Governments enact and enforce laws to protect their citizens, restrain evildoers, and promote the general welfare. God is the origin of law; He created this universe to function according to the laws of science and implanted a conscience within each human heart to know right from wrong.
The constitutions and statutes that constitute a nation’s laws approximate the heavenly law; that is why we they usually are in agreement with the dictates of conscience. Laws are needed to restrain wickedness.
People who do not follow the dictates of conscience, by which they ought to govern themselves to do right and avoid wickedness, are restrained by the law’s sharp distinctions between right and wrong, what is permitted and what is prohibited. In this sense, people who cultivate their character to become people of conscience do not need the law and are unlikely to run afoul of the law.
Laws prescribe punishment as a deterrent to crime and to establish justice. The government in meting out punishments is a co-worker with God, who is the final dispenser of justice. Indeed, one can regard hell as a vast prison in the spirit world to restrain evildoers from trampling on heaven’s domains.
Punishment can serve as ‘indemnity,’ an opportunity for the criminal to pay the debt of sin. On the other hand, there should always be an element of mercy in the criminal justice system, should the criminal repent with sincerity and turn his life around.
Father Moon teaches that the chief purpose of prison should be education and rehabilitation.
This was, in fact, the core idea of the twentieth-century movement to convert prisons where inmates languished in cells into ‘penitentiaries’ where they could be rehabilitated through work and education.
The two poles of justice and mercy form the perspective from which to view ethical issues such as the death penalty.
Sun Myung Moon
The Law’s Noble Purpose
When Marduk commissioned me to guide the people aright and to direct the land, I established law and justice in the language of the land in order to promote the welfare of the people. The Code of Hammurabi
The Creator… projected that excellent form, Law. This law is the controller of the ruler; therefore, there is nothing higher. So even a weak man hopes to defeat a stronger man through the law, as one does with the help of a king. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.14 (Hinduism)
As ruler and president… you must in everything reverence the statutes and proceed by them to the happy rule of the people. They were the reverence of King Wen and his caution; in proceeding by them to the happy rule of the people, say, “If I can only attain to them.” Book of History 5.9.3.8 (Confucianism)
Laws are partly framed for the sake of good men, in order to instruct them how they might live on friendly terms with one another, and partly for the sake of those who refuse to be instructed, whose spirit cannot be subdued, or softened, or hindered from plunging into evil. Plato, Laws 9 (Hellenism)
He who renders true judgments is a co-worker with God. Mekilta, Exodus 18.13 (Judaism)
By justice, a king gives stability to the land. Proverbs 29.4
If punishment is properly inflicted after due consideration, it makes all people happy; but inflicted without consideration, it destroys everything. If the ruler did not, without tiring, inflict punishment on those worthy to be punished, the stronger would roast the weaker, like fish on a spit. All barriers would be broken through, and all men would rage against each other in consequence of mistakes with respect to punishment. But where Punishment, with a black hue and red eyes, stalks about, destroying sinners, there the subjects are not disturbed, provided he who inflicts it discerns well. Laws of Manu 7.20-25 (Hinduism)
He who distinguishes good deeds from evil, Who shows the results of karma, he is called a king. Ordained by the host of gods, the gods delight in him. For the sake of himself or others, to preserve the righteousness of his land, And to put down the rogues and criminals in his domains, Such a king would give up, if need be, his life and his kingdom.16 Golden Light Sutra 12 (Buddhism)
Sun Myung Moon
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
What are laws? Laws exist to prevent the destruction of things that are worthy of protection. There is a natural law that protects the universe from destruction. Likewise, nations have laws to protect society from destruction.
Once we understand the purpose of laws, we can appreciate the importance of obeying them. (118:198, June 1, 1982)
Every country has its laws, whose purpose is to maintain goodness. After all, a nation’s constitution and the laws enacted by its legislature function to protect the general welfare, not destroy it. What about people who violate the law? All countries have prisons to punish them. Yet the standards of what is allowed and what is prohibited differ from one country to another according to the system of government and the views of its leaders. (216:306, April 15, 1991)
A nation enacts laws to enhance the public way of life. It places restrictions on people who live only to satisfy selfish desires and the desires of the body. The law sets limits on such self-centered activities; the more self-centered they are, the narrower are the limits the law sets. (105:15-16, July 8, 1979)
Human laws today are based on Roman laws, and Roman laws are the foundation of world culture. However, human morals are based on the conscience. Conscience precedes law… Society needs laws, because its members seek a social order that is in agreement with the untainted conscience. In the end, where do human laws have their basis? Their basis is in heavenly law. (33:44, August 2, 1970)
The law should set up a bright line distinguishing right from wrong. Doesn’t American law based on its Constitution set up a standard of right and wrong? The law does not punish people for serving the public. You can do infinite amounts of public service, and it is always welcomed. But many kinds of self-centered activities are prohibited.
Whenever your self-centered actions damage the public, the law gets in the way. Hence, using violence to harm people or destroy property is illegal. Vandalizing public buildings is illegal. From this perspective, when someone speaks harsh, vituperative words that hurt others, He also violates the [heavenly] law. (111:239, February 22, 1981)
Why should you obey the laws of your nation? You may think, “That’s a bad law. I know that some crooked congressman introduced the bill and got it passed, so I’m not going to obey that law.
I will follow my own laws.” Nevertheless, laws are made to preserve the freedom of the nation as a whole, and the nation’s freedom is a higher good than the preferences of particular individuals or groups.
From this perspective, it is right to obey the law. By the same token, God’s law protects the freedom and integrity of the entire universe, above and beyond the desires of its creatures. (May 1, 1982)17
At the Human Fall evil started first, ahead of goodness. Hence we must make effort to suppress evil and elevate goodness. What strategy shall we use? First, we must take control over our arrogance. The Fall occurred when human beings exalted themselves and pushed God aside.
That was the beginning of Satan’s nature. Arrogance is the desire to elevate oneself without regard to law and discipline or to how it may affect the surrounding environment or the social order.
An arrogant person has no regard for duty or law. How do we describe a person who lives in accordance with the law? Do we say He is arrogant? No, we say he or she is as an honest person.
The Korean word for honesty (jeongjik) is composed of two Chinese characters, 正 meaning “right” and 直 meaning “straight.” The law establishes what is straight.
With the law we separate good from evil and distinguish between right and wrong. An arrogant person ignores the law. We must put a stop to behavior that ignores the law and violates the norms expected according to one’s position and circumstances. (37:112, December 23, 1970)
What will be the constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven?
It will establish the power of love and foster the life force of love. All laws in the Kingdom of Heaven will be for protecting love. (111:171, February 15, 1981)
Sun Myung Moon
The Administration of Justice
Whenever you judge between people, you should do so with justice. How superbly God instructs you to do so; God is Alert, Observant! Qur’an 4.58
Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien that is with him. You shall not be partial in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike; you shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. Deuteronomy 1.16-17
He is not thereby just because he hastily arbitrates cases. The wise man should investigate both right and wrong. The intelligent person who leads others not falsely but lawfully and impartially, who is a guardian of the law, is called one who abides by righteousness. Dhammapada 256-57 (Buddhism)
A thief shall, running, approach the king, with flying hair, confessing that theft, saying, “Thus I have done, punish me.” Whether he is punished or pardoned [after confessing], the thief is freed from the guilt of theft; but the king, if he punishes not, takes upon himself the guilt of the thief. Laws of Manu 8.314, 316 (Hinduism)
What destroyed your predecessors was just that when a person of rank among them committed a theft they left him alone, but when a weak one of their number committed a theft they inflicted the prescribed punishment on him. I swear by God that even if my daughter Fatima should steal, I would have her hand cut off. Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim (Islam)
If the thief steals something he takes an oath to decide his fate, but if the oath steals something what will it take? Igala Proverb (African Traditional Religions)
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Exodus 20.16
Whoever commits a delinquency or crime, then throws it upon the innocent, has burdened himself with falsehood and a flagrant crime. Qur’an 4.112
A single witness shall not prevail against a man for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed; only on the evidence of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall a charge be sustained. If a malicious witness rises against any man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days; the judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you. Deuteronomy 19.15-20
Sun Myung Moon
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
A nation’s laws impose punishment on criminals for the purpose of setting the indemnity conditions necessary for maintaining order in society. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Restoration 1.1)
I cannot bend the law even for True Mother. The law rules her, as it rules me. (180:115, August 7, 1988)
You cannot have freedom without principle or law; you cannot have freedom without order… When there is no law and order, freedom brings only destruction. When you violate the law of a nation, you have to go to prison.
Yet if America is really a free country, why does it need prisons? Shouldn’t we just close them down and let everyone do whatever they want? Shouldn’t people be free to do whatever they want, even run down the street stark naked?
Today in America people do that, even practice prostitution and homosexuality, and they regard it as their right to be free. Can we dispense with prison? Well then, should John Hinckley be able to get away with shooting President Reagan and insist that he not be arrested?
Certainly we need to incarcerate those who do not abide by the nation’s laws. Even in the spirit world there are prisons for those who do not abide by the laws of the spirit world. Schools need a room for detention, and families need a punishing spot. (112:73-74, April 1, 1981)
If a prosecutor or malicious person obtains the execution of an innocent man for personal motives, then according to the heavenly law he himself shall be sentenced to death. The person who was killed unfairly shall receive a reward, while the person who caused his death shall be punished. (93:111, May 21, 1977)
Sun Myung Moon
Just and Merciful Punishments
Human punishment is execrable even when just. Pope Sixtus (Christianity)
A sovereign should not inflict excessive punishment. Matsya Purana 220.10 (Hinduism)
The superior man gives careful thought to his judgments and is tardy in sentencing people to death. I Ching 61 (Confucianism)
Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him treacherously, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. Exodus 21.12-14
O you who believe! Equal recompense is prescribed for you in cases of murder: a freeman for a freeman, a slave for a slave, a woman for a woman.18 But if any remission is made by the brother of the slain, then grant any reasonable demand and compensate him with handsome gratitude. This is a concession and a mercy from your Lord. Qur’an 1.178
Should I [Imam Ali] be killed, see that there is no widespread retaliation. Do not roam about with a drawn sword… and do not start a massacre of my opponents and enemies. See that only one man, that is my murderer, is killed in punishment for the crime of murder, and that nobody else is molested or harmed or harassed. The punishment to the man who attempted the murder shall take place only when I die of the wound delivered by him, and this punishment shall be only one stroke of the sword to end his life. He should not be tortured before his death; his hands and feet should not be cut off, because I have heard the Holy Prophet saying, “Do not cut off the hands and feet of anybody, even a biting dog.” Nahjul Balagha, Letter 47 (Shiite Islam)
O king, through compassion you should always Generate an attitude of help Even for those embodied beings Who have committed appalling sins. Especially generate compassion For those murderers, whose sins are horrible; Those of fallen nature are receptacles Of compassion from those whose nature is great. Free the weaker prisoners After a day or five days; Do not think the others Are never to be freed… As long as the prisoners are not freed, They should be made comfortable With barbers, baths, food, drink, Medicine and clothing. Just as unworthy sons are punished Out of a wish to make them worthy, So punishment should be enforced with compassion And not through hatred or desire for wealth. Once you have analyzed the angry Murderers and recognized them well, You should banish them without Killing or tormenting them. Nagarjuna, Precious Garland 331-37 (Buddhism)
Sun Myung Moon
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
When the state executes someone who committed a capital crime, it is not thereby guilty of the crime of killing a human being. Why not?
The government carried out the execution under public statutes enacted for the benefit of society. Being sanctioned by laws that were enacted to benefit the nation and the world, the execution may be justified. (88:298, October 3, 1976)
I envision the day when all nations are united under a world government like the United Nations and agree on a world standard of law. A person who commits a crime will receive swift punishment; he or she will be sent away to a facility near the North Pole or the South Pole.
There convicts are quarantined like patients with leprosy or SARS and provided with food to last only one year. In that hellish environment they are trained to survive; and through suffering hardships they are educated in the heavenly way. That education elevates their character and restores them to people who will abide by the law for the rest of their lives.19 (May 17, 2003)
The American legal system has a provision for criminals to be pardoned. How about in the ideal universal legal system: can a convicted criminal receive pardon?
Yes it is possible, but to be entitled to receive it, he should sacrifice and serve. In that case the law shows mercy, and the person can make a new start down the path of a reformed life. (105:92, September 30, 1979)
Sun Myung Moon
The End of the Law
He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13.8-10
The wise man is always free; he is always held in honor; he is always master of the laws. The law is not made for the just, but for the unjust. The just man is a law unto himself and he does not need to summon the law from afar, for he carries it enclosed in his heart, having the law [of God] written on the tablets of his heart…
The wise man is free, since one who does as he wishes is free. Not every wish is good, but the wise man wishes only that which is good; he hates evil for he chooses what is good. Because he chooses what is good he is master of his choice, and because he chooses his work he is free. Saint Ambrose of Milan, Letter 54 (Christianity)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Every country has its laws, whose purpose is to maintain goodness… At the same time, everyone is endowed with a conscience. Even without an education, the conscience knows what is right and urges us to act accordingly.
Through the conscience, every person can know right from wrong and has the ability to regulate him or herself, quite apart from the law. (216:306, April 15, 1991)
The law is an instrument to regulate people who would take advantage of society and the world for personal gain. The law is needed to deter self-centered people and groups from transgressing the line of what is permitted. How should we live in order not to transgress the law?
Those who live for the sake of others do not require laws to deter them from doing wrong. We need to reach that level, where we are liberated from the law. How shall you live if you want to be confident not to be caught in the net of the world’s laws?
If you live for your own selfish purposes, you are liable to be caught wherever you go. Instead, cultivate a life of living for the greater good of society. Then you will be liberated from the law. (93:301, June 12, 1977)
Would that the world were filled with true families! It would be a world governed by the heavenly way and heavenly laws, with no need for lawyers, prosecutors, or even judges. (April 10, 2006)
Sun Myung Moon