Most "crimes" are motivated by human emotion, by the droplet of chemicals which trickle through the brain and body. What's curious to me, is how you, the public, rates these "criminal" emotions. Some you consider to be "acceptable," even "good" emotions. Others are considered heinous. It appears that one's opinion about the "criminal" emotions is based upon one's own experience. If you are greedy, you're much more likely to tolerate greed in others. If you are a quivering pussy, you are much more likely to accept "fear" as a legitimate emotion for a "crime." In the law, the actual "crime" is less important than the criminal emotion which motivated it. Consider the case of a murdered twenty-two year-old woman. Suppose I gunned her down for each of the following emotions, which are the worse? A. She had six million dollars in her pocket and I was greedy for it. B. She was my wife and I was jealous when I caught her in bed with Henry Washington, the homeless hobo. C. I was afraid that she'd hurt me with the shotgun she was pointing at my bald-spot. D. I was furiously enraged because she'd been baiting and belittling me in public. E. I was sexually stimulated by her and lusted to force intercourse upon her. F. She was ahead of me in line, delaying my checking out with some grass seed. Which emotional motivations are worse than which others? Many persons appear to tolerate acts of violence, perhaps they themselves are violent. Lots of persons seem to "understand" crimes of greed and even anger, but crimes motivated by sexual desires (that is by the constructive sexual process as opposed to the destructive process of violence) are considered especially "bad." Worst of all, are crimes where there is little or no emotion, the so-called "cold-blooded" crimes. Being puppets of our own chemicals, we judge that it's "bad" not to be an emotional victim. What is especially surprising is the distorted American stance toward sexual motivations. They are "sicknesses," "weaknesses." In the popular psyche greed, fury and jealousy are "healthy" emotions. By contrast, a desire to have sex with some forbidden sexual object (and our culture is rife with forbidden sexual objects) is unhealthy, "sick!" Consider the old guy who drops his drawers to flash the passing ladies' club; how do you view him? "Unhealthy," right? In just the same way, you're also a sexist. Suppose that instead of an old guy, it's a young gal who drops her drawers for the passing gentlemen's club. Now suddenly the criminal is not "unhealthy," and not even such a bad person. Law, crime and punishment are based upon emotions, upon your emotions, how you feel (not what you think) about something. Consider: a man goes into a mom-n-pop grocery store. He steals five dollars. The proprietor shoots him. Okay, how do you view the facts? Who's good and who's bad? Suppose that the man was your father. Suppose that he needed the money to phone for an ambulance for your injured child? Same questions: who's good, who's bad? What's right and what's "wrong?" What separates humans from machines is that the real world is never back and white, never simplisticly good versus bad. That's a fictional ethic invented by religious fanatics and Republicans. Life is an eternal struggle deciding between shades of gray. We do well where we tolerate the views and the conduct of others and where we respond with moderation and compassion. We should each remember that we are pathetic swamps of conflicting chemicals of emotion. Those of you who think are very rare. Those who "feel" are typical. I cry for the criminal because he is me. His weaknesses and chemicals are mine.