The Preamble says “We the People of the United States, in order to … establish Justice” create our Constitution. But what do we mean when we speak of justice? Is “justice” the same in “with liberty and justice for all” as in “the criminal justice system”? The same in “bring the terrorists to justice” as in “in the interests of justice”? Too often, I believe, when politicians speak of justice, they mean appropriate punishment, or even revenge for something that has already happened, when instead, I think the call to justice asks us to look forward and to act for better outcomes in the future. And despite those who claim that eternal punishment is just, I think a better reading of the Bible asks us to “do justice and love mercy” as if those two ideas were consistent with each other and not contradictory. Rev. Sturtevant served as minister of our congregation from 1987 to 2013.

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Topics: Justice