{Repentance, Return and Re-formation}[3rd October 1987]

[Redbook4:84-85][19871003:1202c]{Repentance, Return and Re-formation}[3rd October 1987]

19871003.1202

[continued]

Thinking about Sir Alfred Sherman's comments on the young S.S. men* – which seemed to have aroused as much fury as I thought Rachel's ultimate remarks in [2] might if ever they were published – it occurred to me with astonishment that his view{,} and Rachel's{,} {were}** similar to the reforming view of sentencing, which I have not held any particular views for or against*** but which on the whole the Left (who hate Sherman) support.

(I have had sympathy for the victims who argue that they should receive support {at least} as much as the criminal – but this is, or should be, an argument about the allocation of resources, not about methods of dealing with crime.)

But of course, the implications of the Circles, and of Christianity itself, are that reform is crucial in this life if 'punishment' (by destruction) is not to follow after Death (and to an extent before Death also). So convicted criminals – and we need to be sure that their crime really is a moral crime, i.e. an act of Separation staining the Soul – should be assisted to a genuine repentance and return, for the sake of their future life.

One aspect emerging is the tendency for the pattern of Circles to progress continuously before and after Death. The fact that repentance has positive consequences, and lack of this “returning” has negative consequences, both before and after Death, is a part of this continuum.

*(He had, if I recall correctly, blamed the Nazis for corrupting these youngsters into the S.S..) 

[Sherman, like Rachel, was Jewish, at least by birth, giving their comments an arguably different nuance than if made by Gentiles; although the actual and the fictional individual could in other respects hardly be more different. <20161021>]

**[Originally 'was'.]

***Basically, I believe in reform if it works, bringing about a genuine change of heart.

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