This past weekend I went on a wilderness retreat to Agape-a lay Catholic community in Hardwick, Mass. Agape is located in pristine woods near a gorgeous reservoir that we had the pleasure of walking to and meditating by-it's really a wonderful place. As someone continuously exploring his spirituality, it was refreshing to spend time focusing on it. However, by no means was Catholicism pressured upon me, as Suzanne and Brayton Shanley-the couple that founded and maintain Agape-are very open-minded and non-evangelical.

Together, we spent a considerable amount of time discussing non violence both in practice and in principle. The Boston Marathon bombings had just happened the week before and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured the previous day. This meant a lot of our conversations about non violence related to Dzhokhar, his brother Tamerlan, and how we ought react to the whole situation. The Shanleys have firmly convinced me, or rather helped me realize something I knew all along: vengeance is not the proper response in this case. Understanding the Tsarnaevs and trying to rehabilitiate Dzhokhar is.

Now, I am not saying that we should not be angry at what happened nor am I saying we should not feel anger towards the Tsarnaev brothers. I am also not saying that we should not try Dzhokhar, and if he is found guilty, send him to prison. He needs to be incapacitated so he cannot hurt anyone else. I am, however, advocating for a more complex reaction to the situation; one that does not merely involve rage toward Dzhokhar and punishment for punishment's sake. In prison we should endeavor to rehabilitate him, to help him recognize the evil of his crimes and give him the chance to redeem himself. After all, Dzhokhar was not always a terrorist. Numerous stories and accounts of friends of his from high school described him as "friendly" and "sweet," certainly not capable of such a heinous act.

If all we do is send him to jail for life or perhaps even execute him, we will be committing a terrible crime. We will be answering death with death (either with a switch or over a long period of time in a cell) and adding more suffering to the world. And not just for Dzhokhar and his family, but for us as well.

Every time we give in to the intuition that drives us to seek retribution for crimes, we serve only to harm ourselves. We do not undo the bad thing that has occurred, but instead merely add more suffering into the world. Rather than grieving and peacefully letting go of the negative emotions, we allow them to fester. Why?

Many would say the answer to that question is simple: justice. He did something illegal and very cruel and thus deserves a grievous punishment. But justice is not about taking our anger out on someone, it is about making amends-correcting the system so tragedies of this nature do not happen again. If all we do is continue a cycle of violence, without understanding why the Tsarnaevs committed this act or trying to help Dzhokhar, we would be committing a grave injustice. We need to understand why, what was wrong in his life that compelled him to do something so awful and how can we prevent this type of incident in the future.

This cannot stop with just Dzhokhar however. The entire prison culture in American needs to change to be considerably less vengeful and much more rehabilitative. It is possible Dzhokhar will never be rehabilitated. It is possible he will always remain a threat to society and must therefore remain imprisoned for life. That is for parole boards and medical professionals to determine. However, that possibility of failure does not mean we do not have the moral responsibility to try. We need to help him understand the gravity of his crimes, teach him not to be violent, and help him work through any psychological issues that may have motivated his actions.

Stories are coming out that assert Tamerlan was primarily influenced by a radical and violent form of Islamic thought. We need to better understand what is attracting people to these harmful doctrines. Why do they even exist? The only way to counter such hate is to fully understand its sources, as destroying the branches leaves the root intact. We would also do well as society to better understand Muslim faith. The vast majority of Muslims are peaceful and kind, the exact type of people who would be excellent allies in the fight against terrorism-regardless of its ideological justifications. We need to also find out how Dzkhohar, a seemingly mild-mannered and well-liked college kid, became a homicidal terrorist.

None of this is meant to excuse Dzhokhar's actions. Instead, I am making the case for recognizing the humanity that still lies within him.

I am arguing for punishing him and all criminals like him, not for the sake of causing him injury. We must endeavor to reform him, to give him a chance to make amends and redeem himself, and, hopefully, he can live a peaceful and productive life. Letting ourselves be consumed by anger and hatred will only lead to vengeance, not justice. It will produce a bloodier and darker tomorrow, not the gentler world we all seem to want.
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