Dear Reader,
It seems to me that If we were to ask a person who is on trial for murder. “Irrespective of your case, are the laws against murder just?” almost everyone would say that yes, the laws against murder are just. This makes the law against murder, “Just Law“. As we move from law to law we would find that some laws would have more or less, of the people on trial for those offences, admit the justice of the law they are charged with.
You will come to some laws that almost universally the defendant would argue that no, the laws against “A” are not Just. Political trials come immediately to mind. Other examples, to a greater or lesser degree, include laws against homosexuality, prostitution, drugs, bigamy, etc… I’m sure you can think of some if you try.
By this scalar, these laws are Unjust, or at least questionable. The middle ground of laws that are attested to be Just, by half the defendants, are probably Unjust as well. Providing the laws in question are ‘victimless’. Anyone who infringes on another human beings fundamental human rights, and is charged with Law, is being Justly charged.
How do unjust laws get passed and added to the cannon of jurisprudence? They are reactionary laws that seek to erase some flawed human predilection, and force some perceived form of perfection in human nature on society. This may be laudable but the road to hell is paved with laudable intentions.
Unjust laws make society less human hearted not more human hearted. Human hearted government recognizes that people are flawed and tries to work within the propensities of human beings. Human propensities are like water. If you stop it up, it will inevitably build and seek a path. Once the path has been found water will enlarge the opening until the backup results in a torrent , destroying anything in it’s path. (The lives of people).
Perhaps a better way would be to direct the flow of human frailties into a safe channel. Allowing the negative human propensities a safe ‘path to ground‘. Were this done, there would be no backup of wants and desires. There would be no overflowing of this pressure and no resulting torrent when the dam is breached. Society would be better served and people would be happier and less stressed.
In other words, legalize and regulate these actions. Bring them above the table. When done in the light regulated by the final temporal arbiter, (the government), flawed human predilections will be far less harmful to society and it’s members.
However, it is also in human nature, to want to control the lives and decisions of others. We believe that we are more wise than our neighbors. The lives of our neighbors would be vastly improved if we made their decisions for them. We see the tragic mistakes that they make, and want to fix it. If only they listened to us…
As Jesus said, “Look to the plank in your own eye before plucking the speck from someone else’s.”
