My problem with justice

I can't remember if I have talked about this before, but he I go anyway.

I have a serious problem with "justice."  The whole idea of someone getting "what they deserve" or "being punished for what they have done" or even "paying penance" in a forced way seems wrong.  It feels like retribution; it feels like an eye for an eye.  That feels wrong.  

Muhatma (an title in the Indian language translating roughly to supreme teacher) Ghandi once said, "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."  He is thought to have been speaking of wars breaking out because one man  killed someone close to him which in turn causes them the pain requisite enough to want to kill another in vengeance and so on.  I think this very powerful statement extends even further.  I believe that no matter what reason anyone has, taking a life or harming another outside the natural order impacts us and is inherently wrong.  We hear stories all the time of cops killing to prevent a life from being taken and being rocked by the experience.  Or cut throat businessmen who, despite their personal success, are haunted by demons of greed and depression.  

For whatever reason, no matter how just it may be, to do wrong to another (outside of that natural instinct) is bad for the soul.  

Let me elaborate on "outside the natural instinct."  What I mean is this: why don't police officers give tickets to J walking pigeons?  Why don't we arrest Tigers for mauling and eating animals as we would a human without a license doing the same?  Why is it that some people are driven to take it upon their soul to see justice served?  Why is it that others serve to create the chaos needed to make those justice servers whole?  When we act inside this natural order, we are whole.  When we act outside of this natural order, our souls become haunted.  

Justice to me is nothing more than stabbing a man because he stabbed someone else.  Pretty it up all you like, but at the end of the day it is retribution, plain and simple.  I don't suggest we simply let killers roam free, I simply suggest that the natural order will fix many things.  The perils of these haunted hearts do cause many of the problems that create them, after all.  

It is an idealistic dream at best, but always remember: I am be a dreamer, but I am not the only one.