A number of you probably keep up with the news to some degree. I do, but mostly just by looking at headlines. Only if the headline catches my eye will I click on the link and read the story. In that way, I tend to "know" what the news is, but don't always know the intricate details.
In recent days, though, I have followed on particular story. Many of you are probably familiar with the George Zimmermann case in Florida. Briefly, he shot and killed an unarmed 17 year old black teenager, and pleaded self defense as the reason for the shooting. The case has been in the news lately, and over the weekend, the jury found Zimmermann not guilty.
There was an instant backlash by many who believed that justice wasn't served properly in this case. Again, I don't pretend to know the details of the case, and even less do I know what evidence the jurors saw that led to their verdict. I do know that there is still much to the case that isn't really all that clear-cut, and that's the reason for the outcry.
However, I have heard about some who are disappointed in the turnout as saying that Zimmermann will likely have some form of vigilante justice shown to him before long. Whether or not Zimmermann is guilty or not guilty, the way our justice system is supposed to be set up is so that people don't take the law into their own hands. While we love the idea of the wild west and that kind of thing, that's simply not how it's supposed to work.
In my mind, I think there is a great deal of guilt on both sides. Maybe not the kind that our justice system demands, but I know there is definitely a lack of love for neighbor being demonstrated throughout this case. And as John would remind us in one of his letters, if we can't love our brother, whom we have seen, we have a really tough time loving God, whom we haven't seen.
In the end, in terms of this world, this case probably has relatively little long-term repercussions. But when it comes to the perfect justice of our God, we all simply stand before Him and say, "Thank you for Jesus and what He has done for us." May that be our justice cry as Christians.
In recent days, though, I have followed on particular story. Many of you are probably familiar with the George Zimmermann case in Florida. Briefly, he shot and killed an unarmed 17 year old black teenager, and pleaded self defense as the reason for the shooting. The case has been in the news lately, and over the weekend, the jury found Zimmermann not guilty.
There was an instant backlash by many who believed that justice wasn't served properly in this case. Again, I don't pretend to know the details of the case, and even less do I know what evidence the jurors saw that led to their verdict. I do know that there is still much to the case that isn't really all that clear-cut, and that's the reason for the outcry.
However, I have heard about some who are disappointed in the turnout as saying that Zimmermann will likely have some form of vigilante justice shown to him before long. Whether or not Zimmermann is guilty or not guilty, the way our justice system is supposed to be set up is so that people don't take the law into their own hands. While we love the idea of the wild west and that kind of thing, that's simply not how it's supposed to work.
In my mind, I think there is a great deal of guilt on both sides. Maybe not the kind that our justice system demands, but I know there is definitely a lack of love for neighbor being demonstrated throughout this case. And as John would remind us in one of his letters, if we can't love our brother, whom we have seen, we have a really tough time loving God, whom we haven't seen.
In the end, in terms of this world, this case probably has relatively little long-term repercussions. But when it comes to the perfect justice of our God, we all simply stand before Him and say, "Thank you for Jesus and what He has done for us." May that be our justice cry as Christians.
No comments:
Post a Comment