Justice, Please

I recently came across a person who, in the heat of the moment, began an exposition on the evils of lying and cheating. He was extremely angry with a person whose blatant dishonesty shocked and appalled him to the point of disbelief. He simply couldn't understand how anyone could be so unkind and unfair. The dishonest behavior, incidentally, directly affected the well-being of this man and his family. As a result, his indignation grew exponentially with each thought of its impact upon himself, his wife and his innocent children. The poor man, I thought.

Each of us is endowed at birth with a sense of what can only be called Justice. I have cared for children since I was old enough to hold them and one of the first things you become aware of in a child's character is their sense of right. They don't have to be very old before they realize that if they have a thing in their possession and someone preemptively snatches it from them, they will become instantly indignant. It is not something learned by association or observation. It seems to be part of them when they arrive.

As a child grows, observes and learns, he becomes initiated into the customs of his surroundings and learns to appreciate more things, desire more things and as a result to wish to hold on to even more things. The old saying about something being as 'easy as taking candy from a baby' is, in my experience, bogus. Few things are more difficult. The truth is, from the time we are old enough to recognize a thing and desire to possess it, we become indignant if someone takes it from us.

As a mother, one of my chief responsibilities is that if 'justice of the peace' in my own home. I have settled disputes of every kind on a daily, hourly basis for over twenty-five years. Children, I have learned, naturally desire justice to be done when they have been wronged in any way and a mother is the natural judge of such things. As a seasoned and experienced judge then, I have found it most interesting that although children find it easy to become angry at their brother for an obvious offense, they find it even easier to commit the same offense against someone else.

There is in everyone, I believe, not only a desire for justice to be done to themselves, but also a knowledge that other people also deserve the same justice. However, this knowledge of the rights of others, sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of our daily lives and grievances. We can get so caught up in our own search for justice that we overlook the need to provide it to others. This is overwhelmingly the cause of the most disputes among my children. In the majority of cases, where one person has been wronged, they, (the victim), were almost invariably guilty of committing the same wrong against the perpetrator. Each in their turn demanded justice, but neither was willing to dispense it to the other. Each was willing to commit the offense and neither desired to admit it or correct that behavior.

Such was the case with the man I mentioned above. He was quick to point out the injustice of the person who had been dishonest and had hurt his family. He easily recognized the need, even the duty this person owed to him and his family, to be honest and upright in his dealings with him. He, however, in practically the same breath, began discussing with impunity and without the least hesitation, his own dishonesty in another matter. He justified himself in committing this dishonest act by saying that he needed the advantages it would give him. Amazed, I tried to point out that the same fault for which he was willing to send one man to jail, was also a part of his own character and didn't he think it strange to point an accusing finger at one person when justice would certainly demand that the finger also be pointed at him.

He looked at me, puzzled; as though the thought had never occurred to him. I wanted to tell him what I tell my children: If you expect justice from someone else, you have to give it. Children understand this concept, but often fail to live it. Unfortunately, I see no difference in many of the adults around me. Like children, they are all too willing to cheat their neighbor but become angry if anyone cheats them. And justice simply says: You deserve each other.