Setting aside "the American Way" in a global environment, we already know the truth about humans and truth. As a group we "suppress the truth in unrighteousness." Pilate was speaking for most of us when he asked Jesus, "What is truth?" Even in our courtrooms where we're supposed to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth", we know that truth is not at issue there. It's who can win.
So we arrive at the question of justice. Surely justice is something we all favor. Maybe not. Take, as evidence, the case of Anders Breivik. Remember him? He was the guy that detonated a car bomb last July killing 8. His plan was to capture and decapitate the Norwegian prime minister. When he arrived on the youth camp island where she (the prime minister) was supposed to be, she had already left. So Anders started killing the youth he could find. Before he was stopped, he managed to execute 69 of them. So, how is justice looking for Mr. Breivik? According to the Washington Post story, "If found sane, Breivik could face a maximum 21-year prison sentence or an alternate custody arrangement that would keep him locked up as long as he is considered a menace to society." Wait ... wait ... a "maximum 21-year prison sentence"? For murdering 77 people? That's justice?
While many would say, "No!", Norway would disagree. They think that the notion of "punishment" for crimes is barbaric. While we debate "cruel and unusual punishment", they consider punishment of any kind "cruel and unusual". They tout their recitivism rates as proof. Reporter Stefan Theil points out that "only 20 percent of former convicts end up back in jail after two years, compared to nearly 60 percent in America. With only 71 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, Norway’s incarceration rate is less than a tenth of America’s." Norway's maximum-security Halden Prison has room for 250 inmates whose cells are more like college dorms -- flat-screen TV, private bath, large unbarred window, and all. "Inmates take cooking classes and work out with personal trainers; there’s a deluxe gym with a rock-climbing wall as well as a professional music studio for prisoners’ bands. Half the guards are women, which prison governor Are Hoidal says creates a less aggressive atmosphere. For the same reason, the guards don’t carry weapons and freely mingle with the inmates. Prisoners even fill out questionnaires to rate the level of service." Prisoners rate the level of service. The goal is not punishment, you see. It is "to reacclimatize the prisoner to society." The goal is not justice. The goal is living nicely in society.
What we're looking at here is a post-Christian society. Europe is considered the most secularized continent on the planet. A full 33% of France considers itself atheist. A quarter of those asked in the UK believed that the world would be better off if no one believed in God. The website devoted to Secular Humanism lists the top three countries with the highest percentage of nonbelievers as Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. So why is this significant?
You might remember Immanuel Kant. He was best known for his work the Critique of Pure Reason. In it he argued that we cannot prove the existence of God. Now, understand, Kant was not an atheist. Kant argued elsewhere that if we are to have a common moral code, it requires one thing: Justice. And since people universally violate common moral codes without encountering justice, this Justice must be beyond the immediate experience. There must be a Judge who is Himself beyond reproach -- holy. He must be omniscient so He doesn't have faulty information with which to judge. He must be omnipotent in order to carry out the penalty. He must be immutable so He doesn't vary in justice. And so it goes. Kant argued that we may not be able to prove the existence of God, but we must believe in His existence if morality is to have any force at all. And that force would be Justice.
Say goodbye to justice. As we edge away from a world dominated by Christianity, we edge away from a world that even recognizes justice. It is only by relying on the echoes of Christianity that justice continues today. While they argue vehemently against having religion in the public square, they continue to claim the rights bestowed by the Creator whose existence they deny. It's wrong to kill, but they can't offer solid reasons why. We are outraged by the suggestion that a mass murderer might get 21 years for killing 77 people (and be eligible for parole in less than that), but we've stripped off the value that God gave humans made in His image. There are even those who classify themselves as Christians who argue that justice is not an issue at all. "Forgive and forget ... that's the right thing to do." Without regard, then, to "the American way", we have already suppressed "truth", and we are working hard to eliminate justice, because, after all, that will make a better world. There is no wonder, then, that the Bible tells us, "Thinking themselves to be wise, they became fools." I shudder to think about the world where truth and justice have no real bearing at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment