North Americans should think twice about judging the human rights policies of other nations such as Russia and China, when our own justice system is so systemically broken. Canada and America have not dealt with or eradicated the injustices rooted in their own political and justice systems, yet we feel we have the right to point fingers at other countries. As nations that pride themselves in standing up for freedom, equality, free speech, forward-thinking, and liberation, our countries fall extremely short in offering this to all of its citizens. We’ll go to war to protect the freedom and liberties of other countries and neglect the cries of our own citizens. All one has to do is take a look at current events to see the injustices experienced by minorities in North America, such as Indigenous peoples, African Americans and immigrants.
Matthew 7:4-5 – How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Who are we to judge the governments of other nations and their human rights policies, when our own system is so appalling? In Canada, our justice system has failed its citizens. There are many Indigenous, immigrant and low–income people sitting in prison with charges against them that could never stand up to a diligent defence. Unfortunately, because of a lack of bail money, these individuals are sitting in prison over a few hundred dollars. Now that these individuals are in prison and cannot work, how are they meant to pay for decent legal representation? Most likely, he/she will receive legal aid from a public defender, who is most assuredly already overloaded with cases. Public defenders are so overrun with work, that they will most likely strike a deal with the Prosecutor and save time for a trumped up charge.
Is this justice? Is this the judicial system that we are so proud of? To the point that we believe we can judge others?
Romans 2:1 – You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
Oppressing The Poor
The poor cannot afford a decent lawyer, even if they have the bail money and are released on bail. They cannot present an adequate defence against a prosecutor who has limitless amounts of tax payer’s dollars at his disposal. How is this a fair judicial system?
Judges see this type of scenario day in and day out. They have become desensitized to the whole process. How can we claim our justice system to be fair? The Bible states that we are meant to have a society that caters to the poor and does not oppress them.
Proverbs 22:22-23 – Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, 23 for the Lord will take up their case and will exact life for life.
The justice system in North America is systemic in its oppression of the poor. We do not even notice the unfairness within its workings. We must not support this broken system by giving it our approval, for when we do, we will also be punished by God for supporting a legal system that oppresses the poor.
Psalm 146:9 – The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
Psalm 103:6 – The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
Malachi 3:5 – “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.
Oftentimes, it is the immigrants who live among us that are poor due to their new status in the country. They face many struggles due to the upheaval of moving their entire family to a new land, and learning its language and culture. We must not exploit them through our legal system. God clearly instructs us not to oppress foreigners.
Many of the individuals in prison are immigrants. They are strangers in this land and in being so, are not financially established enough to afford an adequate defence.
Deuteronomy 27:19 – “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
As a Christian country, we should not be oppressing strangers in our land by denying them justice in this fashion.
Exodus 22:21 – Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.
Exodus 23:9 – “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.
Leviticus 19:33 – “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 10:17-19 – For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.
Deuteronomy 24:17 – Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.
Ezekiel 22:29 – The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.
Zechariah 7:10 – Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’
This justice from the Lord will be received in the age to come. Not here on this earth but it will be an eternal punishment. This is why we are meant to see to it that the poor receive equal justice here on this earth.
Exodus 23:6 – “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
Exodus 23:9 – “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.
Leviticus 25:17 – Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the Lord your God.
We must not side with what everyone else is doing. The crowd is accepting the norm of oppressing the poor in the judicial system to the point where it has become systemic. This is the one place in the worldly system where everyone should be receiving justice. As Christians, we should not be siding with the crowd, we should be speaking against it instead. We should not be believing the rhetoric regarding our judicial system. We are brainwashed to the point where we think we can actually judge other nations when our own systems are failing.
Exodus 23:2 – “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,
Achieving An Equal Footing For Rich and Poor Alike
Exodus 23:3 – And do not slant your testimony in favor of a person just because that person is poor.
The Bible is even speaking of not showing favoritism to the poor man. Rather, to give him an equal chance for true justice. Our judicial system must not favor either side. It should work to achieve an equal footing for everyone.
Leviticus 19:15 – “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
An equal footing would be finding a way that the poor man can receive the same representation as the rich man in court. Not assigning the poor man to a public defence lawyer who is overworked, underskilled, inexperienced and underpaid.
Fair would be to ensure equal pay for the public defender as well as the prosecutor and seeing to it that both sides receive an equal amount of cases, workload and resources. This way, both prosecutor and defense can be expected to provide high quality representation since they are receiving the same amount of support as each other.
In regards to civil court, if people choose to pay for their own defence, there should be a cap on fees so as to establish a fairness of representation in court. And as it is in civil court, our criminal justice system should be offering the reimbursement of fees paid should the defendant be found not guilty. If the prosecutor loses the case, the government should have to reimburse the defendant for their legal fees. How is it fair that prosecutors can bring bogus charges against individual citizens without any regulation regarding reimbursement if they lose?
Proverbs 18:5 – It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice.
Deuteronomy 16:19 – Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent.
Proverbs 18:5 – It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice.
Proverbs 17:15 – He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
The concept of the rich oppressing the poor is in the New Testament also.
James 2:1-4 – My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
We are not to defer to the rich over the poor, as the world does.
James 2:5-7 – Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?
It is the rich that oppress the poor with their wealth and influence. We must not have any part in this worldly quality of oppressing the poor. We need to speak against this at every opportunity that arises.
Speaking Against Injustice
To be a true man of God, we must speak against the injustices experienced by the poor, like the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 7:1-7 – This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message:
“‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. 3 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever.
As Christians, we must change our way of thinking and stop running with the crowd of the world, who perverts justice, and oppresses the poor and immigrants. We must also stop pointing fingers at other nations about their human rights records, when we have not straightened out the injustices within our own nation.
Jeremiah 22:3 – This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.
Psalm 72:4 – May he defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; may he crush the oppressor.
Psalm 72:12 – For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.
Proverbs 29:14 – If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will be established forever.
Isaiah 11:4 – but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Psalm 109:31 – For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them.
Isaiah 1:17 – Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
Job 29:11-12 – Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me, 12 because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist them.
Psalm 82:4 – Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
In regards to world affairs, we need to stop judging other nations like Russia and China regarding human rights, etc., until we have successfully tended to our own ‘vineyard’ first.
Song of Solomon 1:6 – Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother’s sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I had to neglect.
Once we have straightened out our own legal system, then we can advise others on theirs.
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