“And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest any finding him should kill him”
This verse, and the account of the first fratricide in human history, came to mind this week as the media released information on all that was being done to protect Casey Anthony. Since she was found not guilty of murdering her two-year old daughter there has been a public outcry that justice has not been served. The protestations have escalated to the point that Ms. Anthony is reported to be considering a new name, a hidden location, the use of disguises, and even possible plastic surgery to keep anyone from finding her; a self-imposed “Mark of Cain”.
It is not hard to understand the deep feeling that something terribly unfair has taken place. After all, a two-year old child is dead and no one is being held accountable. But human justice is limited at best and the jurors were instructed to deal with provable fact, not feeling, in coming to a verdict. When the prosecution was not able to prove how the child died, when she died, where she died, and who was the last person to see her, the framework of the limits of human justice were put into place. According to news outlets the jury’s first vote upon entering deliberations was 10-2 for acquittal.
So why the heightened outrage? Mankind has been doing horrible things with its God-given free will since the dawn of time. It would be easy to think that the concept of justice would have been completely eradicated by now, or devolved to personal vengeance. But that’s the first mystery of justice. Where does the knowledge that things in life ought to be just come from? How has that feeling remained in existence? What standard are we to use in determining just ?
Society? Hardly. In the year that Caylee Anthony died there were over fifteen thousand murders in the U.S. Apart from the heart-broken loved ones and friends, these deaths went unnoticed. And that is not counting the deaths that society all but encourages. In the three years from Caylee’s disappearance to the day her mother walked out of jail, there were 3.6 million
abortions, the vast majority of which were for convenience sake. As a society, it seems, we have more ability to example injustice than to establish a ground for fairness.
Science offers even less. It can tell us the composition and electrical charges of the atom, or the internal workings of cells, but it can say nothing of what is just. In fact, there are those who have taken this deterministic approach to it logical nihilistic end. Quoting the opinion of atheist, Richard Dawkins, Ravi Zacharias writes:
In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication some people are going to be hurt, and others are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. . .
Nothing but blind pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music¹
Instead of offering a ground for justice, this thinking takes away any ground for condemnation. No one is morally guilty of anything. When a scientist uses words like, “good”,”bad”,”just”, and “unjust” they are borrowing vocabulary from a worldview that is not their own.
The protestors who feel that something unfair happened in the outcome of the trial are really pointing the way to the source of justice. Zacharias once again from his book, “The End of Reason”.
- When you assert that there is such a thing as evil, you must assume there is such a thing as good
- When you say there is such a thing as good, you must assume there is a moral law by which to distinguish between good and evil. There must be some standard by which to determine what is good and what is evil.
- When you assume a moral law, you must posit a moral lawgiver – the source of the moral law²
Not only does a Christian worldview offer a ground of being for just, it also shows us a second mystery of justice – its inevitability. Our common expressions show that we believe this to be so. We say things like,”What goes around, comes around”, and “All accounts are not settled at the end of the month”. In a flawed world where those that do good go unrecognized, and those that do evil go unpunished, it is great comfort to know all will be made right. It might not happen today or next year, but justice will take place. The Apostle Paul gives us this truth:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
I think we could conclude that when that takes place, disguises will not be allowed.
¹Richard Dawkins: Quoted in Ravi Zacharias, Beyond Opinion (Thomas Nelson: Nashville,2007) p.192
² Ravi Zacharias, The End of Reason (Zondervan:Grand Rapids, 2008) p.55
Crusaders Church of Bloomington 