Do you believe in Karma?

What about when the intent and actions of one individual affects another? For example, what about when an adult sexually molests a child? You could hardly argue that the child's intent and actions, even if some of their intentions and actions are bad, are deserving of the suffering the child goes through. And child molesters are sometimes successfully prosecuted and sometimes not. For those molesters who are not tried and convicted or even publicly accused, how is it that they suffer for their actions?

Or let's take the case of serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Sure, he was eventually caught and punished for his crimes, but what about all the young men he killed? What terrible intentions did they have or what deeds did they commit that justified the bad karma of being murdered and buried under the concrete slab in ol' Johnny's basement?

And what about Martin Luther King Jr.? He had undeniably good intentions and committed undeniably good acts. And what was his Karma? He was assassinated for his trouble. So no, I don't believe in Karma.

Yes, with strong provisos.

I view karma as an empirical statement about the way that one's behavior and psychology tends to impact others. (If reincarnation exists, then karma would likely apply to that cycle as well, but it in fact could not). It is a representation of the fact that evil deeds tend to beget retaliation, but more importantly, that the person who commits evil deeds condemns themselves to a world where people do evil deeds to each other. The person in that situation deprives themselves of the opportunity for trust. They behave from fear and momentary egoism, which deprives them of true happiness.

However, unfortunately, many horrible crimes do go unpunished. Karma is an average: It is not an absolute.

Not really, there are plenty of people who have broken the law, did terrible things that have never any "karma" come back on them. Or worst yet not only did terrible things but are now celebrated as a "heroes". So there really is no karma and when bad things do happen to bad people that has more to do with the situation they put themselves in rather than some cosmic balancing act.

We reap what we sow. :)