The 1826 edition of the Webster Dictionary was probably the most important dictionary to help forge the English language into American English.  Noah Webster, the dictionary author, was a solid Christian man who was saved or converted at 58 years of age after attending public gospel meetings.  After his conversion to Christ, he had a burden to help people—in a very illiterate America at the time—to read and understand literature. His objective was that people would have a dictionary reference to help them read and understand words that were used in the Bible.  He started the dictionary project by taking words used in the Bible and defining them using a Bible verse to show how the word was used. Today, the modern versions of his dictionary have omitted all references to the Bible verses. That is the norm it seems for almost every source of literature and educational resource today. Removal of God and His book the Bible has been the agenda in our educational institutions for decades and we are paying a great price today for doing so.  If our schools would return to the original Webster Dictionary it would be a profitable move to getting our educational institutions back on a better path for our country. 

Here is the meaning of the word “justice” as defined in the Webster Dictionary:  The virtue which consists in giving to everyone what is his due; practical conformity to the laws and to principles of rectitude in the dealings of men with each other; honesty; integrity in commerce or mutual intercourse. Justice is distributive or commutative. Distributive justice belongs to magistrates or rulers and consists in distributing to every man that right or equity which the laws and the principles of equity require; or in deciding controversies according to the laws and to principles of equity. Commutative justice consists in fair dealing in trade and mutual intercourse between man and man. 

Note that Proverbs 1:3 in the Bible defines wisdom with respect to justice: To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity.  The words justice and equity imply impartial justice or unbiased justice or fair and just justice.  The wisdom from God is where we source the roots of justice. If we do not get back to seeking answers from God, we will never restore true justice in our country.  The Bible is full of principles on justice.  

Another biblical reference to justice is in Isaiah 59, a very dark time in Israel’s history, similar to what is going on in Canada.  Note the underlined word justice:

Isaiah 59:7: Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. 

Isaiah 59:8: The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goes therein shall not know peace. 

Isaiah 59:9: Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. 

Isaiah 59:10: We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. 

It seemed that justice was gone from Israel in those days, similar to what is happening in our nation today.   The nation was in big trouble and was void of justice and judgment.  When the late La Ronge lawyer, Harold Johnson, ceased his defence counsel law practice, he made a statement in his book Peace and Good Order p 50:  I view my time as a defence lawyer as a failure.  I did not help my community.  The crime rate did not go down. Life did not improve in the community, and after a while I began to feel like a parasite feeding off the suffering…..I was perpetuating both the system and the suffering.  In my opinion, these words reveal the symptoms of a failed justice system from a lawyer courageous enough to express his feelings after a career spent in the legal system in Saskatchewan. What has happened to our justice system?  What made it deteriorate?  I believe the answer is in one word: Corruption. The justice system has become corrupted. Without a good justice system, the country will plummet into crime, violence, anarchy, and chaos. Look south to Mexico for an example to what happens when a justice system becomes corrupted.  The thugs of crime and cartels take over the justice system and every facet of the justice system becomes corrupt and ineffective.  

The definition of true justice and judgment originates with God himself.  The template of justice is laid out by our creator.  One example is Deuteronomy 33:21 where it speaks of a lawgiver who came with the heads [leaders] of the people, and executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments with Israel.  The author here is making reference to the process of justice with leaders within the nation of Israel.  There was someone in authority as a lawgiver, who executed justice and executed judgment with Israel.  When there is true justice and judgment there is a protected and a peaceful society.  Another example is King David who exemplified leadership in justice and judgment:  2 Samuel 8:15:  And [King]David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.   

The purpose of a criminal justice system is threefold: to protect society, punish criminal offenders and rehabilitate criminals.   The two main goals of the justice system are to prevent crime and protect society.  The three main entities of the justice system are the courts, the police and corrections.  We have all of the above in Canada but for some reason it is not working as it should. It is obvious there is something missing in our justice system that is causing it to fail miserably.  There are four main approaches to the administration of justice: deterrence, restraint, retribution and rehabilitation.  The question we must ask ourselves is: why is it not working?  Crime seems out of control and our justice system seems so ineffective and powerless to do anything about it.  I believe the entire system has become corrupted through various channels of bad influence that makes justice ineffective.  When the justice system in a country becomes corrupt the entire country is headed for big trouble and the only way to get it out of trouble is to get justice working again.   

The justice budget in Canada costs about 100 billion dollars per year.  It has been turned into big business with big bucks behind it for everyone serving in the system.  I will share with you another biblical principle: 1 Timothy 6:10: For the love of money is the root of all evil ….  Herein lies the root of the problem with the justice system in Canada.  It has become a system of big money and most serving in the system are doing it for their portion of the big money and not for the cause of justice. They all know there is something seriously wrong with what is going on—just like lawyer Harold Johnson—but very few will utter a word against the wrongs of the system because they might lose the money that flows their way. So, they choose rather to keep milking it as long as they can.   One thing is for sure, nothing will change until people in the corrupted system start standing up and telling what they know is wrong, regardless of what it will cost them. That would be people in the court system, people in the police system, people in the correction system and people in the rehabilitation system.  

Please join us for Live Stream services at www.pabaptist.ca each Sunday at 11:00 a.m. 

The content of this article is solely the personal opinions of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Prince Albert Shopper.