I am following the onslaught of Obama by the Christian right in USA. I found this, it sums it all up for me.

A few weeks ago the Scottish government released Al-Megrahi, the man convicted of bombing U.S.-bound Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

The past few weeks have been rough ones for the Scots. Angry Americans threatened to boycott Scottish products. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lined up to condemn the move. (I was by the way a strong supporter of Hillary, and I still am, but disagree with her on this reaction)

This is one of many good examples on the polarization and the great gap between American thinking and European thinking when it comes to Justice and the theories and platforms on which this thinking is built.

Let me generalize to try to show my point.

An eye for an eye

The American system wants the offender to get what he deserves. The punishment is then awarded according to the crime committed.

In Europe it’s very different. Let this encounter serve as an example.

I was talking to a friend of mine some time ago. He works as a Judge in one of the biggest courts in Oslo. I asked him about a case he had presided over and asked him why he only gave 2 years in jail for what I considered was a grave offense. (It was the case in which Munch’s scream painting was stolen)

His answer was this. First of all he told me that he felt 2 years was a very tough and hard sentence for the offender.  Second of all he told me that his main purpose as a judge was not to give this man what he deserved, but give him a chance to both live with the consequence of what he did and get back into society and become a good citizen again.

The decision to free Al-Megrahi was made in accordance with Scottish legal practice, which makes explicit provision for the early release of prisoners on compassionate grounds.

Let me summarize: In Europe the goal is not to give the offender only a punishment in accordance with the gravity of his crime, or to give him what he deserves, but  also to show and give grace with the desire to help him into a normal life some day again.

Intertwined with view of God

This fundamental view on justice is also very much intertwined in the view on salvation, God and Christianity. One can argue that both views come out of how one understands salvation, humans worth the bible and God. The dominant American Christian view is again God as a judge, giving us what we deserve. And in this aspect the western European church follows the Americans. But the Eastern European church(Orthodox) have a totally different view. God as a father, trying to help his children with their mistakes.  As a parent guides his children. This thinking is very far from a judicial view of God and his relation with humanity.  The way of Jesus is never one that gives back what one deserves. It is one that shows grace and mercy also in the Judicial sphere of humanity. I applaud the Scottish for following the way of Jesus in this case. Grace and Peace to Al- Megrahi.

Read more about Eastern Christianity and the difference between western and eastern Christianity in my post; “The lost Christianity”

A beautiful little song by a new favorite, Jay-Jay Johanson.  Song of the week in my books!

This  parable won a competion put on by Peter Rollins and Paraclete press . The parable was written by Kester Brewin and is entitled Footprints.

There was once a man who had lived a long and difficult life. When he finally lay down, a faint smile bent the lines in his face as his eyes were shut. He had run the race; now he could rest. The curtain was pulled back, and he stumbled through the light to meet God.

‘My Master and my Friend,’ the old man hailed God as he prostrated himself before God’s feet. Hearing no reply, the man looked up and saw God shuffling awkwardly in his chair, not quite managing to fight back a blush across his cheeks.

Not wanting his moment of judgement and welcome to be spoiled, the old man gathered his courage and spoke up. ‘My Lord and my God,’ he began, nervously. ‘Is this not the time when my life and works shall be weighed in your scales and my named checked against those who have made it into the Book of Life?’ After such a tiring day it was difficult for him to remember the exact details of what was meant to be happening, but he felt certain that it should be God who should be taking the lead.

‘My child,’ said God sadly, before petering out and looking around for some way out.

Following God’s gaze, the old man took in a crumpled photo, pinned to a crowded notice board hung askew in a dark corner. His heart leapt. ‘Father,’ he said, getting up carefully like a servant in Medieval court, ‘here is a photo of footprints on a beach…’

God took it and stared at it for a while and as the man perceived his eyes glistening, his own tears came, for he knew the photo, and knew the words of comfort that came with it. ‘Tell me, Lord,’ he said, knowing already the lines that would come, ‘tell me what the footprints mean.’

And so God began.

‘Your life has been like a walk along the beach with me, many scenes from your life flashing across the sky. In each scene there are footprints in the sand, sometimes two sets, at other times only one.’

At this point God paused, and looked down, and so the old man seized the initiative, and played too his part.

‘Lord, this bothers me because I notice that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I can see only one set of footprints.’

He looked up, but saw God unmoved, so continued. ‘You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?’

He bowed his head, holding back the tears, ready for the words of succour that he knew must come.

And slowly God replied, his voice shaking with emotion. ‘The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when you carried me.’

The man frowned for a moment, paused, and then looked up. ‘Surely Lord,’ he began rather embarrassed to be correcting the Almighty, ‘you mean when you carried me.’

‘My dear child,’ God said, twisting a loose thread of cloth from his flowing robes, his face suddenly a mirror in which the old man saw the battles he had fought and the doubts he had put asunder, ‘this was the measure of your faith: when difficulties came, you gathered up this tired and arthritic God, and carried your beliefs to safety.’

A small wind blew through the old photographs and worn papers, and the two men sat in silence for a moment.

‘I have prepared a room for you,’ God said after a while, ‘though I quite understand if you don’t want me to stay.’

[© KB 2009]