Love Brings True Justice
The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees all citizens equal protection under the law. This includes equal justice. This is personified in the statue of a character known as Lady Justice. She is depicted as blindfolded and holding scales. The blindfold is to show that true justice does not take into account someone’s appearance or outer characteristics and other visible aspects. Justice is blind and looks only at what is right and wrong under the law. The actions of a person are what should be judged, not who they are.
Our laws in America are to align with our Constitution. This means justice should be based only on the legal framework that is founded on constitutional principles, and not on anyone’s situation in life, their personality, their gender, their age, their ethnicity, or other personal attribute. Everyone accused of a crime should be treated the same- period. If someone robbed a store, that person should be treated the same as anyone else who committed the same crime in the same way with the same amount of harm inflicted. The law is to be applied the same way, no matter who the accused person is.
Does our justice system always work this way? Not always. This is not a perfect world, and our justice system is filled with imperfect people, some with personal axes to grind. As a matter of fact, it can appear that our justice system is not blind and the scales are not balanced. However, we should expect to see justice carried out as it was intended by our founders. For example, when a person murders another person, a certain level of recompense is expected. A life was taken, and according to the Bible, a specific sentence was to given to the one who committed the murder. It doesn’t matter who the perpetrator was, and it doesn’t matter who the victim was. The sentence must fit the crime- not the individual who committed it.
“You shall not commit murder (unjustified, deliberate homicide). Exodus 20:13 (Amplified Bible, AMP)
‘If anyone kills a person [intentionally], the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of [two or more] witnesses; but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of [only] one witness. Moreover, you shall not accept a ransom [in exchange] for the life of a murderer guilty and sentenced to death; but he shall certainly be put to death. Numbers 35:30-31 (Amplified Bible, AMP)
So many of us these days are confused about equal justice. We are all to be treated equally under the law. We all have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The race or ethnic background of the people involved is irrelevant. Do we believe certain people should be given better treatment because of past injustices to people who look like them? That is not justice. That is inequality. That is a form of vengeance. Injustices of the past are not corrected by further injustices now. It only adds to the problem.
All people should definitely expect to be treated as equals. That is God’s expectation. In situations where a person of a certain race, gender, age, or whatever, receives a harsher sentence because of their physical characteristics, it is undoubtedly unjust. However, when a person commits a crime and receives a sentence that matches the severity of what they did, it is just. We can’t blame a judge or jury when the penalty matches the crime. My heart hurts for the one who was wronged, as well as for the one who made the wrong choice to break the law. Numerous lives are forever impacted by one person’s bad decision. Actions have consequences, and those consequences touch many people. It’s tragic for so many.
We must become like Lady Justice. You and I need to blind ourselves to the outer characteristics of a person in all our interactions. I believe true justice and equality for all people occur when we can look at a situation- practically any situation- and not even consider anything about a person’s ethnicity or other such attribute. We can’t expect real justice when we are all divided. I long for the day when people of all races, genders, and backgrounds can truly live as brothers and sisters in this great land. It starts with the people of God. It starts with me and it starts with you being honest with ourselves about how we see other people. We need to free our minds and hearts of the lies we’ve been told about one another- because we’ve all been lied to. Put on your blindfold, and love others as you love yourself. If each of us loves the way God loves, we’ll eventually see justice carried out the way it should be, without partiality. As a matter of fact, if we truly loved others as God does, I believe the love of Jesus could cause crime rates to plummet so low that the justice system would practically become unnecessary. Wouldn’t that be beautiful?
