum of understanding the difference between the two but deciding where the line is that moves Justice into revenge.  It is very hard to judge someone’s intent just by viewing their actions.  Just like the drunken driving commercials that say it is easy to see when you are way to drunk but what if you just had one too many?  For example from the Star Wars movies when Anakin killed the entire camp because his mother died is an easy example of revenge.  Now if we look at another movie “A Time to Kill” a father killed the boys that raped and killed his daughter.  Though I understand his pain and need to get “Justice” by taking matters into his own hands did he then make it more about revenge?  This is where the line is not so clear.

                The point in the lesson is to always be mindful of your intent when dealing with those who might have wronged you.  Before you act stop and ask yourself if you are out for justice or revenge.  If it takes you anytime to figure it out then it may be best to have someone else handle it or at least are with you to keep you from taking things across the line.  This way there is someone to ground the situation to remove the emotional component .  Keep your actions true and just and you will remain true and just.  Emotions are the difference between good intent and evil acts.

Comments   

 
#1 Reliah 2012-05-06 22:57
That's funny. I was just talking about this yesterday with someone.

Thank you for this sermon, Master Damion. :)
 
 
+3 #2 Rosalyn J 2012-05-07 00:47
I am reminded of the story Joseph Campbell gave about the Samurai who was asked by his master to get revenge for him for a previous action. All while walking there, the Samurai had that intent, but when he got there the other man spit in his face. If he had carried out the act then, he would have done so in anger, therefore he sheathed his sword and walked away.
 
 
#3 Jestor 2012-05-07 00:52
Thank you....:)
 
 
#4 Kimla Daalm 2012-05-08 13:32
Excellent sermon. :-)
Thank you for the reminder that; "Emotions are the difference between good intent and evil acts." It is easy to cross that line.
 
 
#5 Jackofalltrades 2012-05-09 15:36
what about someone who has a messed up view point and is just plain nasty? for example a sith lord. should we have good intentions towards such a person?
 
 
#6 Jackofalltrades 2012-05-09 15:41
my point is that - regarding the emotion/intent issue- that sith are very rarely considered to be angry. they're too good at hiding it. heh. I don't think people very often encorage us to have good intentions. especially not those who are just itching to be our master. Like what happened to luke on the Death star. blimey I've said enough.
 
 
#7 Shenlong_Dao1976 2012-05-10 18:54
I found the two versions of 'The Last House on the Left' to be good examples of justice vs revenge. In both versions a young girl is beaten and stabbed by criminal fugitives. In the classic version she does not survive, but her parents catch up with the fugitives in clear but understandable revenge. In the remake she survives but the fugitives are still near and a danger to her so when the parents dispatch of them it is clearly justice, as their intent is her protection.
Another good example is the Death Wish series. Charles Bronson's character of Paul Kinsey is hard to figure out because his actions could be interpreted as justice or revenge. In my humble opinion I feel he does a bit of both.
 
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