Monday, January 01, 2007

Interfaith Blog Event #4

This is part of an interfaith blog dialogue on various topics occurring between the Protestant Christian perspective of this blog, a person writing from a Buddhist perspective, and a person writing from a Pagan perspective. The topic for this discussion is: What role does justice play in the universe?

Have you ever spent much time observing toddlers and children interacting with one another? Over this past week I have had many such opportunities as we have gathered with extended family for our Christmas celebrations. One thing that you will almost inevitably face if you are responsible for keeping the peace between warring tribes of children is one of the most common statements in the world: "That's not fair!" If you are comfortable gambling you could win quite a bit on a wager that bet that statement would be made at least once ever 10 minutes between children who are playing. The question of course is, what do they really mean by that statement.

No doubt children when they claim something is not fair are saying more than "that did not turn out how I wanted it to" or "I am displeased with that outcome." They are claiming, without even understanding at all what they are saying, that by some objective standard their position is in the right and their friend or cousin is in the wrong. They are claiming, with out the sophistication to say so, that there has been some kind of crime against Justice by the fact that the other child swiped the toy they were playing with out of their hands. They want to see Justice fulfilled though they are too young to know for what they are actually asking.

We can all readily see injustice in the world. The wealthy person who uses their wealth to oppress others and gain more wealth. The court case that let a person who was obviously guilty avoid punishment (and no, I have no specific case in mind, but I am sure there are a billion from which to pick). A person who seems to have a ridiculous string of "bad luck" that damages every aspect of their life and relationships. Yes, it is very easy to see injustice in the world, what is very difficult is to admit the injustice we do to others. Though, in fairness to ourselves, I would guess in our moments of honesty we can even see that we ourselves at times are not fair towards others.

Atheist philosophers often use the concept of injustice to raise a specter of doubt upon the existence of an all-good, all-powerful God. But, Christian philosophers actually began working on this question long before the atheist's did, and in fact the biblical writers actually hint that the fact of injustice in the world may be a compelling argument for the existence of that very God the atheist's question. Let me briefly trace that argument [for a full logical defense of this position, read C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity]:

There is simply no clear reason in a purely Darwinian world why the concept of justice would even arise at all. Natural selection by its very definition insists that "might makes right." Social constructs must come from societies. Societies are run by those in power. Why would those in power construct a natural check on their own power? Indeed toddlers amazingly know how to challenge the justice of their parents long before parents do much in teaching them what justice involves. So if nature does not give us a concept of justice and other people cannot directly and entirely support this concept of justice where does it come from? What or indeed Who would have the authority to define what justice is by the sheer fact of His character? The answer that Christian philosophers give is:"Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations!" [NIV Revelation 15:3b]

We may be able to ask questions about God's justice, but ultimately if He were not just there simply would be not adequate philosophical root for that concept. Indeed, By attempting to stain God's justice through atheist philosophy, we burn the bridge we are walking upon. In the end we remove the only grounds we have for expecting justice.

Ultimately, Christians have three separate simultaneous perspectives on justice. First, Justice was ultimately fulfilled upon Jesus on the cross, so that those who trust in him are "justified." Second, we strive by the power of the Holy Spirit to live as justly as we can in this world. Third, we look forward to the coming Kingdom, when God will fulfill the promise that Justice makes through the enactment of judgment.

3 comments:

Mike said...

Hey Jon,

Nice essay. I enjoyed reading it, and it definitely provoked some thought on my part. Let's expand on that. :)

I disagree with your premise, "No doubt children when they claim something is not fair are saying more than 'that did not turn out how I wanted it to' or 'I am displeased with that outcome.'" I actually doubt that highly. I think that when children claim that, they are, for the most part, doing so because the source of their pleasure has been plucked from them. It's not "fair" to them because somebody else just removed what they think is their current source of joy. Witness the reverse situation -- a child will readily take a toy from another child. The child who loses the toy calls it unfair. The child who takes the toy sees it as fair because now he or she gets to experience the fun.

I think we carry that same misconception into adulthood as well. Now, our mental development allows us to rationalize fairness in terms of equality. But really, that's just an invented concept that causes us pain. The world isn't fair or unfair--it just is; things happen as they do based on causes and conditions. Once we attribute any level of ultimate reality to the concept of "fairness," we're just imposing our own mental constructs on the world. Take the following two examples:

1. When is fairness in adulthood commonly invoked? When something tragic happens to a person. That person is sometimes heard to lament, "That's Not Fair!" The death of a loved one isn't fair or unfair. It's just the normal process of life. It is a very painful and sorrowful part of life, but fairness just doesn't factor in.

2. One might also argue that fairness is a useful tool to help make moral decisions. It's not a moral law in itself, of course, but one could argue that it might lend a useful point of view. I'd argue that the concept is completely unnecessary. We could try to use what we think is "fair" as a measure of what action to take. But a more effective approach is to use honesty, kindness, and compassion to make the decision instead. Two people might be playing a game in which the rules are ambiguous. When the discrepancy arises during play, the two players discuss the rule, and try to come to an amicable interpretation. One could say that the best way to come to that compromise is to be fair to each party. But that brings into the decision past determinants of such rule discrepancies and other factors not directly involved. The better approach is to take an honest approach to the problem and truly decide the most accurate interpretation based on experience. The two players may not agree, but if both exercise compassion and are honest with themselves and each other, an agreeable solution can be reached. "Fairness" might seem similar, but there is a distinct difference in the motivation between the two approaches.

As this reply is already getting longer than I intended, I'll just touch briefly on another point. You wrote, "There is simply no clear reason in a purely Darwinian world why the concept of justice would even arise at all." This is untrue. The answer lies in ego. With the arising of ego comes the conception of Justice. As you noted, "They want to see Justice fulfilled though they are too young to know for what they are actually asking." This is clearly an ego-response. We want to see justice fulfilled because that person harmed US! Or harmed a loved one. Or a friend. Or a person we don't know but who probably didn't deserve whatever act was done upon them. But what if the harmful act was done upon someone like a gang leader? We're not as ready to fight to see Justice applied to that person who hurt the gang leader, now are we? No, because the offender doesn't "deserve" punishment as much due to the person he hurt. Ego response, 100%.

That's my $0.01. I have another cent in reserve. :) Thanks for the thought provoking post.

Pastor Jon said...

This will be a very long and enjoyable dialogue :)

Give me a couple of days to formulate a response.

Pastor Jon said...

Mike, thanks for commenting. In some ways as we have noted this conversation is much better carried out in person than over comments on our blogs. I will try to post some comment on your article early next week.

I do wonder if much of our debate does not circle around how we are semantically using the word "Justice." I also wonder if this is not merely reflective of the deeper debate that we are already engaged in concerning ethics and absolute truth. Indeed things we could expect Christians and Buddhists to be debating about :)

While I think our own desire for personal justice goes a bit deeper than just a desire for pleasure (ie it is more important to me that my family receives a fair shake in the world than that I get another cheeseburger), I find it much more interesting that often people are indeed more concerned about Justice for others than they are for themselves. Indeed, is that not the driving desire of every public servant, and if it is not, well, would we not say that they are being unjust?

Also, could not concepts like Justice or honesty or compassion all point towards a deeper more intrinsic "right" somewhere?

Do we not want a society in which people are treated fairly? I agree that at times is ridiculous and in fact unhealthy for us to expect ourselves this side of eternity, but should that not be a goal we strive for others to experience. Would not compassion (or to use the more Christian term - love) insist that WE try to treat others justly?

There is my $.01 cent so far, I expect to use my other penny soon :)