A Lesson From the Amish

Recently after watching the movie "Amish Grace" I was instructed to write a paper on Capital Punishment. Here is some of the thoughts the true story and some Buddhist cultural influences helped me put together.

     In October 2006 a Man named Charles walked into a small Amish school house and shot about 11 girls, before taking his own life. 5 of the young girls died. Charles who committed the murders  was distraught over the death of his own young daughter and reacted out of anger similar to the way many in our culture see fit.
     Only hours after Amish fathers learned of the deaths of their children they reacted by going to visit the shooters family and offered fresh baked goods. The fathers did not have revenge, justice or anger on there minds but compassion and mourning and forgiveness, for they understood the shooters family was also in grief of the loss of a husband, father and son. The local communities learning of the crime were confused about the reactions of the Amish fathers towards the family of the man that took their daughter's lives. However these fathers set a great example for not only local neighbors and communities but also for state and government officials whom mandate laws for crimes. The Amish were able to see past Charles' actions , recognize humanity sympathize with his family for their loss and see past revengeful hate.

     The united states has been increasingly exacting punishment for crimes and punishing violence with more violence. This is extremely evident with capital punishment. Society has come to believe that an "eye for and eye" is a natural human reaction. The Amish did not automatically translate their grief for revenge. Rather the Amish believe about redemption. I believe that punishment and revenge are fundamentally at odds with the deeper common value of humanity. As The Buddha was quoted "An action even if it brings benefit to oneself, cannot be considered a good action if it causes physical and mental pain to another being."

     If inhumane treatment of an offender does not solve their misdeeds or those of humanity in general  the best approach to an offender is reformatory rather than punitive.  With the acceptance of grief, anger and revenge should not follow. Each and every one of us is more then the worst thing we have ever done punishing crimes with excessive cruelty, like a death sentence, will not only likewise kill another human but injure the mind of the person harboring the anger. Most societies have much to learn about anger and forgiveness. When humans hold onto anger it will destroy themselves, to act with concern and compassion creates forgiveness that is ultimately for the victims own good. Actions of anger for consequences of regret and it is impossible to administer server punishment with composure and compassion. 
     Punishment should only be to the extent to which the offender needs to make amends, and his rehabilitation into society should be of paramount importance. There is many broken windows in our legal system and justice is one of them. There are deeper sociological and socioeconomic barriers that criminals challenge and our legal system should be working with mental health professionals to solve the injustice of killing. I believe the fundamentals around fairness should be be questioned beyond moral injustice and cultural differences.
Punishment from revenge is not fitting to the benefit of the overall culture and the soul of the humans involved including the, criminal. Gandhi said, “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,” the Amish are providing the rest of us with an eye-opening lesson.

Boonin, David and Oddie, Graham - "What's Wrong Applied Ethicist and Their Critics",  Second Edition 2005