JUSTICE
The dictionary tells me that justice includes fair treatment, righteousness, the quality of living up to one's potential. I've been reading James Stalker's "The Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Cardinal Virtues" and it reminds me that, of all the virtues, justice is totally other-directed. That is, justice is solely concerned with how we treat other people. While other virtues in us may promote justice, we cannot act justly without regard to how we treat our friends, family, acquaintances, the community. Stalker also reminds me that justice is complicated, that because justice involves giving those around you their due, political scientists, religious scholars, economists, all those concerned with justice can, and often do, disagree.
Without being caught up in those disagreements, can we find justice? Can we all agree on a simpler concept of justice to guide us in our treatment of others? I believe we can at least agree on the starting place: that it is our obligation to try to act justly, to try to do justice in our daily lives. If we accept that as our obligation, if we try to treat everyone we encounter fairly and equitably, we may not achieve perfect justice but we will often succeed in giving appropriate rewards to the people around us, in allowing others to live to their potential, in encouraging others to behave justly.
When we see the struggles of our co-workers to do their best, we can applaud the efforts and thereby enable them to succeed in some measure. When we are called upon to resolve conflicting demands for help, for encouragement, for resources of various kinds, we can do justice by doing our best to meet all demands, or, if we can't, by explaining the reasons we can't. When we encounter unhappy, dissatisfied people, we can try to make them happier by getting them out of themselves and thereby cause them to see the path to pride in doing their best, pride in accomplishing something. When we see children, parents, and friends in conflict, we can assist them in resolving the conflict themselves, we can mediate their differences, often by simply pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of the conflicting positions. When we are forced to decide between friends, whether with regard to invitations, appointments or more serious matters, we can attempt to decide with kindness, on some basis which will be acceptable to the left-out friend.
As I write, I think I see that justice requires rules for conduct which are visible and explainable. If we make our decisions by applying our rules, the affected people will more easily accept the decisions because they won't take them personally. And maybe justice ultimately is more easily seen by others, maybe justice is as simple as having people accept that they are being treated with justice. Maybe justice is approaching everyone with kindness and respect; maybe by letting people know you're trying to act justly, you are acting justly. It's still not an easy thing to do, but at least in this way we can see the path to justice, we can once again find a way to start.
4-17-00
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