Observe how many penal institutions, houses of detention and
places of torture are made ready to receive the sons of men, the purpose being
to prevent them, by punitive measures, from committing terrible crimes --
whereas this very torment and punishment only increaseth depravity, and by such
means the desired aim cannot be properly achieved.
Therefore, must the individual be trained from his infancy
in such a way that he will never undertake to commit a crime, will, rather,
direct all his energies to the acquisition of excellence, and will look upon
the very commission of an evil deed as in itself the harshest of all
punishments, considering the sinful act itself to be far more grievous than any
prison sentence. For it is possible so to train the individual that, although
crime may not be completely done away with, still it will become very rare.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a Tablet, The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Baha’i
Education)
