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Punishments, justice, and education
It is better to seek justice from love, without fear of punishment, with inner freedom




Author: P. Fernando Pascual, L.C | Source: Catholic.net



Well-understood punishments are related to two fundamental ideas: justice and education. 

In the first place, punishment seeks to restore justice. There has been damage, an infringement, a disorder, an act against coexistence. 

The wholesomely oriented punishment seeks to repair the damage of the victim or victims, while "removes" the culprit what he would not deserve to have.

Secondly, punishment seeks to educate. The one who has committed a foul against justice has not only inflicted harm on others but has tainted his own heart. 

For this reason, the punishment has an educational dimension, as it impels to cure an interior deformation, and promotes the good and the virtue that facilitates the fair actions.

There have been and abuses in punishments, as in almost every human area. Because sometimes the punishment is surrounded by hatred, a spirit of the rematch, of "excesses" that forget the true meaning of a good punishment. 

There are also "flaws" in punishments when they are so mild that neither repair the victims ' damage, nor have the strength to educate the culprits.

Balance is not easy. A good judge works by guiding his sentence towards those two poles (restoring justice, helping education) in the best possible way can be mistaken for excess or default. But at least he strives to achieve the best for all the people involved.

Also in the church, some punishments have a medicinal sense, that seeks to promote justice and to heal the culprits, without forgetting that the only one who can always right in the punishments is God, who at the same time offers mercy to those who repent and seek re Stop their fouls.



In this sense, it is understood that the text of Saint Paul: "But, being punished, we are corrected by the Lord, so that we are not condemned to the world" (1Co 11.32). 

It is certainly better to seek justice from love, without fear of punishment, with inner freedom. But the realism of life and human weakness make us see the need for punishments that help to get away from evil.

When we apply and properly welcome them, punishments promote better human coexistence, by reinforcing respect for justice, and by curing weaknesses that can depart from the right path.








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