Proverbs on Justice and Love

Music: Sicut lilium inter spinas.
By Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.
Performed by The Tudor Consort at the Free Music Archive
under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license.

1. Every person, no matter how horrible, is a child of God and is therefore loved.

2. The causes of evil are pain, lust, and fear.

3. Since evil is both caused by pain and causes pain, it is self-perpetuating.

4. Thus one way to diminish evil is to answer pain with love and understanding.

5. Violence may be necessary in self-defense or in pursuit of justice, but violence in pursuit of vengeance is evil.

6. People have an innate sense of justice, just as they have of symmetry or balance. Even infants know when a punishment is just. Parents can tell from the sound of the cry.

7. Without just rules there is anarchy or rebellion, in which everyone's survival is threatened. Thus just rules and equitable enforcement are the primary responsibilities of the State.

8. Without justice the weak are defenseless. Without mercy justice is a robot that knows not what it does.

9. Justice diminishes evil by diminishing fear. Love diminishes evil by diminishing pain and lust.

10. Failure to discipline a child who does wrong teaches weakness. Discipline in anger teaches evil. Discipline out of justice teaches order. Discipline with love teaches goodness.