Sometimes in our complex relations with Middle East countries, we are confronted with instances of barbaric forms of justice. We hear of people getting hands cut off for stealing, a princess stoned to death for adultery and so on. We need to remind ourselves that Christian history has also been full of barbaric acts. Humane treatment of wrongdoers and enlightened applications of justice are modern developments. The morality of rehabilitation as opposed to retaliation is still not fully evolved.

Consider, for example, a fascinating occasion in American History when we as a nation nearly acted out of revenge rather than out of justice.

When the Revolutionary War ended, a number of colonists loyal to England remained on in America in small clusters. The hostility between these Loyalists and…