I recently came across something that said to teach others about the values of justice, fairness, equality and honor. I have to admit this statement is a little tricky since I can only come from what I think and feel. And if you read my last post, you know the meaning of values simply put, is what I believe to be most important. There is no set-in-stone answer here. Although I do believe we all share a very similar value system, the difference may be our individual order of importance. And personally speaking, that order changes as I enter into new and different stages of my life.
Of the words listed, there is one that really jumps out at me, one that kind of gets me stirred up. But since there may be some importance in the order, I will start at the beginning with justice.
-Fair and impartial behavior or treatment
-Fairness or reasonableness, especially in the way people are treated or decisions are made
Now of course there are more definitions depending on the context of use, but I thought these followed in suit with the other words.
I guess when I think of justice, it looks a little more like this: An arm in the air or a fist on the table, followed by “justice will be served or justice will prevail”! It just doesn’t sound as dramatic to say, ”fairness will be served or I will deal with you with impartial behavior or justice will win over because we are reasonable”!
When I think of justice being served, it is that someone is going to pay the price for what they have done, like a punishment. In a court of law we have a process, an attempt at fair and impartial treatment. But how often in our ever day lives do we take the time to stop and look at the facts, consider where the other person was coming from or that maybe they just made a bad decision. How often are we seeking revenge………….oh, I mean justice. And to make it even more challenging for myself, how often am I seeking rrrrreeeee, oohhhh, I just can’t say it.
I am going to think on this one a bit more. Actually I am going to see how I play it out over the next few days, and get back with you!
Julie--Justice, equity, and fairness all mean pretty much the same thing. The idea of justice as the arm in the air or fist on the table comes from the fact that before justice meant equity and fairness, it refered only to the person dispensing it. (As in Justice Thomas sits on the Supreme Court.) You are right, of course, we all would be better of if we considered the "offending person's" point of view and tried love and forgiveness instead. That way we would not add to the anger that eats our souls and too soon may topple the world. The bigger and/or more personal the offense, the harder that gets, for me at least. Keep writing.----Kip
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