From the Mouths of Babes

My smallish son and I watched Robin Hood: Prince of Theives this weekend, which of course begins with an awful prison scene in a Jerusalem dungeon circa 1050 A.D. He wasn't too traumatized by the floggings, brandings and mutilations, since the film rather quickly moved onto jollier subjects like trouncings with quarter-staffs, outlaw trickery, fencing, archery and good old fashioned romance.

But later he asks, "Are our jails like that?"

I tell him, no, we take care of our prisoners because we believe that even criminals have rights.

"Even if they're our enemies, like in the Crusades?" he asks. "We would still give them food and take care of them? Because we're good guys, right?"

I pause.