The Judgment of Raoul Moat

Many people in Britain have approved David Cameron's unequivocal condemnation of Raoul Moat yesterday, calling him a "callous murderer" who deserved no sympathy.

While I would not encourage tribute pages to be put up on Facebook for him or any effort to make him a hero either, I found the Prime Minister's comments sweeping and judgmental.  Yes, he killed and injured people, but none of us knows his state of mind nor what drove him to behave in this way, and it is relevant that he himself knew he had mental problems and asked for help - which was not given to him.

Nothing is black and white particularly when it relates to human behaviour. In any situation there is a veneer of reality, which is what we see with human eyes but which often is illusion. We do not know what greater forces are at work, nor what is playing out at the level of the soul. Who, therefore, are we to judge anyone?