Morgan Freeman's take on Hindu approach to evil: "...evil is not spurned. Evil is thought of as a spirit that needs help - just needs to find peace. Cool." Maybe it is an approach that could reduce hate; because everyone is both good and evil. You think?
Thats not the Hindu approach to evil at all. I really wish people from the west would actually learn about hindu before they try to cite it.
I agree that in most cases evil is made and not born. MOST cases. However, there are just some people who are born with their brains wired all wrong. No amount of therapy is going to change these people.
I also believe that at the age of 18, the individual becomes fully accountable for the path they choose to take in life and the decisions they make, regardless of their background or the wiring in their head.
For example, I’m not going to give a pedophile over the age of 18 a pass for molesting a child just because they themselves were molested when they were a kid, any more than I would a serial killer who came from a relatively normal childhood, but started torturing bugs at the age of three.
At the age of 18, one becomes old enough to understand the basic rules of society and need to suffer the full consequences of the law if they violate those rules.
IF you believe 18 is the age of mental maturity then you have a LOT of learning to catch up on. The correct answer there would be somewhere around 28.
The only people I’ll give a pass to in regards to impulse control are those who lack the cognitive ability to understand and interpret basic rules and laws.
Everybody has negative impulses now and again. There are days when some people seriously make me want to stab them in the throat and then sit back and enjoy a monito as I watch them die slowly. That doesn’t mean I’m ever going to act on said impulse because I understand it would be horribly wrong and would likely negatively effect more people than just the individual who has pissed me off to the point of wanting to kill them slowly.
Civilized society has rules and laws to guide us, even when our negative impulses attempt to get the better of us.
It would be a mistake to make past treatment an excuse - we would have to empty the prisons. But understanding of what leads people certain ways may be helpful for future prevention.