“To err is human; to forgive, divine.”
Alexander Pope an English poet born on May 21st 1688 and died May 30th 1744 said those often quoted words. He might have also said “to excuse err is to remove all responsibility” regardless of the offense whether great or small.
Alexander Pope an English poet born on May 21st 1688 and died May 30th 1744 said those often quoted words. He might have also said “to excuse err is to remove all responsibility” regardless of the offense whether great or small.
The law is suppose to have garnered great wisdom in dealing
with deliberate offences but we find there are great disparities in rendering
judgment.
Weldon Angelos, a 28 year old music executive and father of two young children was convicted of selling small amounts of marijuana three times for a few hundred dollars each time. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison while in the same courtroom on the same day; another defendant was convicted of bludgeoning an elderly woman to death with a log. He was sentenced to 25 years.
Weldon Angelos, a 28 year old music executive and father of two young children was convicted of selling small amounts of marijuana three times for a few hundred dollars each time. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison while in the same courtroom on the same day; another defendant was convicted of bludgeoning an elderly woman to death with a log. He was sentenced to 25 years.
There are times when a judge is forced to levy heavy
sentences for what could be called trivial offences and almost ignore crimes of
a more violent nature.
To err is human, but it is also human to obey and thus need
no divine forgiveness. If there was only one person in the world it would be
unnecessary to follow rules of conduct but the minute there are two or more
people on earth then protection is needed and comes in the form of laws or
rules.
The Ten Commandments cover virtually all of the human
conduct needed to have a functioning society and when examining them you see
that there are none of the commandments that a human can’t easily obey if they
choose to do so.
Perhaps Mr. Pope would have been better served if he had
said “to err is a willful violation of what is known to be unprofitable for
society.”
Notwithstanding there are careless moments when an unintentional
erroneous act may happen. It certainly
should be the exception and not the rule.
When we have to excuse the way we conduct ourselves, we need
to return to the book of life for instructions in righteousness.
The promulgation of human weakness has become an opiate that
society has been hooked on and spirituality is a victim of this practice. In
some cases the asking and receiving forgiveness lifestyle has replaced living
uprightly before the Lord and whose motto is “I’m only human after all.”
Is it time to stop excusing ourselves and start living up to
our potential?
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