Going Beyond Justice

Editor's Note: The opinions in this article are that of the columnist and do not reflect the opinions of Patch.

It would have been easier for me to write an article about mothers today. But as a pastor, I feel it is my obligation to address a popular sentiment that I have observed this past week in reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden. 

Many people are asserting that in the killing of this man “justice has been done.”  Regardless of whether this claim is accompanied by feelings of satisfaction or remorse, it is deeply disturbing to me because it misrepresents the meaning of justice.

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, “justice” is a theological term.  It is an attribute that is central to God’s character, one that God demands of all people in our interpersonal relationships.  In the Hebrew Bible, the word mishpat (justice), the judgment given by a judge, is paired with tsedekah (righteousness) so much so that the two terms are inextricably intertwined.

In his masterpiece The Prophets, the Jewish theologian Abraham Heschel states, “Justice is a mode of action, righteousness a quality of the person…Righteousness goes beyond justice.  Justice is strict and exact, giving each person his due.  Righteousness implies benevolence, kindness, generosity.”  According to the Hebrew prophets, God’s ethos and pathos are one.

Likewise in the New Testament, Jesus demands that his followers go beyond justice in their practice of righteousness: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. …You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:38-39, 43-44).

For these reasons, Jews and Christians alike have long supported systems of restorative justice for criminals while decrying the cycle of vengefulness inherent in systems of retributive justice.  For the person whose preoccupation with justice is rooted in sympathy with God’s pathos, killing another person, even an enemy, is unjust precisely because it robs that person of the possibility of receiving the love of God that potentially leads to transformation and restoration.

So from a Biblical perspective, we can rightly say that in the killing of Osama bin Laden “injustice has been done.”

In the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories, glory in this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who does kindness, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23-24).