What if I were to say I am a man and I raped someone before? Many people would say I ruined another persons life and caused them to be shameful and hate people, amongst other emotions forever. So I may go to jail-depending on my ethnicity and age for life.

But what if I’m to say that I too was raped and abused my entire life? What if I am to say I am a woman as well? Then the views become skewed. People would look at my life history and say I deserve a second chance because I too was taken advantage of and couldn’t know right from wrong because my brain couldn’t process the traumatic events in a rational way. So I may not go to jail afterall.

Others would say because I experienced that pain, why couldn’t I learn not to project that onto someone else?

What if I’m to say that never happened but because I believe in forgiveness that people deserve second chances? I think if people are punished for their actions, never commit that same crime again and truly show regret and remorse for the pain they have caused others they could repent their sins and show how much they have changed since the incident. Now I am not saying we let rapists, murders, thieves etc go from prison to run wild and free. But if they show they understand what they did was wrong, apologize, get punished, never commit the crime again and show they can become a decent human being despite their flaws…

couldn’t they be seen as human beings again?