Several Weeks Ago ….

Several weeks ago, I was speaking with a woman whose family was in the process of “Being Strangled” by the court system, as she phrased it.  Seems her daughter’s ex boyfriend (a real runner up for dad deadbeat of the year) had her daughter in court again over their children.  Her complaint that needed venting was that once again, her two witnesses to the abusive treatment of her two children were not allowed to testify, and in fact the family court judge accused her of being a nuisance that was seriously trying to take advantage of her former boyfriend.  The judge told her to be quiet and if she didn’t she would be soundly fined for each word she spoke.   Not much of a hearing when you think about it, if only one side of the story is known when attempting to discern the truth.

These types of stories are all to often shared, and the disgust from those hearing the story is both audible and palpable.  Because while human nature can be evil as we have been taught throughout the centuries, human nature can also be fair and compassionate.  If you don’t believe me, do a reality check around you, although the church, most every kind of organized religion, for that matter, is losing ground, the number of good people stays about the same.

Another scenario happened some years back when a friend of mine was driving through a souther New York state burg and was apprehended by police and thrown in jail for robbery.  The store’s cameras had a side shot of the car, and there was a witness that proclaimed it to be a Toyota Rav Four.  My friend declared his innocence from the time he was pulled over and apprehended in the next town over, til he was released on bond and brought before the judge.  He was fortunate that the legal aide attorney  awarded him was a diligent jurist, who did a little investigating and found there were two witnesses to the robbery that the local police did not call, for they were comfortable with the video along with the clerk’s description.   My friends lawyer brought the two witnesses to trial, and only after some vigorous debate was there testimony permitted to be considered.  One of the witnesses was able to clear my friend because not only had he known the real perpetrator but he held a piece of evidence that sealed the deal.  The press had only released the amount of money stolen and never mentioned anything else having been taken.  This witness however had a pack of Swisher Sweets filtered cigars that the real burglar had given him, having told him that he ‘picked them up because I know you like them’.   The store had included the few items the robber had snatched off the counter, but that information was not shared further than the original police report, and even then were listed as cigars only.

When the witness was on the stand, he mentioned the cigars and the brand name, and how the guy he was claiming performed the robbery had given them to him.  The store owner immediately knew this man had the proper information.   Had witnesses not been allowed there, the truth that most everyone in the courtroom and involved with the case had believed in, would not have been revealed as corrupt.

What I am saying is simply this, justice is not a game of chance, and should not become a game of sides focused solely on victory.   Being focused solely on victory is great for the battlefield, the soccer field, the ice, or football; it is not, nor can it ever be the sole focus of our justice system, lest truth and justice be perverted into a matching of strengths not laws, and the opinions and the desires of those in power dictate the outcome.

In the Scriptures, two witnesses are required for a just hearing, and hearing no witnesses there is not a trial.

Unworthy of Respect

There is not one lie, no matter how grand, that can bring validation to the one who spins it, just as there is not one lie that can be told that will make all the other lies morph into truth regardless how many times it may be repeated.

Truth will always bring about a justification that does not harm the innocent, does not promote a manufactured or convoluted truth, and will never be convenient. We live in a present darkness that finds its inhabitants loving the benefits of the darkness, in that manufactured truth, provides full allowance to embrace the convenient, for in that convenience they can dance freely in the hall of half truths and white lies, all the while gaining profits from those who find truth elusive, and the lies destructive.    Such darkness permits the gravest atrocities to be committed upon the marginalized and people without resource.   It is in the hard work of exposure of such darkness, that racism, ageism, sexism, discrimination for whatever reason, theft of resource, theft of personal rights, and theft of personal freedoms can come to their demise.  

When the author of such darkness is to be destroyed, it must be done so methodically and without a willingness to pull up short of complete and total obliteration of the darkness.  We must hold ourselves accountable for our part in the perpetration of the lies, and in the battle to end the assault upon the weak and innocent, for when we remain silent or inactive, we make an offering to the darkness.  When we shrug off the darkness as being a momentary affliction, we forget that darkness is night, night forever, and unending darkness that entraps generation upon generation.

The darkness has consumed the halls of justice in America, and has brought low even the perception of truth that has resided there.   An election, will not allow truth to re-emerge, however, the willingness of those in community to stand together and demand justice and truth be valued once again, can begin the process of renewal.  The same is true of many of the halls that proclaim Christ, yet in action are a mirrored reflection of those temple Pharisees and Elders that once strode proudly espousing the law, all the while flaunting the grace that was built into it from the time of Abraham.  May the darkness give way to the Light that has come into the world, may those who love the darkness quickly succumb to the failure of the darkness that they may be reborn into the Light.