Conclusively below, when individuals act together and not just alone in a matter, the punishment meted out upon them ought to be multiplied, for such activity requires not simply individual choice to do evil, but talking, reasoning, and the forming of secret pacts to preserve each others deceit.
In the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors, his brothers, “they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” Genesis 37:18_20 Joseph’s brothers ended up selling him into slavery. Years later when Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt for grain to make it through a famine and Joseph, whom they did not recognize, was harsh with them and punished them, “they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.” Genesis 42:21
Clearly, they were not just individually guilty, but together guilty of conspiring together to sell their brother into slavery. In another instance, Paul was plotted against by a group of individuals:
And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.
Acts 23:12_13
From these two examples against Paul and Joseph, we can understand that conspiracy is about forming a pact with others and plotting with those others in order to do wrong unto another, to hinder another in the enjoyment of life and property. We can understand from Jesus how this conspiracy can even spread throughout an organization:
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Matthew 7:17-20
Here is seen the severity of punishment for corruption within an organization. The organism is not merely corrected, but the conspiracy with each other is seen as so corrupt that the whole organism is cast away and destroyed. So when servants conspire together against their master to hinder that master’s liberty, truly, as evident from the above passage, their teamed machinations ought to deserve a much greater punishment for such orchestrated treason than if they were to merely acting alone.
This severity of greater punishment also leads one to consider the understanding that when overseeing administrators are made aware of a situation and personally direct underlings to make decisions, it must be concluded that their future silence in the matter can only mean that they agree with the decision of that underling.
Still, even as much as it may be proper to uproot an entire organism when one part of it bears bad fruit Jesus also said:
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Matthew 5:29-30
As such, it is reasonable to conclude that although a punishment unto the whole tree of the institution may be appropriate, it is also reasonable in the meting out of punishment to be aware of and punish the small group, the eye or hand, who conspired against one’s freedom and simultaneously then put safeguards in place to ensure that such conspiracies do not infect others within the larger body in the future.
Part Six -- The Right to Freedom from Racketeering
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