Tag Archives: justice

What is Justice?

14 Sunday Jun 2020

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

Plato/Socrates asked: “What is justice?” For some, it appears to be an easy question to answer, but for others not so easy. Plato took the answers given him and dismantled the answers given in such a way that others wondered if they knew. In Acts 28, the question Plato/Socrates asked was not far removed from a primitive people living on the island of Malta.

Paul arrives on the island as the result of a shipwreck; by this time the people of Malta knew that many on board the ship the wrecked ship were prisoners (however many there might have been). As Paul was tending to a fire, a viper came and struck him in such a way the locals knew he was guilty of violence and concluded that “justice does not allow [him] to live” (28:4).

Justice is personified; it has a mind of its own, but how can a word that is a noun have a mind? The word conveys an idea, a concept that is greater than the individual. Justice is more than just an idea, it is a way of thinking and adjudication that is far greater than anything of man.

Justice resides with Him that is the Creator of man. Justice can only be understood in a limited way if it originates with man. With Him who is the creator of morality, the essence of perfection, justice is far more than what man can render in understanding.

With man, he renders a thoughtful guess, even perhaps by experience he is able to do this or that in a reasonable way. Still, on occasion, he gets it wrong. Not with God. Nothing He does is wrong, and for the arrogant person who thinks God is wrong, on what basis do they judge?

Life’s Devalued

05 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by in Behavior, disrespect, evil, injustice, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

The Sentence of Death

In the Columbus Dispatch today (11.25.2017, A-8), the headline reads that the once-Olympian had his sentence doubled for the murder of his once-girl friend. Initially, Oscar Pistorius received a sentence of a little more than 6 years in prison for her murder. He maintains her death was by accident, but a court in South Africa was not convinced, thus his 6 years. Life, evidently, is not valued highly in South Africa, at least not in the case surrounding Pistorius and his once girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

As if righteous indignation seemed to get the better of the court system, his verdict, on appeal, was double to a little over 13 years.

13 years? That is all he got for conviction of murder?

She no longer has life, and he gets 13 years in prison! No longer do her parents have a daughter, and he gets 13 years?

Via an attorney, her parents now believe justice was served in this matter. Justice was not served. According to the Lord, when one is convicted of murder, the life of the convicted one should be taken from him. From the time of antiquity, the Lord said as much. “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man” (Genesis 9:6, Jewish Publication Society Bible).

Those who have no love-loss for the Lord will speak against such justice, but the course (path) they are on and the path they take us down is the de-valuing of life. Is that the justice you want? The Lord does not, for He spoke on the matter already. RT

The Even-Handed Justice of Man (A Word to the Wise)

13 Friday May 2016

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

“A just weight and balance are the LORD’S: all the weights of the bag are his work. (Proverbs 16:11, NKJV). In this exhortation of the Holy Spirit, the king over his people is not one who is to sustain his own pleasures with corrupting influences. Instead, he lives by the standard that is of God. when issues need to be properly judged, the king is to have a standard that is even-handed and right. the only standard known to man that is that way ifs the standard that belongs to the Lord. Too often man gets in the way of himself as he tries to administer justice; the subjectivity of evaluating motives makes justice not even-handed at all! A prime example of this is secular progressivism/liberalism. There is no chance for justice to be rendered even-handedly across the board because the standard of measurement is always floating, changing and fluid. My friends, reject the ways of man (Proverbs 14:12) and accept the ways of the Lord. RT

FUTILITY IN LIFE

24 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, ,

The psalmist asked the same question that is asked by man in each generation. “For what futility have you created all the children of men?” (Psalm 89:47, NKJV). In the NET it reads, “Why do you make all people so mortal?” And the NLT (New Living Translation) reads, “Remember how short my life is, how empty and futile this human existence!”

There are circumstances in life that drive people to express such sentiments, but in their expressive frustrations, many choose different answers. The psalmist never lost sight of rationality; he knew well the Lord God brought man into existence. He was not of the irrational mindset that said the material universe came into existence from nothing, absolutely nothing. Neither was he of the silly notion that the material universe has always existence. He may not have known much, but he knew that he was brought into existence by a power, force, mind greater than anything of human creation.

No, the psalmist was clear thinking, but his frustrations on this occasion were great. “What is the point of life!” he yells out.

If he was so rational and concluded that God brought it into existence, why is it that others who are equally rational conclude that God does not exist? Two reasons, I suppose. First, there is a strong desire and inclination to reject anything that is religious. Is it a matter of evidence? Not really. It is a matter of one’s desire to not be constrained or required to think that the One who created is the One to whom we must give an account. A second reason is directly related to morality. If there is no God, then there is no moral code higher or greater than the one who made up the code he lives by. Strangely, for some, this is a liberating way of thinking. It is liberating until the moral code of another directly and adversely affects the one who rejected God.

The psalmist understood all these things. Earlier in the Psalm, he wrote, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you” (89:14, ESV). What does man know about righteousness, or justice? If he is wise he knows that with the Lord both exist, but without he knows that both are arbitrary. With the Lord there is no futility. RT

Liberalism and Justice in Norway

27 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Letter to editor,

Norway is known as a beautiful country, but it is also known as a “free-living” society where morals are subjective and a bit murky. “Norway is known as one of the most progressive social democracies in the world” (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2018394/Norway-massacre-Anders-Behring-Breiviks-fascism-mask-morality.html#ixzz24Tl3mDBl).

It’s interesting that in a liberal country like Norway those in authority found enough within their judicial system to incarcerate a man for 21 years for the killing of 77 innocent people; that’s less than 4 months of incarceration for each death! In a May 29 Time article by Mark Lewis we learn that Norway is proud of their “liberal judicial system.” He further said: “Norway faces a devilish task in maintaining adherence to its liberal values while ensuring a severity of sentence to articulate a popular demand for justice” (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2115900,00.html).

“Devilish” is an interesting word to use in this context, isn’t it? It is possible that the 21 year sentence could turn into something longer, but is justice being served with this man still living after he had taken the lives of so many innocent people? Evidently, some liberals think so! An impenitent man serves time in prison where his own liberties are limited, but still existing.

I suppose Norway’s liberalism is a logical conclusion to a philosophy that removes God from its foundation. Rather than engage in a debate within the country concerning the validity of their judicial system many want to engage in debate regarding immigration! One philosophy professor said: “‘This attack has not in any way succeeded in redefining our liberal democracy,’ said Oslo University philosophy professor Lars Fredrik Svendsen. ‘The Norwegian judicial system has shown itself as rock solid during this trial’” (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/24/us-norway-breivik-idUSBRE87N09A20120824).

Some rock!

There is a word in Scripture that says, “if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The righteous, godly, moral, and innocent can do next to nothing but try to survive when justice turns into injustice.

Printed in the Mattoon-Charleston Newspaper (JG-TC.com) August 27, 2012