Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The Anthony Case

It seems like the whole world has weighed in on the Anthony case.

There really cannot be any other way to view it except to say that everyone lost.  Obviously a little girl lost her life.  A mother has lost hers - regardless of how you look at it (whether guilty or innocent).  Even we have lost a little bit of faith in what is right as a result of it all.

The question I keep hearing is how a jury could let someone free after all of the evidence.  And I am sure that news shows and Oprah-esque interviews will have the jurors talking about the room for possible doubt.  But this is where the biggest flaw enters the scene - jurors are supposed to see things 'beyond a REASONABLE doubt.'  Can they really say their decision today was reasonable?

What scares me most is the possibility that people have lost the rigor of applying common sense.  Perhaps the jury knows something we don't and maybe we can't possibly know the weight of the moment . . . but really.  Have we lost the simplicity of what is a REASONABLE doubt?

Now don't mistake this for condemnation.  We are all guilty of something.  You and I are no better just because our sins are not so obvious.  We all have our dark sides - we have just become better at managing them.  

No, I hope that this begins a path of transformation for a tortured individual - isn't that what the Gospel is all about?

But what about the rest of us who have lost an ounce more of faith in humanity's justice system?  

1 comment:

  1. I always like to hear your thoughts on current events. I had some thoughts on this myself and I would be ineterested in your hearing them, it is a Note on Facebook but I keep it open to everyone. You may have to copy - paste the whole link

    http://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/john-wimer/casey-anthony-found-not-guilty-ehhh-maybe-not-so-bad-read-on/10150232314022167

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