But I think it's just a product of the imperfect man.

Some bishops are far more lenient, and imo that is more likely to have a positive response than someone throwing the book at you.

When I was a little younger, I was late for work and got pulled over doing 70 in a 40mph zone and passing on double yellows. It's actually the only ticket I've gotten but it was like 500$.

The cop could have really been upset and flexing his power. I knew I was in the wrong, he saw that and quickly wrote the ticket (less than 5 minutes,given the circumstances I've heard of some cops taking their time when you're already late) he came back gave me the ticket and respectfully told me to slow down cause there were more cops out in that area today.

It stuck out to me how much better I responded to that than if he would have been a jerk about it. I actually learned a lesson rather than feeling anger or whatever. Hopefully I can remember this stuff when I'm a parent