Hello my people,
I believe you all are doing great, yes? This Friday is a holiday here in Ghana and everywhere Islam is preached and followed; and I just cant wait! I love holidays to bits, seriously... Anyway, school has started for me again and this time, the pressure is much. In fact, e no be easy, but God dey.
There is so much going on in my head these days, and just as it is my habit, whenever I hit a brick-wall on the issues, I would always prefer to bring them to my dependable blogsville (that's you by the way... hehehe) to share my burden and share their thoughts on the matter. This here, is one of those many issues:
When a thief is caught, he explains that his actions were as a result of the harsh life he's been through. And I wonder; what about the harshness the person who has been stolen from will go through?
A fraudulent banker, a lying lawyer, an unethical doctor, a dubious politicians... They all have their reasons for the actions they take. But what about the people their actions deprive? Shouldn't we learn to think and act beyond ourselves and our needs?
Is there any justification which suffices, for the deprivation of the deserving?
Is it my mind, or am I making sense?
Peace... I'm out!
I know life's not always black and white but personally, the "harsh life i've been through" is just an excuse. There's right and there's wrong.
ReplyDelete...and our decisions are always informed by our choices. I agree Toin.
DeleteHey Priscy, not to make you feel bad, but we have 2 days here in Nigeria. *dancing*
I agree with Toin
DeleteI agree with Toin 100%
DeletePriscy dear.. please dont bother your brain coz the list goes on.U forgot to add religious leaders who own jets and yet extort the commoner who can`t afford a 3 square meal? its a crazy world..
ReplyDeleteAs Toyin rightly said,there's right and there's wrong,regardless of the reasons behind them.
ReplyDeleteNo justification in my opinion. And I share same reasons with Toin n Ema
ReplyDeleteIf someone has been through a harsh life because of what others have done to them then they, doing the same to others( with understanding of being the victim ) are worse than someone who has never been a victim doing that same thing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Toin but there are some grey areas
ReplyDeleteWhat if someone who has just lost his/her job is caught stealing baby food?
What if a hungry orphan steals a loaf of bread?
I do believe there is right and wrong but we can never predict what we are capable of when pushed to the wall
xxxx
What if the someone asked a friend, family or stranger for the baby food.
DeleteWhat if the hubgry orphan asked for the loaf of bread.
I understand that situations/circumstances can make us do things we never imagined so I won't judge anyone for trying to survive. I am not perfect.
However, stealing is morally wrong. Out of a 100 persons, 1 person would probably toss a coin to help when we ask for help.
What if they all refuse to help when asked?
DeleteThis issue is slightly controversial because like you, I lived in Ghana for a number of years and witnessed on a few occassions, thieves being beaten or killed and left in the open. But the thing is, is anything stolen worth a life? It's important to have a spirit of discernment when it comes to this and even though a thief is not justified in His acts, it is still not the right of any man to decide that His life is worth taking. All in all, we should learn to be compassionate but judge rightly in every circumstance. Adios!
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ReplyDeleteI have been robbed while my 5year old daughter watched; I had survived a car crash and the first group of people who rushed to the scene, didn't come to help, but came to see what they could steal. I know how it feels to be deprived of what you know has got to be your own... But in the path I have chosen, I prefer to define a thing not based on the biases the laws and ideologies we subscribe to provide us, but on what God sees and calls a thing. When Jesus was accused of working on the sabbath, He said a lot of things, reminding the pharisees of how David ate the bread in the temple and yet was not branded a thief or sinner... Then He concluded by saying "that which is greater than the sabbath is here". We still worship Him as the flawless one, don't we? When some people were angry that an expensive perfume (which could have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor) was used to anoint him, He said "the poor will always be with you..."
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to define right and wrong based on the experiences we have been through and what other people say. And much as a lot of things in this life fall under these two realms, permit me to say that until we see things the way God sees them, we do not know right or wrong.
Great piece P... Great piece
Maybe there's a point to judging based on each individual case, but that is just an excuse. Others with similar life did not go into crime.
ReplyDeleteA banker, lawyer, doctor, policeman have sworn some oath to hold themselves responsible and accountable to society in their professions. I will not take them off the hook...just like MJ's doctor wasnt taken off the hook for doping his patient. His punishment was surely stiffer than if it had been an ordinary man on the street giving him propanolol. 'to him much is given, much is expected'.
ReplyDeleteIndividual crime could be judged on a case by case.
No matter the situation, there shouldn't be any justification for theft jo, in my own opinion o.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe there's any justification at all. Some other people have been in similar or even worse situations and didn't have to go into crime.
ReplyDeleteIn my own opinion,there shouldn't be any justification in depriving others of things they have. Hunger,poverty, are just excuses to do wrong and like Sykik said,out of a 100 persons you meet for help,one will be willing to help out.
ReplyDeleteAs far as God is concerned, there is no justification for doing the wrong thing. The robber and the robbed have circumstances in their lives that may not be easy to explain, I cannot accept that the robber is justified in his action. What I do not believe in, however, is blatant massacre and jungle justice. The law should be allowed to take its due course.
ReplyDeleteGood muse though. I have recently been torn between the 'yes, no and complicated' true, something's are complicated to explain but surely, we shouldn't justify doing the wrong thing o!
Be free oh, in doing the right thing! :-)
I'd like to say no excuses but I'm also learning that there are many shades of grey in this life, I've seen people in terrible circumstances do terrible things, put in a better environment, they totally turned their lives around, so it's hard to judge.
ReplyDeleteYou are making sense darling. No one should ave to suffer twice for anything. The first suffering is that we are all going through something, the second is that someone decides we should be punished because he is going through something. Not cool
ReplyDeleteNo excuse for depriving one from hapiness. Its an already sad thing that we (nigerians) do not have a fulfilling economy.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, its a cycle in Naija. One steals from another and the one being stolen from cheats his employee while the employee defraud a customer.
Hope things change.
Really, there should be no excuse. Not everyone has had it good, and some people chose to go it in a dignified way. But to think that everyone will act right when faced with situations is a myth. It is just life
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