Talk:Finn Collins/@comment-25176701-20151015205753/@comment-76.17.103.248-20151020214241

Who said anything about race? These are just two different societies of people, two different cultures. And I'm not blaming the victims. But I do believe the warriors bear some culpability. They slaughtered innocent civilians, too. It is their violence that led to more violence. Finn wanted to talk to them, reason things out. But then Tristan and his warriors attacked their camp and brutally slaughtered half of his friends, took him hostage and brutalized him, slit a boy's throat, and beat up Bellamy. What does that kind of trauma do to people, especially someone as fragile as Finn?

What Finn did was a terrible thing, and he should have been punished. But there are degrees of murder precisely because justice requires us to look at each case individually. We have to discern intent, and yes, mental state. Then we administer the appropriate punishment based on the circumstances. It's not just "blood must have blood".

Finn wasn't dangerous afterwards either. Once a person recognizes his weaknesses, he's better able to control himself. Finn proved that when he didn't shoot the grounder in the forest. He thought the girl he loved had just been killed, and still he let the grounder go. There was no better test than that.

Yes, I do believe in mercy. Maybe it's because I'm a Christian. Christ taught us that we shouldn't judge and that the same measures we use against others will be used against us by the Almighty. I know that it is only God's mercy that will save me from eternal damnation. And I also believe that no matter how gravely a person sins, he can be saved if he truly repents. That doesn't mean we can just waltz into heaven. We will still have to suffer for our sins. But we can escape that ultimate penalty.

The worse humans can do to each other on this earth as punishment is a torturous death. With the grounders, justice was black and white. Kill Finn and make him suffer as much as they could before he died. That was their Dark Ages mentality. All Finn was to them was a murderer, and they had no compassion for him. We, on the other hand, did know him. We know that he was a pacifist who hated violence, that he wanted to make peace, that he was morally centered and kind at heart. We also know that he couldn't handle the stress and trauma of war, and  that he was broken. We know that he hated himself for what he had done. Yet, you can't find compassion in your heart to spare him the ultimate punishment. Yes, he took 18 lives, and he should pay for that. But more bloodshed only satisfied the thirst for revenge. If God were like that, we'd all go to hell.