The recent pardon of Hunter Biden along with the media’s forgetfulness of what we learned on his laptop are truly frightening. Doesn’t everyone remember the details that proved both father and son were doing illegal international dealings? Could it be that by President Biden pardoning his son he was attempting to avoid that he himself would be charged at some future time for those dealings? Why hasn’t anyone pointed this out as the blinding flash of the obvious? Yet, that laptop seems to have been forgotten by the press. This also is especially hard to stomach given Biden’s repeated insistence he would not pardon his son if convicted.
Biden’s sweeping pardon recommendation goes so far beyond the customary presidential pardons. You would think this would strike an immediate rage in the press. This complicity makes me truly wonder whether the press has any ethical backbone. It is refreshing to see some Democrats breaking rank, and even some in the media are crying foul. But most of the press are still confirming my prior blog’s criticism by gaslighting the American public. They have gaslit for decades now, but Americans have learned to see it. But, now it is just getting ridiculous. The consequent loss in public confidence and trust is tragic.
Some bleeding-heart liberals will quote the biblical stories Jesus told about mercy and forgiveness. Anyone teaching Sunday School struggles to explain Christ’s repeated illustrations of how mercy and reconciliation trump equity and what we define as justice. Whether it is the laborer who is hired at the last hour or the prodigal son, many Christians will cry out (if they feel they are safe in doing so) “that’s not fair!” How can someone who just works one hour be paid the same amount as the person who worked eight? It is not fair, but the story is not about that at all. It is about the redemption of people, not being fair. After all, from God’s perspective, the person who is redeemed at the last minute is still that, lest they boast. I don’t see parallels to this in the POTUS actions.
Explaining these stories requires a much deeper understanding of the concept of redemption vs. the simpler concept of justice. Jesus was emphasizing the end state that restores the person and the situation to harmony in the eyes of God. Jews refer to this state in their word shalom and the act of getting to it in the word chesed … which translates to unmerited favor. That is, the person doesn’t deserve it. This is not about fairness. The best illustration of these Jewish ideas is in Micah 6:8 answering the question of what the Lord expects of us: “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
But, Joel, the word justly is right there in plain sight, and it is not justly correct to pay the laborer who only worked that one hour the same! Let’s take a closer look at the word justly.
In Micah 6:8, the Hebrew word for just is mishpat. Tim Keller from Uncuffed says “mishpat’s most basic meaning is to treat people equitably. It means acquitting or punishing every person on the merits of the case, regardless of race or social status. Anyone who does the same wrong should be given the same penalty. But it means more than just the punishment of wrongdoing. It also means giving people their rights. Mishpat is giving people what they are due, whether punishment or protection or care. So, this term is to put the actions alongside the concept of mercy, obviously implying God is the final judge of the outcome.
We can clearly see the injustice in America’s past with native Americans, blacks, Jews and others. We repeatedly state this is the land where everyone has the same inalienable rights: The right to enjoy and defend one’s life and liberties, the right to acquire, possess, and protect property, the right to seek one’s safety, health, and happiness in lawful ways.
The details are important: We have freedom of speech, to worship or not, the right to travel anywhere in our borders, the right to self-defense, and the right to privacy.
Inalienable rights are different from legal rights, which can be removed by the government under certain circumstances, most notably the offense of crimes against another citizen. Yet here we deal with the concept of mercy and the pardoning of criminals by a president. The pardon by President Biden is illegal and unfair. It sets a precedent that will haunt us all for decades if it is allowed to persist.
Will any religious leaders weigh in here? Will the politicians use this as an excuse to use the pardon for almost everything they want to hide in the future? How is that justice and mercy for the average American?
It makes me wonder … no it doesn’t really. The phrase that now comes to my mind is “I smell gas!” You eggheads already know the rotten egg smell in natural gas is added intentionally by gas companies to allow people to easily detect gas leaks, as natural gas itself is odorless. Otherwise their homes and businesses would blow up.
So, by analogy, gaslighting is getting pretty stinky. That stink should be a warning we are in real danger. It is rotten eggs for sure.