To the editor:

Sister Janet Kennedy was my wife’s first cousin. In the 1980s, she was the nursing home ombudsman for the State of Kansas. During that time, she had breakfast with Dr. Karl Menninger of the Menninger Foundation every Wednesday. They discussed world events, philosophy, ethics and morals. One morning, Dr. Karl asked her what the most evil thing in the world was. She began to answer. He interrupted her, “No, I don’t want you to answer right now. Think about it and answer next Wednesday.”

The following Wednesday, Sister Janet had an answer. She told Dr. Karl that as a Sister of Charity of Leavenworth who had taken a vow of poverty, the most evil thing in the world was “greed.” Dr. Karl said “Greed can be a great evil, but the most evil thing in the world is revenge.”

Revenge, of course, is what Jesus of Nazareth taught his followers to avoid with his famous “turn the other check” teachings. Similarly, Hammurabi, 1,700 years earlier in Babylon, tried to stem revenge by limiting it to “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” Revenge was out of control. It was bad for the economy. This remains the basis for our civil law today. If you suffer damages, you can recover your actual damages but no more, except for punitive damages.

Let me repeat Dr. Karl’s words: “Greed can be a great evil, but the most evil thing in the world is revenge.” Think about that.

John M. Solbach,

Lawrence