I don’t detract from your view. I just like to think that compassion is either present or it is not, rather than quantifying its degree according to the recipient. If there is a disproportionate _display_ of compassion for perpetrators of heinous acts, this in no way diminishes the compassion for the victims.

If this perception exists, it is because the howls of execration by the frothing masses far and away drown out the few isolated individuals who point to the underlying truth that no amount of punishment can reverse the harm that was done.

If some choose to see liberals in a negative light for expressing this unpopular truth, I believe it says more about the observer than the observed.

And if our 70% recidivism rate is any indication, no amount of hammering ensures that those imprisoned are any less likely to commit crimes upon release. If weak moral fiber is the illness, the cure is not shattering the perpetratror through trauma.

So I feel your position provides only the moral relief of getting even. But when has the world ever settled the score to its satisfaction? It seems like the violence and hate just continue.

One of the big conservative blasts at liberals (like myself) is that we react to crime with “bleeding hearts” and being more concerned for the perpetrator than the victim. Instead of punishing him, we “reward” him for his behavior with counseling and programs. And conservatives gain a lot of ground with that, sounding tough on law-and-order.

This is one area in which I agree with the conservatives. Yes, we must prevent the causes of crime by helping kids and youth to find other tracks to life than crime, gangs, drugs, and violence. Yes, we must prevent the causes of crime by helping adults find ways of getting jobs, homes, health care, and prosperity. Yes, we must assist returning ex-offenders re-enter society, to prevent the tragic and expensive cycle of recidivism. We must support the victims of crime, who suffer through no fault of their own. (I am aware that a great many victims of criminal acts are themselves criminals, in the appalling conditions of the illegal drug trade, but I think my point is still relevant)

But we cannot send a message that the commission of horrific crimes, like burning a mosque, will give “rewards.” And we MUST stand with the victims. We have to take a Hegelian approach and offer both carrot and stick.

Ultimately, there must be personal responsibility and accountability for personal acts. No, hammering the perp will not repair the mosque. No, it will not remove the defilement of hate.

But hammering the perpetrator will make the perpetrator understand that misdeeds have consequences, and that he bears personal responsibility for them. Furthermore, it will make like-minded miscreants think twice about repeating or bettering his actions.

Simultaneously, we must send the signal that hate is wrong, and make the efforts to unite the community to repair the damage. We must send BOTH messages at the same time…offering the carrot and stick, as it were.

The message we should be sending, in my limited judgment, is that “We do not tolerate hatred, or acts of hatred. We will punish acts of hatred. But we will reward, honor, and support those who come together to spread gospels and perform acts of love, unity, and hope.”

We should offer hammers to those willing to help repair the mosque. And punish the perpetrator. And one way to do that, interestingly enough, is to both hammer him and make him perform restitution. In other words, he both gets the hammer and is offered it.

I think more and more we need to work at an earlier level of intervention to stop acts of hate before they occur. To understand truly why this keeps happening. To see not what he did, but what we do.

Since our actions are all intertwined on this planet I think the first step is to eradicate the hatred that is in our own hearts, first and foremost. If we can achieve this, we will reduce the hate that is in the world and is manifested by acts of violent destruction.

The slightest hatred we project, and I am as guilty of this as anyone, goes out into the universe to do its work. It multiplies, it rebounds, it accumulates into an ever increasing bolus of hate that rolls through our streets like a juggernaut. I propose we do not add to the world’s pain, and call this justice.

All howls of execration against the perpetrator, though understandable, can never undo the act of hate. In fact, in a philosophical sense, they might even perpetuate it.

A 52-year-old truck driver. He’s old enough to know better.