Dear Friends,

One of the things that causes me to pause and think is the 'inconsistency of applied justice' throughout the world.  I'm not sure if what I have just given as a 'description' makes sense, but what I mean is this;  one nation can do terrifying things and the world does nothing, another nation can be suspected of doing terrifying things and it gets hammered.  To give an example... some time ago Iraq was suspected of having weapons of mass destruction, and dreadful things have happened in Iraq and to Iraqi people, though such weapons have yet to be found.  North Korea blatantly tests its nuclear weapons, literally jumps up and down shouting 'look at what we've got... here they are' and nothing happens.  Now before you all start sending me emails... I'm not advocating violence, I'm not making value judgements about what should or should not have happened, or be done, I'm merely pointing out that there is a grave inconsistency.  At the time of writing a new conflict between Israeli and Hezbollah forces is about a week old, and we wait to see whether the powerful forces of the world are going to take sides or merely address the situation with inflammatory words to those of opposing views.

In all conflict, whether it is nation against nation or adults out on the streets, I am always appalled that human beings can inflict such dreadful pain on other human beings.  How can a person put a knife into another person?  How can some adults treat their children with such dislike and scorn that they become emotionally scarred for life?  How can a group of people stand and kick another person on the ground until that person dies?

The answer is, by dehumanising that person.  When you fail to see the person standing before you as another human being, but merely an object to be given a certain 'treatment', then you can do anything to that person.  In the deliberate infliction of pain upon another person, something that is sometimes labelled as 'torture', both aggressor and victim are dehumanised.  I think this applies to nations as well as to individuals.

The gospel teaches us something very important on this score.  When Pontius Pilate presented Jesus to the crowd, after Jesus had been beaten up immediately prior to being led off for crucifixion, Pilate said something very important to the crowd who were yelling for Jesus' death.  Pilate said, "Behold the man."  Pilate was making sure that the crowd didn't just see Jesus as an object of scorn, derision and hatred, but that they realised here was a human being, flesh and blood, one of their own.

If there could be a greater consistency of recognition throughout the world, then maybe there would be less violence.  There's a song that starts off, "Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me."  Maybe if we practised the 'recognition of humanity' even more so in our own lives, it might just have an effect on the rest of the world.

Best wishes to you all,