Exposing Punishment Mentality

It’s been my observation that the USA is the greatest nation. Our country strives for justice, which is a wonderful concept. Hearing of a politician enticed by bribes makes us angry for justice. Abuse enrages us. Murder is not tolerated. While Americans can’t stand to see victims treated unfairly, many other countries do not share our values. Bribes are an acceptable practice of politicians. Victims of abuse are blamed instead of the abuser. In some countries murder is acceptable, or at least overlooked by authorities.

What makes our country great, can also cause problems. We as Americans love justice, but unfortunately we also have a culture of punishment. Although justice may seem to go with punishment, it really doesn’t. Discipline is the act of trying to correct the wrong by bettering the offender. Punishment just punishes. While this may seem to be a legal problem only, it is not. The USA has a culture of punishment, and one of the effects of the punishment mentality is that when there is crisis, we must find someone to blame.

Remember the days immediately following Hurricane Katrina? While many people were still trapped in New Orleans, the news media focused on who was to blame for the catastrophe. Remember the accusations against the president, the mayor, the governor, and others – all while people still needed to be rescued? That might be important in days to come, but at that moment the focus should have been on helping those in need not criticizing. I’m not blaming the media, because the media is only the reflection of the culture that it serves. But this shows the punishment mentality. We have to find someone to blame in every crisis.

This may seem to be just a national problem, but it is even more damaging in our personal lives. We all face crisis in our lives. So how do react? Do we find someone to blame? Do we blame our spouse, our family, ourselves? I believe our culture of punishment has caused much damage to us. I believe it has caused us to live in fear, in shame, in doubt, and in denial. It is my goal to further explore this punishment mentality and to expose the lie that it has planted in our culture.