BAD BEHAVIOR CAN BE SIGN OF EARLIER SCARS

To the Editor:

The Tennessean's Dec. 8 article about the Metro policeman who was
fired for stealing drugs from Metro General Hospital made me sad. Why
would an accomplished officer with no disciplinary record violate his
moral code and that of his employer? Is he a bad man? I believe not.

People act out in extreme ways, many of them unlawful, because they
are hurting inside and do not know of better ways to handle their
hurt. They learned in childhood not to talk about their hurts,
release anger in a reasonable way, express their tears, and forgive
their offenders. This ''psychological pus'' is then acted upon
sideways. They are powerless to stop on their own.

Healing requires that offenders be encouraged to admit their
wrongdoings, make appropriate and reasonable amends for the damage
they do, and get on with their lives. Sadly, the courts, the media
and society ''beat up'' these people, increasing their insecurity and
promoting more secrecy to where they do not heal. They will then
re-offend. Consequences for mistakes are important. They must
truthfully cause just enough pain to make offenders look at
themselves and make their victims ''whole.''

Any more than that further wounds the person. Since we're human
beings and not human doings, let's consider that we are who we are,
not what we do. Let's look inside; are we not ourselves guilty of
making mistakes? How would we want to be treated?

Let he who hasn't sinned cast the first stone.

James S. Kennedy,

Nashville