Their chances have come and gone.

Sure it’s sad, but being murdered is probably pretty sad too. Does anyone reading this know how they’d feel having their life ended by murder? How your family would feel? How the last thing you’d see on earth is someone murdering you? How you’d feel knowing you were always “that person who got murdered”?

Oh wait I forgot, the guy cut hair and told people to avoid gang violence while charging them $15.50 for a cut.

Great story. Very valid point.

I had written something similar here http://guldasta.wordpress.com/2007/07/31/sanjay-dutt-gets-punishment/

I continue to pray that society learns more about tolerance and forgiveness.

- G

Actually, I don’t think it can just be about rehabilitation, there should be consequences for harming others, who have rights and freeddoms that should be respected and upheld. If it was just about rehab, there are plenty of people who could kill just one person (wife, husband, boss…) and be fine, and, um, fully “rehabilitated” thereafter, even being a model citizen thereafter. Many who have gotten away with murder have proved that to be true. Nah, there should definitely be consequences.

But the real answer, in my view, to truly making this a better world, and having a lot fewer ppl in those places is to teach children early on respect and love for THEMSELVES, self-esteem. If we’d nip that in the bud when ppl are children, we’d have much finer adult ppl. When you care about yourself, you tend to not harm others. We don’t seem to get that. Thinking kids will grow out of it or “get over it.” That doesn’t happen. They become adults who don’t give a damn about others, because they don’t give a damn about themselves. That’s what needs to change.

“Rushing” to judgment isn’t as knee-jerk as it seems when the respondents feel that they actually have all the information that is relevant to them.

Of all the replies, only two that I read seem to have sensed, dimply, that something major is missing in this story; everyone else has rushed to judgement.

What was missing? The charges and evidence levelled against the barber. His own admission (or lack of it).

Maybe, if all the commenters had heard the *whole* story, they would feel differently. Maybe they wouldn’t, I dunno. But they still should have held out for the rest of the truth before rushing to judgement.

Remember Sara Jane Olson (from the Patty Hearst times), who was known as Kathy Soliah during her days in the SLA, fled when the bomb charges were filed and eluded police for some 24 years, living much of that time in Minneapolis, where she married a physician, was active in church, local theater and volunteer work and drove her children to soccer matches.

She was located, tried and given 14 years. Many felt that since she’d gone on to create a good life for herself that she should be free.

I guess it’s “do the crime, serve the time” - no matter what you do afterward. You could have people thinking that if they murdered someone, it was okay because they could turn their lives around - and serve their self imposed sentence outside prison walls and then declare themselves innocent. It doesn’t work that way.

I know nothing about this ‘reformed’ barber who has supposedly already ‘paid’ his dues (not sure what standard is used here) by spending 4 months in the hospital.
Kids, remember, all actions have consequences. You know nothing about this barber except that he cut hair during the day. The author here only meet him what, once a month for 30 minutes? Not even remotely enough time to really get to know the man. Another thing to consider (since the facts are absent and everything under the sun seems to be considered here), most criminals have fronts i.e. store clerk, barber etc.

To those who suggested that his upbringing caused this is very week. It is saying that you are not responsible for your actions and behavior when in fact, that is exactly what we are solely responsible for. Think about it.

I am not without feeling or compassion though I’m sure it seems so in this post. However, that perspective has already be blogged about. I’m presenting a different one.

In closing, I must add that prison serves many purposes; confinement, reform, retribution, punishment are all included.

The good side (if any), God is in him and he with Him…I’m pretty sure he confessed (to God) and is forgiven, in God’s eyes, he is clean. I am pretty sure your good ‘ol barber has no guilt. All the best to him…

Best blog entry I have read in a long time.

but i believe, in the book of justice a crime is seen as a crime whether it was committed past / present….

but on the other hand, a lot of digging up can turn that life sentence into freedom…. wish him luck!

My first thought is that he paid a lot of “dues” with being beaten with a baseball bat, stabbed and almost killed. He faced those consequences of his choices, and survived. Another thought is that if he was even partially responsible for the death of another, that other person had no second chance…

Different people make different choices with the same upbringing. I believe all things happen for a reason. He did make his life better, he began teaching the younger ones a better way, and now he’s in prison for his earlier choices. I think people should follow their intuition if they feel they can do something to free this person, if enough people feel he should be free.

BUT if that isn’t the case, if such actions don’t result in his freedom, then consider that prison is exactly where he needs to be for the cultivation of not only his own “soul,” but what better place to endeavor to teach others a better way? How many positive influences do they have in those places? Maybe this was “God’s” purpose for him, why he was allowed to return to this life (from his near-death experience). What would he choose, if he had a choice over death or prison? Again, consider that maybe this is why he was given a “second life.”

Look at all the people even just right here reading about him, and the consequences of his earlier choices…possibly changing young minds for the better.

In a cool book called “The Celestine Prophecy,” a guy followed what he felt was his “intuition,” and it landed him in jail. So he thought he must have made the wrong choice, but he soon discovered that in jail was exactly where he needed to be

No doubt our society needs a major overhaul, so many things need to change for the better…and we will change them, in the right time. Until then, we should endeavor to fight against injustice and stand up for what is good and right in our minds/hearts. But we should also accept that which we cannot change in this moment. The Universe is wise, even if we can’t understand or see the good in it right now, or see only bad in it, all things happen for a good reason. And we can test this theory by looking at our own lives, and seeing how many things that happened that seemed very bad turned out to ultimately work out well for us. If this man truly turned his life around, he will continue to do good in his “second life,” even in prison.

Peace,
Dove