The Art of Justice

Art is hard to define but easy to recognize.

I remember coming across this statement years ago though I do not remember who said it or where I heard it. Though I cannot recall the origin of the phrase, it has stuck with me ever since because there is a truth there. Ask someone to name a piece of art, be it a drawing, painting, or sculpture and you would hear a recitation that read like a Louvre highlights tour. Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, The Wedding at Cana. You get the point. Art is everywhere. we are immersed in it. To not see it one would have to be willfully ignorant of it.

But ask that same person what makes art, well, art, and the answers would become far less concrete and far more obscure. Is it merely skill in a given craft, be it painting, or sculpting or some other medium? Are there set rules for what qualifies something as art as opposed to mere sketches? Is art in the eye of the beholder or in the hands of the creator? Is there a message that needs to be conveyed or are simply pretty pictures sufficient? To be sure, there are techniques that are taught and skills that are applied. Rules that exist in all mediums, be it oils, pastels or watercolors. But the rules and the techniques do not art make. They are a conduit, a vehicle by which the artist drives, but they themselves are not art.

And what of music? When does the knowledge of scales and tempos, sharps and flats, transform into symphonies and concertos, ballads and big band? In music, there is a metamorphosis, where the notes become stories, harmonies become truths.

Let us not restrict ourselves to the fine arts, but also look at the more traditional side of academia. When I was in college working on my History (sorry, broad field social studies) major, one of my professors asked the question, is History an art or a science? At the time, I put myself firmly in the camp of it being a science. I was about to begin my final paper for my degree and as such, a historically based version of the scientific method was required. There was my question, was the Czechoslovakian state post WWI and WWII a success or failure? A hypothesis, that it was a success as even in dissolution, it furthered the cause of democracy in Europe. I tested my hypothesis through research of primary and secondary sources including those of Thomas Masaryk and Václav Havel. Wrapping it up I concluded that yes, my hypothesis was correct and that the Czechoslovakian state was a success even in its eventual peaceful dissolution.

When one looks at the study of History in that light, it is hard not see it as a study in science.

But when taking a deeper look, you can also see that framing History as solely a scientific study will leave you wanting.

Looking again at my project on the Czechoslovakian state, while I was applying scientific method and academic rigor to my hypothesis, in the end, I was telling a story. A evidence based and logical story, but a story nonetheless. I was fascinated by the idea of the Czechoslovakian state and the men that forged it out of the ashes of two world wars, how they guided it through the Cold War, and how when this little nation triumphed and finally earned their freedom from the Soviets, it eventually broke into two separate nations, not in bloody conflict but in a Velvet Divorce.

Which brings us back to the question, is History a science or an art? I would wager that it is both. History, by its very nature is missing large pieces. For every piece of new information we uncover through scientific research and the tireless work of archaeologists, paleontologists, archivists, and curators, there are multitudes that we will never know. Though we know the story of Caesar crossing the Rubicon, that is merely an impression. A small thread in the tapestry of humanity that has prominently suck out where the weave of thousands of others will never be seen.

So the historian is left to fill the gaps with their imagination, an artistic license taking what we do know and applying it to what we do not, nor ever likely will know. The historian is both scientist and painter, giving us a compelling, wonderful, riveting, if not totally complete, story of what was.

Which brings us to Justice.

What is Justice? We find that in in the preamble of the Constitution, that we the people are called to establish Justice in the quest for our more perfect union. Following that call, the Constitution again sets us up with a framework for the judiciary. It recognizes and guarantees our inalienable rights in the amendments. We see an orderly system for creating and enforcing laws, a division of power among three branches to prevent any one person or group of people from wielding too much power like the kings of old. A legal system that allows people to defend themselves in front of their peers from accusation and conviction. As a result, America has a legal system that allows Justice to be pursued.

But a legal system does not Justice make.

I ask you, define Justice. What does Justice look like to you? Some would say the legal system we have is the establishment of Justice in America. Others would point to low crime rates as Justice. Or maybe it is the successful prosecution of crimes that are committed. Perhaps it is the absence of civil strife.

While all those things are good markers and data points, none of them accurately define Justice and what it is, for Justice does not constrain itself to our system.

Merriam-Webster provides little help, with such definitions as “the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments” or “the quality of being just, impartial, or fair”. These definitions are circling, close to the mark and yet oh so far.

We need to go back farther to get a sense of what Justice is. There is a favorite verse of mine that calls on us “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” Micah 6:8. You can see here that justice is not a legal system but an action. We are to do Justice. When we look at it that way, we see that Justice cannot be confined to the rigid strictures of a legal system, no matter how well set up that system may be, for if we do, Justice, like History, will miss a multitude.

So what is this action that we are called to take? Again, that is hard to define. God is not calling us to be attorney or judges. He is not necessarily asking us to become legislators and pass laws that enforce the ideal of “all men created equal.” So what is He asking of us? Well that answer is quite simple. “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law” Matthew 7:12. This is better known as the Golden Rule. Justice becomes personal here. An intimate action between two people. If you want Justice, treat people justly. Treat them as you would want to be treated. If you do that, then you have the beginnings of Justice.

This sentiment can be expanded upon and taken from a personal interaction between two people and built into a philosophy for our nation. Former vice-president Hubert Humphrey said “The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”

That, is Justice.

It is a selfless, giving act that pours of itself to lift up those in need. It is an awareness of those around us and a recognition that they are deserving of the same dignity we all yearn for. It is a recognition of wrong, and seeking to make right. It is looking at the least of us and treating them as we would want to be treated.

And Justice, like art, is all around us! We see it in the kindness of strangers helping each other in times of spontaneous need. We march for it when we see our brothers and sisters continuously failed by a system that should protect them, not persecute them. We embody it when we give our enemies the same love and respect we would neighbors.

That is the art of Justice. It is a personal action we can take everyday to make the world of ours more right, more perfect, more equal.

Justice, like art, is hard to define, but is it ever wonderful to see.