Proverbs 17:26
There are times in human history when justice
gets turned on its head. Both punishing the innocent and freeing the guilty are
unacceptable, but both happen when justice gets placed in the hands of
dishonest people. Both make people live in fear. Both make life filled with
uncertainties. They definitely drive out foreign investment!
Our
proverb today focuses on one side of that unjust equation. When the innocent
get punished, it is not good. When this happens it sends a powerful message
from the person in power, the one able to render decisions. The message is
fairly simple: do what I say, or you will be next in line! So the person in
charge makes an example of one honest person and in the process turns all the
other officials into corrupt officials. A few will resist and stay honest, but
they will be punished, usually more severely than the first one. In the words
of the Borg in Star Trek, “Resistance is futile.”
We
see this pattern in many oppressive regimes today. In those dominated by
Islamic ideologies this is the norm. Either conform to our beliefs or die. I
read a couple of days ago about the massive bombing in Iraq centered around a
Shiite festival, one side of the Islamic faith killing the other side. This is
nothing new. This kind of killing is standard practice in Islam and has been
for over a thousand years. They battle for the upper hand by killing their
opponents. It started with their supreme example, Mohamed. He credited with personally
killing hundreds of opponents, and serves as their model for behavior.
We
in the West are usually more humane with our opponents. We just lie through our
teeth about their intentions and motives, and the media parrots those words
until they are believed by enough voters to get us in office and keep us there.
Of course we have not always been so kind with our international enemies. War
often brings out the worst, even if our intentions are honorable.
We
can’t be responsible for the actions of others. We can only control our
actions. We must be people of integrity, upholding and honoring those who act
justly. We can intervene and stop injustice to the extent that our influence
extends. We can’t correct if we have too little influence, or no influence.