When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty. – Deuteronomy 25:1

Today's Scripture Reading (March 13, 2025): Deuteronomy 25

I grew up in an age of comic books. I read a lot of them. Yes, there was the Archie Comics that I occasionally enjoyed, but I read a lot of Marvel and DC comics. I loved Spiderman, but also Nova and the Fantastic Four. I read Batman and Superman Comics. And often not just once but over and over again. One thing I liked about Comics is that good was good, and on the other side of the coin, bad was bad. Even when J. Jonah Jamieson was screaming about that "no good Spiderman" being in "cahoots with the villains" that threatened the city, you knew beyond a doubt that he was wrong. Spiderman was good; he fought against evil. And there was no doubt about who was good and who represented societal evil. 

As I grew older, I think this same need for things to be good and bad drove me to the writings of Stephen King and Dean Koontz. They seemed to have a solid grasp of what was good and evil. It is what appears to be missing in today's environment. We no longer have an idea of good and evil. Instead, we seem to have people trying to sell us something they want us to believe is good or bad. We are sold on the idea that "Libs" are evil and must be opposed, jailed, and maybe even executed. The same goes for the "radical right." But this isn't the truth. The "Libs" on the left and the "conservatives" on the right just come from a different worldview. Both may be led into illegal behavior, but neither is intrinsically moral or evil. 

Several years ago, I wrote about the following observation;

It appears that the United States of America has restored the Monarchy that it ran from a little more than two hundred years ago. In a land that had maintained for decades that Lady Justice was blind, we are now waking up to a new truth. The Lady has undergone radical eye surgery and regained her sight … the King is above all of this petty justice argument … because the verdict doesn't matter in the end. Lady Justice has regained her eyesight, and the King has decided that all he has to do is to pardon himself if it happens that he is found guilty. Of course, the King is pretty sure that won't happen now that Lady Justice has regained her eyesight. After all, he is white, male, and rich. If Lady Justice sees him, she will not dare to stand against him (Garry Mullen, June 23, 2018).

I have to admit that, as I wrote those words, I hoped I was wrong. But I probably feel it more today than I did almost seven years ago. The darkness is closing in. This passage tells us what Judges are supposed to be. They are to acquit the innocent and condemn the evil. They need to be blind, but I am afraid they aren't. Lady Justice still has her sight, and judges often condemn those they don't like rather than those who commit crimes. And that needs to change, or the end of our society is close at hand.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 26