A Thought on Easy Justice

The problem with Hammurabi's 'eye-for-an-eye' principle is that it quite simply doesn't work. This is not a new idea, that mere vengeance upon those who have wrong us will... well, will what? Take away the sting of having been wronged? Impose a feeling of guilt where there ought to be one? Offer us some sick form of satisfaction that justice has been served? Despite all of the unanswered philosophical questions surrounding justice as a whole, I can still very comfortably say that whatever justice is, it just doesn't work like that.
We sanctimonious North Americans like to smugly call such an attitude "savage", or something of the sort. Our noses fly high about these "primitive" systems of justice as we snidely remark that the only way to peacefully move on is to forgive and forget. Then, in our quieter and more intimate moments, we confide that forgiving is easy, but forgetting is not. Woe to us all who've got it so terribly wrong.
Anyone who has truly had to forgive someone could tell how difficult and painful it is. It is an action driven by love or care or affection, where although someone has harmed us in some way, we feel too strongly towards him to hold his actions against him. It's a call to mercy rather than a call for vengeance, and it does not come easily. It comes with bouts of misdirected anger and hostility and pain and regret. But each of these is smothered with love, and that love keeps everything in check. At least, sort of. It keeps us from doing things we may later regret.
Forgetting, on the other hand, is easy. It's no question that when faced with a problem, it's easier to carry on as if nothing has happened, ignore it, revisit it at a later time. Sure, this is only pretending to forget, but what is so wrong with this? We pretend to forive all the time! The difference is that by pretending to forget, we essentially lie to ourselves until, down the road, we become convinced of our own lie. By pretending to forgive, we find ourselves struggling with passive aggression and resentment. Tell me which is easier. Tell me which is more rewarding.
Another sad truth is that I'm not convinced we've left behind 'eye-for-an-eye' at all. We don't always react violently when we've been wronged, intentionally or not, but the apparent need for vengeance is certainly alive and well. The Evil Eye is still very much among us... people often wish harm upon others, and then turn around and convince themselves that they don't. Karma is a tricky game to master.
We have options. We can try to rise above our "primitive" tendencies, try to become better people, try to find less satisfaction in the misfortunes of our rivals and enemies, but this is unnatural. At the level of human nature, we can't force ourselves to be something we are not. Or, we can embrace these tendencies as tragically human, and find ways not to rise above, but to harness and master them by learning to judge each others' misgivings on a larger scale, and act accordingly. But forgiveness is an experience I personally hope everyone has to go through at some point, because it's humbling. It reminds us of our place in the Kosmos, and when faced with that we find ourselves a step closer to being truly at peace.