I
wonder whether you were able to fill in the blank near the end of the last
post? The complete sentence reads, “And
the biggest obstacle to justice is the legal establishment.”
We’re going to unpack that statement bit by
bit as time goes on. Don’t expect an unbroken sequential series on the topic,
for you will probably get bored, unless you have an intense interest in the
topic. Not only that, but I have learned from experience that promising or
planning a long series on one single topic gets in the way of current events
that cry out for attention. So, bit by
bit; drip by drip, in between other topics.
To explain my interest in this topic, let me
reproduce a couple of paragraphs on the subject from our—i.e., my wife’s and
mine—memoirs. You should know that we spent 30 years as missionaries in Nigeria and moved to Vancouver BC
in 2001 to “retire.” I intended to make our retirement years there
count in terms of both writing and social action that would have noticeable
effect on the society. Yes, even at that age, I still entertained large vision
with respect to improving the society. Even now, fourteen years later, I have
not surrendered it. A nation or individual without vision, says the Bible, will
perish, even seniors—though we will perish anyhow as far as this side of the
“Beyond” goes. So, here goes:
One
of the things I decided to explore was the whole area of Christian involvement
in the legal profession. This was not something that just happened to occur to
me. I had long thought about some kind of crusade addressing Christians in the
legal professions, particularly lawyers. As I observed evolving North American
culture from my Nigerian perch, I noted that the legal profession was
contributing strongly to distortions in society and, in fact, had created an
atmosphere of fear and suspicion. I also observed that with their exorbitant
fees and methods, lawyers had taken justice beyond the reach of the common
people. In addition, I noticed that they were not interested in justice per se,
but, rather, in winning their cases regardless of the truth and in making as
much money as possible. I was aware of national Christian associations of
lawyers, but few if any of them did anything to transform or redeem the
profession. At best, they champion causes with religious colouration without
transforming the profession itself.
So I
invited church members to a series of meetings to begin exploring the issue and
a number of them attended. I soon realized that I needed to become more
sensitive to the culture of both the nation and CRC. I was a cultural stranger
and could not find a way to move the project forward. In addition, I became
aware that I could not do both: Develop this lawyer programme and write that
series on Christian-Muslim relations; it would be one or the other. I also
concluded that I had started off with the wrong crowd. I should have been more
patient to find a more suitable target group to work with, more ecumenical and
with more passion for this specific issue. So, I wound up the series of
meetings and abandoned the effort for now.
However, I have been saving newspaper and other clippings that deal with
lawyers and justice in the hope that perhaps I can do some writing on the topic
after we have completed these memoirs.
Many are the times I get enraged and my blood pressure rises when I read
stories from that cultural segment, especially at the uncritical Christian
participation in what I consider the totally unjust “justice” systems of North America.
As I wrote in the previous post, nothing like
quoting yourself!
That quote, in fact, the entire memoir is
accessible to you free of charge as
an ebook from < www.lulu.com >.
Just type in “Every Square Inch” and
it should surface. The memoir at this point consists of five volumes;
The quote is taken from volume four, pp. 77-78. which goes by the title Every Square Inch—A Missionary Memoir: The
Life and Mission
of Jan & Frances Boer. Vol. 4: Our Post-Nigeria Life.
Rather
than start the discussion near the end of this post, we’ll do that next time.
See, there’s that annoying American GRRR stuff again! Keeping you
hanging…. In the meantime, spend some time
on those quoted paragraphs and observe your reactions to them. No doubt, if you’re involved in the “justice”
system as a professional, it may annoy you. If you’re involved in other areas,
especially if you’ve had occasion to become a “consumer” of legal services or,
God forbid, if you’ve ever faced a judge in court, and remember the bills you
received as well as…. Ach, don’t let me
go on. Just let me say your reaction will be quite different.
Don’t let these bad memories give you
nightmares. May God give you His Peace.
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