Law and justice

Editor: George Bush and Tony Blair, particularly, are either blind to, or hell-bent on, changing philosophical concepts of a most basic and fundamental nature.
Perhaps they don’t even know that they are. These are “law” and “justice”. The concepts on these have guided man from creation; down through the ages until their expression became dramatically noticeable as in their application they trigger the changes from “freedom fighter” to “terrorists”, and the meanings of words and phrases in political contexts.{{more}}
Mattathias, father of Judas Macabeus, fought Antiochus against political and religious domination of the Jews. Thereafter, his first act of rebellion was defiance of the King’s representative. 1 Mac 2:22. Then one of the Priests sought to carry out the King’s commands by offering sacrifice and Mattathias slew that Priest at the altar. 1 Mac 2:24. After the death of Judas Macabeus his son led a party seeking to bring religious freedom and political independence to the Jews.
Law and justice clashed, and justice won.
Later on, in Palestine the Jews took a fellow, Jesus, into custody, took him to Pilate, the Roman procurator representing the Emperor, Tiberius Caesar, and declared, “We have a law and according to our law this man must die …” And they murdered him.
Again law and justice met head on: and justice, the resurrection victory over death, won.
Indeed, history bears record of Jesus, the Christ, and it is no myth that Christianity began with Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. The apostles who were with him bear witness. From Jesus’ life and times grew the Christian sect, which influenced all Europe.
The institutions the world has today are dominated by Europe and European thought. Rome embraced Christianity and as early as 315 AD the Roman Emperor Constantine was baptised a Christian. Christianity has its impact on all world religions: commerce, medicine, literature, music, art, morals. Dress and fashions are generally European.
The intellectual is not only of superior intelligence but with this is also coupled a superlative power of reasoning. Such a person is always unrelated to the materialistic but nonetheless passes on his thoughts to whomsoever. He becomes either a teacher, public lecturer, poet or writer. The world’s scholars and thinkers are of this breed. It is they who, without fanfare or advertisement whatever, lead the world. And this has been so from creation.
Should we trace the development of law we begin with God, the Father, through Abraham to Moses, to Justinian, through the Industrial Revolution, through Great Britain with the rest of Europe, down to Sharon and on to Bush.
Law is a rule or rules, which a community accepts as binding upon them. Canon Law, Ceremonial Law, Civil Law, Common Law, Criminal Law, Natural Law, Divine Law: all man-made for regulating the interactions of a community, save that Natural law and Divine Law are handed down to man.
From Moses we receive the Torah, the Jews’ Book of the Law, which was put in the side of the Ark of the Covenant. This law known as the Mosaic Law together with Roman law greatly influenced the nations of Europe whose kings and emperors and princes enforced whatever aspect or interpretation of law they chose, as it personally pleased them.
A series of movements plunged Europe into convulsions. The Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution in Britain together with the Enlightenment. Intellectual activity stimulated men into new ways of thinking and among the economic, political and religious areas, Parliamentary Law surfaced with its diverse concepts of democracy.
The concept of justice has not changed. It is incapable of shifting to suit shades of convenience or to follow the changing applications of rules of law to human behaviour. It remains and will forever remain the essential principle around which is clad the advice, “Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you.”
The law promotes the enforceable will of the powerful. Justice is the standard measure by which the exercise of the facility to the right to existence is applied.

Bayliss Frederick