“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” ~President John Adams, c. 1798
As students of American History, we have seen our government evolve from a slave-breeding society to a much more humane society, in which we all can be proud. Yet, somewhere between then and now, we, as a people, seem to have lost our moral compass and should be very, very concerned.
As the truth, being eternal, cannot or will not be abandoned forever.
Perhaps America’s morality has never been fully realized in higher places given its dark history of slavery, which is a moral error that has yet to be fully reconciled. Perhaps herein lies the root of our society’s perpetual confusion, yet not the complete story.
Birth of the Bully
Actually, there have always been certain people in a given society who harbor a hateful bias and fear-driven animosity toward others, which often lead to great unhappiness in their own lives when left untreated. As this prolonged angst becomes too painful to bear, many such persons actively engage in projecting their inner hostility outwardly, which generally exacerbates in time. And the proverbial bully is born, oft-wearing a mask.
Sadder still, once in a position of authority, the obscure bully persona seems to enjoy wielding power over others rather than assume self-control…that is until the Universal Law of Karma appears and demands it’s due.
The Unexposed Bully, the Real Menace to Society
Meanwhile, once in power, the bully personality can take many forms. Yet, as our society continues to evolve, many of these hidden forms of bullying are now being recognized and rightly exposed.
And thus, what was previously dismissed as shocking and quite unthinkable, many of society’s bullies are now brought to justice, such as: the abusive teacher or clergy, an abusive parent or spouse, a mentally ill care-giver, or even an abusive icon.
Once again, seems the people have had enough and now a different type of bully is being forced out of the shadows, though our collective society has yet to indict such.
Perhaps, it is the age-old myth that exposure of one “bad apple” will spoil the lot! Yet, while other bad apples might also fall; still, upholding the truth will solve the problem, if we let it!
Sadly, among many of today’s unexposed bullies are our respected authority figures, those we rely on for protection and leadership, such as: the police, the military, and even our elected officials.
To deny such a possibility is ridiculous. As it is these individuals who present the most danger to our society when not dully recognized and brought to justice.
So What is Justice Exactly?
As with all unseen qualities that most of us aim to live by, justice, much like truth and mercy cannot be adequately described, but it can be felt. Therefore, we can safely deduct that justice, along with truth and mercy, is a quality of the heart that responds favorably when allowed and engenders righteous indignation when denied.
Thus, being human with a living heart, we well know when truth and justice are allowed, and when such are not! With no grand jury indictments in both the Eric Garner and Michael Brown killings by police recently, which were committed before our very eyes as Michael’s hands appear up in surrender or while hearing Eric’s plaintive cry for a breath of air, we, the people, have been protesting nationally and even globally ever since.
Read articles here: When Two Students One Black One White Protest here, London protests here, US Capitol staffers for Ferguson here, Protests in Support of Eric Garner here, Ferguson Protesters March to Missouri Governor’s Mansion here, Lawyers Stage ‘Die In’ in L.A. to Protest Police Brutality here, Medical Students Stage #WhiteCoats4BlackLives Protests here, and reminiscent of the Sixties Civil Rights Movement: Thousands March in Washington to Protest Police Violence here.
Iconic athletes are now wearing warm-up shirts reading “I can’t breathe,” Pres. Obama applauds LeBron James and others for speaking out here.
Sunday, Net players who also wore the “I can’t breathe” shirts, called for peace and a moment of silence following the very tragic murders of NYPD Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos by a madman on Saturday December 20th, here. And so the noble call for justice peacefully continues, as it must!
Why is Justice Important Now?
Of course, justice is always important in any civilized society. First, justice affirms the values by which we all must live, with the initial precept being to harm no one. Next, after a meticulous search for the truth during a fair trial, justice then declares what is right and what is wrong in a given case, which affects us all.
With police bullying being seen as such and thus considered a crime to be charged accordingly, police brutality would virtually cease.
Sadly, without the right use of our justice system by responsible authorities, our entire society suffers. See recent articles relative to the alleged manipulation of the Michael Brown case put before the grand jury by the local prosecutor here and here, and the so-called mistakes of his assistant prosecutor here.
Since our justice system is meant for the good of all the people, no one must be held above the law, including our law enforcers and our lawmakers. Nor should government officials seek to manipulate the justice system in their favor, ever!
Beware of the ‘Bad Apples’
Perhaps this is what Pres. John Adams, a Puritan who never owned a slave, meant so long ago when he penned the following line in a letter to his officers in the Massachusetts Militia, c. 1798, and should be fixed over the doors to every hall of justice in our nation:
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Thus, we must be mindful of the ‘bad apples’ among us, particularly those unethical officials in our justice system who tend to make up their own rules as they go along!
And so we all must remain vigilant and guard our fragile democracy with tender care. When truth and justice are denied we must not only protest, as we do, but stay the course until truth and justice are restored, as we’ve always done in the past!
A Crisis of Truth and Justice Denied
Meanwhile, in honor of the Christmas Season, we offer prayers for the Truth and nothing but the Truth to prevail in this crisis of truth and justice denied, which is calling us all.
According to the Chinese Ancients, a crisis represents destruction and opportunity. Thus, we always have a choice as to our response.
Either we surrender to our fearful denial of justice in the Brown-Garner cases and let fear rule us, which generally ensures further disaster…
Or we can all join hands together, neither looking right nor left, and keep marching for Truth and Justice to blossom in our land. The choice is ours!
© Delores L. Adams and The Aunt Jemimah Post 2012-2014. All rights reserved.
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