theycallmelisa

This came up on another message board I go to, and it's started some interesting discussion.

What do you think? Can you pity some criminals? feel sorry for them? Can you be kind to a criminal?
No one's saying that feeling pity for a criminal means forgiving them or suggesting that it's okay to do so. It IS possible to feel sorry for them and agree with wanting a punishment at the same time.

Yes, I can have pity for the woman who has to steal baby formula for her baby because she lives in poverty. I would be kind and sympathetic to this person.


Yes, I can feel pity for the prostitutes that continue to sell themselves because they can't escape their pimp and/or have fallen into drug addiction and/or have no sense of self worth and/or don't have the supports in place to get out of that lifestyle and/or.... (the list goes on) I would be, if not kind, sympathetic at least civil.

Sure I can feel pity for the homeless man who breaks into an adandoned building so that he can have some shelter while sleeping at night. I would be kind and sympathetic to this person.

I can feel sorry for the father who just came face to face with his daughters sexual molestor, and beats him to a bloody pulp. I would be kind and sympathetic to this person.

I might even feel sorry for the paranoid schizophrenic who harms the "people after him" in some way. But that doesn't mean that I believe he should remain in society because he just "can't help it." However, I can feel sorry that that's what his life has come to.

These are all scenarios in which a person could feel "forced" to commit a crime, because they feel that there is no other option. Most "forced" crimes are selfish acts, and are committed out of a need for survival, not always with the intent to harm anyone else.