by Ganelle Davis

Created on: November 29, 2009   Last Updated: November 30, 2009

In grade school we called this premise "tit for tat." You kill my monkey, " I'll kill your cat". Two wrongs have never made anything right. In this premise you wind up with a dead monkey and a dead cat. Most act on this premise out of revenge or may be seeking justice in some way. Perhaps for that brief moment in time , you might feel better just for a short time. That moment is fleeting and you still have been wronged. The most honest approach is to consider how you really feel in that moment. It feels terrible, doesn't it? Why continue to promote a wrong deed? Many people may view dismissing or forgiving the wrong deed as a sign of weakness. On the contrary it is a sign of strength and intelligence to reflect your character of promoting what is right. It's much easier to stoop to someone else's level and do what is wrong. It is much more of a challenge to do what is right.

Teenagers, quite frequently face this challenge in the form of peer pressure. "Everyone is doing that", you might here them say. As parent's we cringe at this rebuttal. Just because everyone is engaging in wrong behavior, does not make it correct behavior.

Still another point to consider is the "Death Penalty". This has always been an intense, huge moral debate. Is it justice to kill another human being, because he or she killed someone? Would that be the right thing to do? Suppose , you find out years later through DNA and an eye witness, that they did mot commit this heinous crime. You have already executed an innocent person. Whoops! you see, two wrongs never make a right. Sure, that would be an extreme example. This proves our justice system may be as fallible as human beings. The last I looked our justice system is comprised of human beings.

If it were my loved one, I'm sure, I would want the most harshest punishment. t won't bring back my loved one.Maybe hearing the cries of a mournful mother each night would convict the murderer in his spirit. Two wrongs never make a right.

This true story may bring my point into view. My thirteen year old daughter was left behind after a sporting event at her school in the dark one evening. I was terrified, furious and quite frankly mad as hell. By the way, this coach passed by my home to get to her home. Saying to the coach, that very same evening, "How would you like it, if someone left your child behind, alone in the dark"? I unclenched my fist, as I watched the expression on her face change from pitiful to terrified. I would never ever do that to any child. I just wanted her to imagine, what that must feel like. A few weeks earlier, a national case of a child abduction was every where on the news. The case was Elizabeth Smart.

Compassion may rule out any notion of getting even with someone. Shouldn't it be our objective to correct the wrongs and somehow make them right? I know, this may sound like an imaginary grandiose idea. I ask you to imagine a world filled with people with compassion and grandiose ideas. Correcting the wrongs and never adding more wrongs to the equation.

Learn more about this author, Ganelle Davis.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.