Cardinal Keith O’Brien stated “”there still exists in very many parts of the USA, if not nationally, an attitude towards the concept of justice, which can only be described as a ‘culture of vengeance’.” I think he is right on the mark, not just within the justice system, but within much of US Christian society as well. For some reason, we seem to have a real problem giving such over to God.
He further goes on to state:
“The desire for justice and even vengeance after such an “unbelievable horror and gratuitous barbarity,” is “completely natural” for those most directly affected….
“It is in the midst of such inhuman barbarism, however, that we must act to affirm our own humanity, it is in these moments of grief and despair that we must show the world that the standards of the murderer and his disdain for human life are not our standards,” he said.
“They may plunge to the depths of human conduct but we will not follow them.”
His statements very much parallel Romans 12:19
19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d]says the Lord. 20On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e] 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Its interesting to note a recurrent theme throughout scripture is compassion and mercy for ones enemy, for the perpetrator, for the one who sinned. On the other hand, it is also a very common theme to have mercy on those injured, on those who are victims; the hard words from scripture presented in the above verse from Romans pretty much means, do not connect mercy and compassion for the victims in anyway with vengeance.
This is where the rubber hits the road so to speak, and where things often crash and burn. First, they crash and burn, as our sin nature is to blow off Roman’s 12:19 as unobtainium. Secondly, they crash and burn, in that when we try to take on the unobtainium in Romans 12:19, far too often, the victim ends up ignored along side the road waiting for some Samaritan to pass by.
What can make things even trickier, is how best to approach such in secular society especially within the wheels of the legislative and judicial process. Just the mere mention of such will result in howls of outrage over following scripture … this is whacked view of mercy and justice… its absolute foolishness… revenge is justifiable, what about the victims, they deserve to see the perpetrators suffer… we are not a Christian nation, such foolishness described in an ancient book has no place in politics… victims need compassion, the best way is to fry the perpetrators. On the other hand, Jesus didnt say if we love him to blow off his words as society thinks them foolish either.
I sort of like how St Augustine presented this issue with secular society in his Just War doctrine:
“When these things are read in their own authors, they are received with loud applause; they are regarded as the record and recommendation of virtues in the practice of which the Republic deserved to hold sway over so many nations, because its citizens preferred to pardon rather than punish those who wronged them. But when the precept, “Render to no man evil for evil,” is read as given by divine authority, and when, from the pulpits in our churches, this wholesome counsel is published in the midst of our congregations, or, as we might say, in places of instruction open to all, of both sexes and of all ages and ranks, our religion is accused as an enemy to the Republic!
Apart from justice system, often the victims can be oneself, or ones relative… and no such justice is even possible. The Washington Post had an interesting article after the death of Ken Lay back in 2006 entitled Ken Lay’s Last Evasion To Some, CEO Is Cheating Them One More Time
….people may well have responded to the news of Lay’s untimely death by feeling cheated, by saying that death wasn’t good enough for him, by sensing a frustrated craving for revenge burning in their backbrains like a fire in a tire dump.
Is it possible that a micron below the surface of our liberal and enlightened beliefs lurks savagery? Was the French Enlightenment wrong about our essential goodness, and were the medieval churchmen right about our innate depravity?
We should consider these things in days to come, so that Ken Lay may not have died in vain.
The thing is… Ken Lay didnt kill anyone, it was just money… perhaps a lot of money for some people, but then isnt all money God’s to start with and to end with, and we just use it for a time? Of course, such is easy in abstraction, but far from easy when its ones entire life savings and one is on a fixed income, and staring down near poverty until death. Vengeance in the above situation is not going to bring any increase in good men… in a lot of ways, it goes back to St Augustine’s writings where we need to be careful not to add ourselves to the number of wicked men.
Wherefore a righteous and pious man ought to be prepared to endure with patience injury from those whom he desires to make good, so that the number of good men may be increased, instead of himself being added, by retaliation of injury, to the number of wicked men.
Our need for vengeance needs to go to the dung hill… we need to exercise compassion and mercy, for both the perpetrator, AND the victim, but must be very careful to totally keep vengeance off the table.
