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Written by Amrta Pani devi dasi
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Monday, 26 February 2007 |
 Burglaries, drug abuse, and domestic violence have recently affected devotees in the Kumeu farm community. The New Zealand Police are talking about “zero tolerance” on crime in the general community, and it seems timely that devotees should take the “zero tolerance” stance within our own community. Whether the perpetrators of these crimes are members of our community or not, we need to take steps to make the farm and temple safer places.
Identifying criminals and laying charges is a good place to start. Simultaneously, offenders should be made to understand that they have done wrong and must pay the consequences. They should also be encouraged to seek help from a qualified professional counselor.
There are many organizations available to help in dealing with psychological problems, and if a person is a repeat offender, it can be understood that whatever help they are currently receiving from the devotee community is not working. We should try to understand the conditioning of these suffering souls, and do whatever we can to encourage them to keep attending the temple programmes, but at the same time not condone what they have done. For their sakes it is important that we are not seen to consider that this behavior is acceptable.
Reporting any suspicious behavior to the temple authorities is required to help put a stop
to the rising crime rate at present being experienced.
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