Justice vs. Father Christmas
I was reading The Big Issue over the Christmas period, and there was an interesting quote from Terry Pratchett author of the Discworld series. I'm a big fan, he does have some controversial views, and I'm pretty sure he is an atheist. However, here is a quote from him which got me thinking.
"It's our fantasies that make us important, we start out believing in things like Father Christmas, and end up believing in equally abstract things, like Justice"
And I think Justice, or human Justice is as abstract as Father Christmas. Thinking about situations like Saddam Hussein's execution (closer to home there are many equivalents, though less stark maybe), now of course many don't support capital punishment, but even had he been imprisoned rather than executed, then there still would have been no Justice. More often I think we deliver punishment, and equate that punishment with justice. Saddam ended up looking the more dignified, despite his crimes.
I guess my feelings on this subject, though not very well explained can be summed up in this question. "If the heart of God is Justice, does justice have heart without God?
Ohh, the boy has depth, I hear you yell. But I'd rather hear your comments, let me know what you think... Is human Justice as abstract as Father Christmas?
posted by Stevo at 9:35 pm
3 Comments:
Depth indeed! Makes me feel a bit simple. I am unemployed now and me brain no work.
But.... I just cant swallow the initial statement. That it is our fantasies that make us important. And I can't see how abstract equates to fantasy. Something can be abstract and real, no?
So you've got Merry Old Pretend Chap on one hand and a tangible (although reguarly untangible, I know) Godly potential reality on the other.
Soooo.... while both may be abstract and seemingly ethereal, one actually is meant to be a solid thing that impacts the world. Would God want us to aspire to justice something if it wasnt meant to be so?
4:23 am
Before anyone else makes the "you mean Santa's not real!?!!" gag, allow me....
You mean Santa's not real!?!!
Sorry. I had to resort to that coz I didn't really understand the question.
1:49 pm
Just stumbled across your blog and felt compelled to comment.
I've recently been reading Simply Christian by Bishop Tom Wright. In this he puts forwards the case that our instinctive reaction that something is unject is actually an 'echo of God's voice'.
This idea makes a lot of sense, which is why I think children in particular have such a fine tuned sense of what is fair and unfair.
If Bishop Wright is correct, then true Justice, full justice can only be complete if the heart of God is included. This is why we see so much of the world's justice favouring those who the world favours.
6:46 am
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