Sorry, I don't like the uke. Everyone has, at least once on their lives, had their hearts ...

Hi, don't worry, it wouldn't be strange for any of us to not be on this site every day since we all have obligations in other places. And I also took a while to respond.
About you old job I can only try to imagine a small part of what you have gone through. I have always liked watching detective and policial series and it never really shocked me no matter how gruesome the scenes were because I focused in the 'mystery solving' part until I stumbled upon some series depicting real cases. The cases itself weren't so differents but my reaction was completely distinct. Because those victims weren't just actors playing someone's imagination anymore but actors representing real people that had lived and being made to suffer real pain and died. I was horrified by the knowledge, especially in cases involving children. And until now I feel disturbed when remembering.
So, I can't blame you for needing some time and I apologize for making you remember something unpleasant.
If it brings any relief I think you can feel pride for having done a hard and uncomfortable job that had to be done. Because I have the impression that you are the kind of person that just couldn't look away. So no matter how tired and dispirited you feel about the issue now you did make a difference for a lot of people's lives.
Sorry if I sound pretentious when I don't really know you, but I believe that things that should be valorized and prized should be and you struggled to keep on doing worth of prize. So, thank you for helping make the world a place a little less sad and hard.

Now, about the situation you described with the old lady, unfortunately, I have seen a lot of examples too. Most of the time, people focus so much on the form of things; words, believes, rules, laws; that they forget about the essence. The form is just the casing for the essence and, as the essence without form is vague but still truthful, the form without essence is just a hard and empty involucre. That is what created the paradox you described of a strong and inflexible moral code that is anything but moral. Sadly, it is easier to stick to the form and convince oneself that with that he or she is being correct and doing what one should do than to try and understand the complexity and nuances of the essence.

Also, people tend to look at what is different between one person and the other and forget that the biggest part is the same. All the human race is, at the most basic level, seeking the same things. We all want to be loved, accepted, recognized and valorized, only the methods we use for that will vary greatly from culture to culture, religion to religion, nationality to nationality and even person to person. But looking really deep, at the most visceral motivation for our behaviors, it is undoubtedly the same. So what is so different to make someone despise or hate someone exclusively for not being the same? In my vision that is simply absurd.

Once more, sorry for the late reply, I hope you are feeling better again. : )

Thank you for your good wishes.

The example I cited, and the very reasons you provided—the fact that people get hung up on rigid codes and forms of morality, rather than understanding and abiding by their essence; basically, to use an idiomatic expression, losing the plot—is a primary example of why I think that human beings are mostly driven by compulsions and, as Jung might put it, the collective unconscious (although I wonder if it is really unconscious so much as subconscious.) It might be possible that they understand there is a distinction between acting according to the spirit, and acting according to an arbitrary code was originally codified in order to be more attuned to the spirit of a bygone time and place and society, but I just don't see that many examples of self-realization. I mostly see reaction.

Do I think people should be sheltered from the consequences of ignorance? Well, yes and no. How else do people learn? On the other hand, without compassion and forgiveness, the problems are compounded. If we are constantly obsessed with righting every wrong, no matter how petty, and meting justice for everything that is unfair, then we are constantly focused on the past.

But to say that people are the complete masters of their destiny makes light of some pretty substantial obstacles, interference and outright opposition, from the socialization they start receiving the moment they leave the womb, to whatever form of education, formal or experiential, conferred upon them, their families (if they have one), their peers, their churches, temples and mosques, their workplaces, their nations, the political and natural environment they are surrounded by. This doesn't take into account the billions of people who live under dictatorships of one form or another, whose lives cannot function without being hyper-aware of and in reaction to potential threats.

I mean, work with people in the places of conscious development where they are at, find out where they are inwardly and progress from that place, but don't underestimate the forces of oppression which crush their souls, harm their bodies, darken their minds, kill off their inspiration, and fill them with grief, loathing, confusion and despair. Because that sort of opposition is very real and substantial. I would say more, but must go attend to other things.