It s no coincidence the country with the greatest ambitions and aspirations is at the same time the one with the highest crime and incarceration rates. There s just that much more to pay for. From birth children are acculturated in the values of their parents and their society. Some of us, both collectively and individually, we judge to be good, and some of us we judge to be bad. Although one may be extremely indignant that others do not share ones personal judgments, very rarely does anyone question his or her own conception of good and bad, much less his or her society s conceptions.
Force is the ultimate authority.
It s the small print in our contract authorizing military and police force to protect us. Aggression engenders aggression. And on the other hand, should anyone choose to practice it, acceptance engenders acceptance. Striving to be better, to be other than we are, only alienates us from ourselves. Jesus counsel to become like little children encourages us to recover the fullness of emotional life unencumbered by the straightjacket of values.