Friday, September 04, 2020

BIBLICAL JUSTICE OR "SOCIAL JUSTICE"

 

“You shall not steal.”
Exodus 20:15

Steal = “take (another person's property) without 
permission or legal right and without intending to return it.”

Deuteronomy 16:19 (NASB) 
"You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.”

 

Diane Becton, Contra Costa County District Attorney, countered biblical concepts of justice Thursday, September 3, 2020, when she ordered her prosecutors to consider “need” when considering charges against looters. Located outside San Francisco, Contra Costa County is east of San Francisco Bay.

The new mandate makes It difficult to prosecute cases of looting such as those occurring in major American cities since early May. County prosecutors must now consider whether the looting was “for financial gain or personal need.”

Becton’s ruling did not quietly slip by other county officials. Antioch Mayor Sean Wright rebuked Becton calling her plan irresponsible and disturbing. Steve Aiello, president of the Antioch Police Union called the guidelines “reckless” causing hurt to local individuals and businesses. Becton’s ruling begs the question: Who determines what is “need” and what is not? Mayor Sean Wright had this question on his mind when he said, “For the District Attorney to put out that kind of plan is irresponsible and where do you exactly draw the line on need because these are people’s businesses that are being impacted and livelihoods that are being destroyed.”[i]

Does tailoring decisions to prosecute at law based on need or considering circumstances really fit an understanding of justice? At first glance the Merriam-Webster dictionary seems to support a positive answer. Justice is defined as “the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments.”[ii] Added to this, the dictionary defines justice as “the quality of being just, impartial or fair” and “conformity to truth.” Thinking I could find a biblical definition of justice, I turned to Baker’s Encyclopedia of the Bible. I was wrong. The entry for “justice” referred me to “righteousness” which defines that term as “conformity to a certain set of expectations.”[iii]

In my view, the key to understanding justice is an understanding of the word “just.” As I am using it term here “just” is defined as (a) “acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good: RIGHTEOUS” or (b) “being what is merited DESERVED.” In other words, justice is the administration of what is deserved. It is deserved judgment (Deuteronomy 16:19, Amplified Bible). A biblical understanding of “justice” is seen in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”

Partiality and unequal administration of justice plagues the current American justice system. As noted above, Deuteronomy 16:19 says, “You shall not misinterpret or misapply judgment; you shall not be partial….”[iv] It is not all that difficult to recall instances when the administration of justice was anything but impartial. How often have celebrities and government officials escaped judgment with a slap on the wrist while someone else felt the law’s strong arm? “Justice” personified is supposedly blind. Failure to indict looters for theft, regardless of circumstances, is not impartiality before the law.

Becton’s decision undoubtedly derives from her acceptance of Critical Race Theory. Becton and five other Black female prosecutors wrote an opinion piece in August for Politico which began, “Our criminal legal system was constructed to control Black people and people of color.”[v] This statement not only represents the opinion of the five prosecutors[vi] it is a classic representation of Critical Race Theory propaganda.

Critical Race Theory, which is rooted in Cultural Marxism, defines “social justice” quite differently. According to the National Association of Social Workers, “social justice” is “the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities.”[vii] Social justice warriors express this definition in the demand for ‘equity.” By the way, equity and equality represent completely different concepts. Equality has to do with status, rights, and opportunity.”[viii] When linked to social justice equity means “equality of result or outcome.”

               Equality means citizen A and citizen B are equal. Each enjoy the same opportunity, rights and standing.  Equity means shares are adjusted so both A and B made equal. Equity requires fooling around with the system so there is equality of outcome or result. Critical Race Theory proponents believe equality is merely an illusion. Thus, it is no accident for Becton to see our criminal justice system the means to control minorities. Because of such inequity, the “hurt of the past” – slavery, Jim Crow Laws, lynching, etc. – must be made up so everyone is equal and then, and only then, can racism be eliminated. Looting really is not stealing! It is reparations for past mistreatment. Looting simply makes up for needs created by oppression. Therefore, looters should not be prosecuted.

Advocates of Critical Race Theory, which is becoming rampant in the church, categorize everyone in terms of oppressor and oppressed. Builders of Western civilization constructed culture precisely to oppress people of color and other minorities. Western culture is built by white male capitalist Christians. For true “social justice” – racial justice – to come about Western culture must be replaced and eliminated.[ix] Black Lives Matter is an organization bent on destroying Western culture, Christianity, and America’s constitutional government.[x]

Christian leaders need to get their heads out of the sand and realize how anti-Christian and anti-American Critical Race Theory, particularly as exemplified in the Black Lives Matter organization and a host of pseudo-academics, really is. Thankfully, there are Christians and Christian organizations beginning to speak out in opposition to the Marxist ideology influencing American politicians and captivating many Evangelical Christians and churches.[xi] Should Critical Race Theory become more prevalent than it is, religious freedom and other rights Americans hold dear will be in danger


[iii] “Righteousness,” Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol. II (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1988), p. 1860.

[iv] Amplified Bible

[vi] Diana Becton, Contra Costa County, California; Satana Deberry, Durham County, N.C.; Kim Foxx, Cook County, ILll; Rachael Rollins, Suffolk County, MA.

[ix] Recent events where Black Lives Matter members publicly burned Bibles, vandalized churches, and killed a Christian counter-protester proves the point.

[x] See http://blacklivesmatter.com and read their “What We Believe” page.

[xi] See Decision Magazine online at https://decisionmagazine.com/the-stated-goals-of-black-lives-matter-are-anti-christian/, Center for Biblical Unity at https://www.centerforbiblicalunity.com/, and material from Eric Metaxas, Jordan Peterson, and James Lindsay.