The age of responsibility

Although the age of maturity in Islam is considered around 12 or 13,

where the person is required to fulfill his/her religious

obligations, in cases of criminal punishment, the punishment should

fit the level of understanding and comprehension of the perpetrator.

IMAM MOSTAFA AL-QAZWINI

Islamic Educational Center

of Orange County

“The Choice is Always Ours,” an anthology on the religious way,

taking its title from an Aldous Huxley line, states what I believe to

be a Christian truth. But the choice is always ours when we are

spiritually whole, psychologically healthy and chronologically

mature. At what age a person is responsible for his or her own

actions is dependent on a great variety of physical, psychological

and spiritual variables. Hasn’t each of us known very young children

who could reason well situationally and people with considerable

years of experience who could not be responsible under any

circumstances?

Years ago, some Christians argued that there is an “age of reason”

under which children could not sin. But if “sin is the seeking of our

own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting our relationship

with God, with other people, and with all creation” (Book of Common

Prayer, p. 848), and “reason is that faculty in a person which makes

it possible for her or him to receive the revelation of God,” as

Anglican Richard Hooker contended, responsibility cannot be

age-specific. The horrific incident in Maryland should send

Christians on a justifiable rant against omnipresent violence in our

society and to our knees in prayer.

THE VERY REV. CANON

PETER D. HAYNES

Saint Michael & All Angels

Episcopal Parish Church

Corona del Mar

Jewish teaching recognizes only two stages in a person’s life. A

girl is a minor until sundown of the 365th day of her 12th year, and

a boy is a minor until sundown of the 365th day of his 13th year. At

that precise moment, a radical transformation occurs: Instantly, the

minor becomes responsible for his or her behavior under Jewish law.

At 12 or 13, one becomes liable for the consequences of any

wrongdoing that may be committed.

In Jewish jurisprudence, there is no such entity as juvenile

court. If a minor commits a crime, the father is held responsible. If

one commits a crime after the age of bar or bat mitzvah, one is

judged as an adult.

The bar or bat mitzvah ceremony is a formal and public acceptance

of religious and moral responsibility. The essence of the ceremony is

externalized by being called to the Torah or reading from the Bible,

the symbol of responsibility in Judaism.

When the Torah wishes to vilify someone, the term of most intense

condemnation is translated as “a person devoid of responsibility.” Of

course, Judaism does not expect a bar or bat mitzvah boy or girl to

go to sleep at night without being told to do schoolwork with

enthusiasm, to begin reading the business section of the newspaper or

to achieve full independence. Judaism simply holds that the child is

now advanced enough to begin taking responsibility for his or her own

ethical decisions and to be held accountable for moral choices.

RABBI MARK MILLER

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach