Justice

The concept of justice is one of philosophical thought and discussion. It is a concept that is based on many different points of view including appropriate moral correctness based upon equality, religion, ethics, rationality and fairness enveloped in philosophy, theology, religion and justice as defined by applicable laws which attempt to address applicable punishment. These concepts have evolved from Plato’s work in The Republic through the English writings often referred to Blackstone’s Law, up to the present day and as with a great many things, they are constantly evolving. And let’s not forget that the concept is very culturally dependent, particularly in view of the applicable punishments. In some cultures, capital punishment is considered as egregious as the act of killing; in others it is considered the only justice as quoted often as “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”.

In simple, justice is man’s way for dealing with that which is perceived as unfair, unjust, and must be answered, and there in lay it’s greatest flaw. One would hope that there could be some form of standard, across the board, by which all could & would be judged. The very nature of our societal differences makes that all but impossible. The fact is, we are all different. We think differently; a balance of our own ideas, ideals, and mixed with those concepts taught to us as children. And if that were not enough, cultural differences can make a major difference in how justice is administered.

Oh yes, and let’s not forget that little fact of just how many people have faced capital punishment only to be found completely innocent years, decades, even centuries later because of some scientific or other revelation that nobody saw coming. Often those facts are based upon DNA evidence, often referred to as the one and ONLY scientific evidence that exists. That is said because all other forms like finger prints, voice prints, etc. were all developed and administered by people outside of the strict scientific community. While much of these tests and “evidence” is based upon high probabilities, it is rarely conclusive, in fact the “point” system used for fingerprint analysis as been lowered as a standard in order to make identification easier. Easier? Really? Yep, there are more than a few cases overturned because of questionable results and that is excluding shoty lab work.

Justice begets punishment and punishment begets … well, that’s a good question, isn’t it? In America a thief might get a few months jail time and probation. In Mexico he could be thrown in a rat hole of a prison to rot for any number of years, In Spain he could loose the hand that did the evil act and in other Arab countries it is a matter of simple execution. How do you know? How do you judge and more important, who should judge?

All of this comes out of my observations of recent news. Should the perceived “insult” of a religious figure result in public execution? Should those performing the execution be equally publicly executed? Why should the thing that makes us laugh also get us killed? If perceived figures that represent God, regardless of their name, be “off limits”, then why was mankind given a sense of humor or the ability to laugh? There are so many of these examples, yet there are very few answers other than hate and butchery. It causes a person to wonder, Is this God of ours, yours, and everyone else’s just running a massive experiment? Is it some test to determine who is indeed good and who is bad? If he gave us a brain to figure it all out, couldn’t he have left us better reasoning and a “book for all” regardless of language, religion, or perception? This is a prayer I offer now and then; I’ll let you know when I get an answer …..