I Know What You Did

Committing an unjust act doesn't always mean the person is unjust. There are those who do things selfishly and out of malice. But sometimes we do things either by mistake or our judgment is clouded. Someone might steal out of desperation rather than out of laziness. An act of adultery could occur out of passion of the moment rather than deliberate choice. Those who insulate themselves cannot pass judgment on those who had conditions come together without forethought. We have all seen well respected people fall into spirals of drugs, sex and corruption. Upbringing and personality are helpful factors in character. A self-righteous person is someone who assumes it is his awesome willpower and not his insulated life and lack of passion that keeps him out of trouble. Those who are humble will protect themselves knowing that they are just as vulnerable as the next guy. This person will also give others a break and will not pass judgment. Taking incidental information to form conclusions is a bad habit to get into. It causes us to be disliked and also become vulnerable. That is why it is said that pride goes before destruction.

With a person of good character there are always instances where things are done by mistake. Nobody is perfect. There are various areas this occurs. There are things that are done under compulsion such as a soldier doing his duty. In past history, soldiers held the lives of their families by their willingness to follow orders. Disgrace might mean the death of his love ones so they would do what they shouldn't. The Nuremberg trials were based on this. We do things out of ignorance to varying degrees. Someone who is crass might always tell the truth but isn't discreet about the sensitivities of the listeners. Some things that are done might be perceived as mean when the intention wasn't.

 Even just people can seem good when it really isn't on purpose. Someone who does what is right because of the fear of loss under a contract doesn't have better character over someone who always keeps his word even if there isn't a contract. So there are factors of compulsion that makes some people appear just and others unjust.

Some causes of unintentional hurt are: mistakes, malfunctions or conditions that change the outcome. An unintentional injury can occur in two ways: accidents and mistakes. An accident is when no person is at fault and other things caused it. A mistake is when it was human error. A person who deliberately injures another is vicious and unjust. Sometimes an act occurs out of a passion such as anger. Another person can be purposely causing the rage and would share the blame. It doesn't mean the person who committed the act is bad but was pushed beyond his limits. We all have limits. The justice of the act itself in these cases isn't so much in question as the origin of the passion. What it gets down to is when a person acts from choice there is a need for correction and the person is more likely to still be unjust and continue in his vice. Unintentional violations may need correction but it doesn't mean the person is bad. A just person will learn his lesson from it. Later we will examine how people get to each of these states. 

I hope this isn't too awful dry but there are good points. I like the metaphor that justice is universal like fire. It is always hot everywhere you go. These writings always build into something more but it is like any construction, it can be tedious at times but we learn skills along the way.