How Do You Treat a Bad Person?

We’re not always fortunate enough to be in the company of good and highly conscious people.  There are times when we encounter selfish violent people who don’t even care what harm they do to others.  How do you deal with those kinds of people?

Granted that they are only doing those things because they are not conscious enough, they do not know the harm they are doing to others and to themselves.  It’s easy to understand it that way theoretically.  But what if you have a real encounter with such a person?  What if you discovered her saying things that damage your reputation behind your back?  Or what if a person was just plain rude and gave you derogatory remarks in front of others?  Would you still be able to understand? Will you not get angry?

Other people have a quick fix for this.  They tell themselves that they wouldn’t get angry and take revenge because they don’t want to go down to that lower level where those people are.  That’s a quick fix because it will immediately boost your ego to the detriment of the other person’s worth.  She deserves it, right?

If you are truly highly conscious however, you know deep within that it doesn’t reflect the whole story.  You know that the person was only lost and unaware of what she’s doing.  But it doesn’t mean that that person is no longer valuable in God’s eyes.  That doesn’t mean that the person no longer has a soul and no longer has the right to exist like you and me.  So how do you do it?  How do you treat a bad person?

Before you answer these questions, could you please ask yourself, “How do I want to be treated?” Not that you’re a bad person. Of course you’re not!  If you ever did some bad things in your life, you didn’t mean it, and most of the time, you weren’t even “aware” you’re hurting other people already, right?

If I were that person, here’s how I want to be treated.  I want to be treated with understanding and tolerance, because if I had known I would do something bad and I had the power not to do it, I wouldn’t do it.  I know I’m not yet perfect, but I’m on my path to growth.  I ‘m doing my best here to be the best person I could be.  I want to be treated with respect, not like I’m some kind of lower being with no soul or hope of ever being redeemed into a better future.  But I would also like to be stopped from doing harm.  And I would like to be aware that I’m doing something bad.  I would like to realize my faults so I could grow and do better.

So, how do you treat a bad person?

Check Jocelyn's books:

"Of Waves and Butterflies: Poems on Grief", "Mend My Broken Heart", "Questions to God", "To Love an Invisible God", "Defending My Catholic Faith", and more - click here.

(You may freely quote excerpts from this website as long as due credit is given to author Jocelyn Soriano and the website itakeoffthemask.com)