Being innocent is a virtue, but all of us are guilty of something. Religious people could trace this back to the original sin, but in my opinion being innocent is much more practical. For example, innocence is not something that is either on or off – there are different shades of grey. If you are innocent in front of the law, it doesn’t mean that you are innocent full stop. It just means that the law, placed by man, does not consider you as guilty. You might have killed a person, but as there’s not enough proof to convict you, you remain innocent in the eyes of the law.
In another example, think about the objectivity of being innocent. If a man steals a loaf of bread to feed his family, he then will be technically guilty, but is the reason behind the action enough to justify his actions – and thus making him (at least) less guilty? Or, if a woman works as a prostitute, which would be against the law in many parts of the world, why is she guilty when she is selling a service that is her own?
People are also masters in explaining things and events so that they themselves would be seen in a more favourable light. A person charged of crashing a car to another may say on his/hers defence: “It wasn’t me! It was the car company that made a faulty car! The brakes didn’t work!” Even though he/she knows that it wasn’t the case, the defence could be enough to make the judge free the person from charges. In another example, the accused can say that he/she was in a psychotic state and so doesn’t remember anything from that day. Then the mental health specialist have a duty to estimate whether that is truly the case or is the person just trying to get away from the blame.
The “Innocent until proven guilty” has other forms as well. There is a more cruel way: “Guilty until proven innocent”, which would mean that everyone is guilty of something before they are proven otherwise. And this takes me back to the first sentence of this article: “Being innocent is a virtue, but all of us are guilty of something”. If a person is blamed for enough times, something will stick: some charge he/she will be guilty of. The matter of is it a serious crime/action or just a petty thing, is another thing. But everyone has done something bad/sinful against something or someone.
So, how do we move on from that? How do we, as humans, deal with the fact that we are incomplete, so to speak? Can even a baby can have done harm/sin by “causing” the mother to die in labor? In my mind, we need to enjoy are flaws. We are not perfect by any means, but we do (in most parts) try our best. The laws, rules and regulations are put in place for a reason and they are changed accordingly. We humans do stupid things even if we know the consequences. It is for those flaws that makes us humans, that makes us think. A perfect circle needs to have some dents.
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