As someone with a very weak physique, I dread conflict. I hate violence, I hate disorder, I hate senseless and random acts of violence. As a result, I always try to follow the law, because if everyone followed the law, it increases everyone's general chance of survival (well, at least in most countries). When I was young I was always taught that intelligence was the most valued thing in the world, and so I have always tried to use it to get around conflicts.
I was also forced by my school to study the Bible (I went to a mostly catholic school here in Australia, although in reality it allowed in anyone with enough cash), and the sheer randomness and viciousness of the old-testament God scared the hell out of me. Why should he be allowed to wipe out thousands upon thousands of people, just for the crimes of one or a few people?(hey it's what he did to the Israelites after Jericho - after telling the israelites to slaughter everyone in Jericho (man, woman, INFANTS and their animals), one soldier took something from Jericho that he was not supposed to, so God allows thousands of innocent Israelis to die, before demanding the arrest of that one man, and the burning of him and his entire family).
That sheer viciousness, that unfair violence against people who had NOTHING to do with the original crime, was trumpted in my school by my Bible studies teacher, who went on and on about how "just" it was, that God, the supposed creator, could rightfully just wipe out thousands of people, because at the end of the day, she told us, we were all God's slaves and his toys and he could destroy us if he wanted to.
I also studied biology in great detail when I was younger, and I learned that some people died from being infected with random diseases that they couldn't have prevented. That struck me has deeply unfair. I also learned that people could be randomly killed in wars, despite all their training and their moral status - that no matter how good a soldier you were, you could get killed by pure chance.
I grew to hate unfairness - sure the universe was uncaring and unfair, I knew that. But I still felt angry, and even if the universe didn't have any sense of justice, we as people have a sense of justice.
I always try to be fair, to be impartial. I wouldn't say I'm a very kind person, but I try to understand people. This has led me to have a split political ideology: I am all for free education and healthcare, because that is necessary to build a fair society, in which illness and ignorance strike regardless of income and ability, but I am also a relentless hardass when it comes to law and order issues. I hate most criminals with every fiber of being in my body.
I understand if someone needs to steal bread to feed his family. But when someone just bashes a guy on the street for kicks - I have no sympathy for that person. Lock them away forever. Violent criminals who kill out of greed or love of violence deserve no sympathy, deserve no rights at all.
Yes we should help one another - but if someone threatens us, if someone willingly, knowingly breaks the social contract that holds society together, then they deserve no mercy or kindness. A rapist, a murderer, a kidnapper and an arsonist shows no mercy to his/her victims, so why should we be expected to show ANY mercy to them? You don't wake up one day and "accidently" rape a woman or "accidently" stab someone 61 times and steal their wallet, you don't "accidently" pour gallons of gasoline in a building and set it on fire. I don't care if a criminal had "bad childhood" or "was mistreated in school". When someone rapes, kills or burns, they must KNOW what they are doing, they must be consciously aware of their actions. And so, they deserve no mercy. Lock them away forever in the worst jails possible.