Forgiveness

I have thought about the concept of forgiveness for a long time. I have seen people screaming that a person must be punished by the legal system for something they did to them or their family. I have heard them saddened because the punishment was not severe enough. It has made me think about how I would respond to something that was done against me or my family. I really want to be a forgiving person, but how would I act if it happened to me.

Do people really feel better when they have gotten revenge or is it never enough? Does it just leave them bitter inside?

Is the purpose of the legal system to exact revenge on criminals? Is it to only punish them? What good have we done if we just punish people? Do the people that were wronged really feel better after the person has the punishment enacted on them? Does their bitterness go away?

I have been reading about the woman who was hit by a frozen turkey while she was driving and forgave the kid that threw it at her. I then read as people questioned her motivation for forgiving him.

Obviously we can not just let people be unaccountable for their actions, but what good does it do to just punish them and think that is going to enough to make them change their ways? If you have a child do you just punish them without then following up and try to help them understand why what they did was wrong? Would a child that was just punished and had love removed from them grow to want to do better?