For so long as evangelicalism has existed, American Christians have been divided over how one can greatest method problems with public coverage. Whereas abortion has been one thing giant numbers of conservative Christians have agreed upon, different points have been tougher to construct consensus round. Areas of coverage like immigration, crime, and the surroundings proceed to divide well-meaning Christians with totally different concepts about how one can obtain complicated targets.
One in every of these multifaceted areas of coverage is the legal justice system. The US is residence to the world’s largest inhabitants of incarcerated folks. At simply 4 % of the world’s inhabitants, our nation homes sixteen % of the world’s incarcerated people. Not solely does America imprison a rare quantity of individuals, the success of our system in allotting justice has drawn criticism for its failures. Regardless of the issues, safety issues stay a priority for Christians and legal justice reform is notoriously tough to implement.
What Is Justice in an Unattainable Scenario?
It’s towards this backdrop that the Netflix documentary The Menendez Brothers has been launched. Filmmaker Alejandro Hartmann brings viewers again to 1989 when the brothers, Lyle and Erik, had been accused of murdering their rich dad and mom of their Beverly Hills residence. On August twentieth of that 12 months, the 2 brothers entered the lounge the place Jose and Kitty Menendez had been watching tv, and fired a number of shotgun rounds into the defenseless dad and mom. Regardless of the gory particulars of the homicide and the investigation, The Menendez Brothers offers believers with a possibility to suppose deeply about basic questions related to justice. Many of those questions—such because the State’s position in punishment and the character of redemption—are difficult. In the end, nevertheless, these questions defy the simplistic black-and-white views evangelicals usually gravitate in direction of.
Whereas the general public mocked the brothers’ claims of sexual assault through the trial, as we speak that abuse is taken significantly.
The story informed within the documentary is actually the story of Lyle and Erik Menendez. Whereas it’s undisputed that the brothers killed their dad and mom, the film investigates the story behind the murders. Though the prosecution painted the brothers as entitled wealthy children stressed to get their palms on their dad and mom’ substantial fortune, the reality specified by the documentary is extra complicated.
Maybe probably the most memorable a part of the documentary is the story the protection staff offered at trial. The account, argued by nineties’ powerhouse lawyer Leslie Abramson, was of a brutal father and two severely abused younger males. The protection offered the story of a rich and highly effective Cuban immigrant, Jose Menendez, who ruthlessly abused his kids bodily and sexually. In tales informed through the trial and backed up with new proof from different younger males, Jose Menendez is described as a monster who repeatedly assaulted his kids and others. Within the case of the youthful brother, Erik Menendez, the abuse solely stopped with the loss of life of his father. In line with the testimony of the brothers, the homicide was a tragic finish to an not possible state of affairs.
The Christian Narrative and Human Brokenness
The general public response to the documentary has been enthusiastic. Premiering on October seventh, over twenty-two million viewers watched the movie in its first six days. The movie is properly executed and paints a sympathetic image of the 2 brothers. Whereas the trial’s prosecutor Pamela Bozanich comes off as dismissive in direction of the brothers’ claims in featured interviews, relations and others concerned within the trial paint a much less simple and simplistic story. In some ways, the movie serves as a reminder of how far we now have come previously thirty years. Whereas the general public mocked the brothers’ claims of sexual assault through the trial, as we speak that abuse is taken significantly. In 2024 America, we all know that one in six younger males is sexually abused throughout their childhood and the ramifications are well-documented.
A part of taking this movie significantly means we should steadiness this sympathy with the biblical theme of retribution.
It’s onerous to look at the movie and never really feel as if the brothers had been failed by the system. Whereas their preliminary trial resulted in a hung jury, the retrial severely restricted the protection in not permitting them to make use of a “battered girls’s” protection. In line with the choose, males can’t use this protection as a result of they couldn’t presumably endure the identical emotional penalties as abused girls. Whereas Christians who watch this movie will probably be inspired by the progress our society has made in caring for abused folks, the documentary poses sure questions we should wrestle with.
The Menendez Brothers does an exquisite job at exposing the issues with society and the justice system within the early Nineteen Nineties. The truth that few folks had been prepared to imagine what these younger males went by way of is shameful. For Christians, nevertheless, a part of taking this movie significantly means we should steadiness this sympathy with the biblical theme of retribution. The Scriptures make it clear that the federal government has been given the accountability of wielding the sword in pursuit of justice (Romans 13:1-7). Moreover, the Outdated Testomony establishes a precept of proportionality in punishing sin. In different phrases, the Outdated Testomony legislation permits for capital punishment in instances of homicide (Exod. 21:23-25; Deut. 17:6). Biblical justice is actually not a mandate to be smooth on crime.
Maybe much more importantly, the Bible calls for that sinners take accountability for his or her actions. Within the ebook of James, we’re informed that “every particular person is tempted when he’s lured and enticed by his personal need. Then need, when it has conceived, offers delivery to sin” (James 1:14-15). The Bible is obvious: we’re chargeable for the sins we commit. Christians should not have the choice of pointing the finger at another person’s sin as an excuse. Whereas that is true, the Bible can also be clear that conditions can develop into morally sophisticated when a number of wrongs are dedicated.
In Matthew 18:6, Jesus makes an necessary assertion that’s important in understanding the Menendez Brothers. On this portion of Scripture, Jesus is educating his disciples what the Kingdom of God seems to be like. In doing so, Jesus calls somewhat baby over to himself and says this: “[W]hoever causes considered one of these little ones who imagine in me to sin, it might be higher for him to have an ideal millstone fixed round his neck and be drowned within the depths of the ocean.”
The purpose Jesus is making is highly effective. For many who maintain affect, it’s a nice sin to make use of that energy to take advantage of or harm a weaker particular person. Within the case of Erik and Lyle, their father used his energy to inflict deep psychological and bodily hurt on his boys. Though this doesn’t excuse homicide, it ought to actually be thought-about when considering by way of what justice calls for. Grappling with each accountability and exploitation within the pursuit of justice is one thing I hope many Christians will do within the context of this movie.
Is Simplicity the Enemy of Fact?
Morally sophisticated questions are nothing new to humanity. I’ve all the time discovered the story of Tamar within the Bible difficult. In Genesis 38, the widow Tamar deceives her father-in-law into sleeping together with her when he fails to offer her with an inheritor (a brand new husband) who will give her offspring. Regardless of the deceit and sexual immorality, the story ends with Tamar because the the sufferer who took again her rights from a dismissive father-in-law. Whereas the Bible is crystal clear about sin, this story offers one thing that American Christians usually fail to think about. In a world marred by sin, typically justice doesn’t look the best way we hope. Oftentimes, simplicity is the enemy of a extra strong view of fact.
Taken within the context of the traditional world, Tamar’s actions develop into extra comprehensible. A girl with out a husband was at nice threat, and a girl with out an inheritor confronted many social pressures. At the beginning, relations watched over their aged family members, and with out a baby there could be nobody to offer for her. Secondly, her first husband’s identify and land could be misplaced with out an inheritor. Whereas the offense Tamar commits is much less ugly than the Menendez brothers’, the purpose stays: context is essential when evaluating justice.
Complexity and Grace
My hope for Christians who watch this documentary is two-fold. As a result of I’m somebody who sees our legal justice reform as an space of alternative for Christians, I hope this case will transfer some believers to struggle for change. Whereas I don’t have all of the solutions, plainly the dearth of a great protection for many offenders is morally problematic. Whereas this wasn’t the case for the Menendez brothers, the movie does present an image of the system’s issues. On the time, the District Legal professional in Los Angeles was determined for a win and super strain was placed on the prosecutor to get a responsible verdict.
Though that is necessary, the variety of those that will probably be moved to work for reform will more than likely be restricted. Whereas Christians have contributed in helpful methods to conversations concerning the loss of life penalty, issues with the best way crimes are prosecuted, and the state of juvenile justice in America, this motion has not but develop into as widespread as different types of Christian social advocacy. Way more Christians as we speak put their assets in direction of the pro-life motion than in direction of legal justice causes.
By treating folks as layered and many-sided people with usually painful tales, we’re higher in a position to talk the grace provided on the cross.
Maybe much more than my hope for Christians to be concerned in legal justice reform, I’m optimistic that movies like this may help believers develop a extra holistic public witness. Too usually, conservative Christians have uncared for the plight of the oppressed. The Kingdom of God has been and can all the time be excellent news for the susceptible. This contains these mistreated by our justice system, however it additionally contains those that are susceptible in each space of human life. I worry that too usually we’re unwilling to enter into the complexities of individuals’s tales.
This willingness is necessary for our witness. When Jesus was on Earth, he was unafraid to enter into the lives of morally sophisticated folks. For Simon the Zealot, a political terrorist, Jesus provided redemption. For Matthew the tax collector, Jesus provided a means into a greater group. In Mary Magdalen, Jesus noticed a sinner worthy of affection. Jesus refused to cut back folks to one-dimensional characters; we’d do properly to mimic him on this. By treating folks as layered and many-sided people with usually painful tales, we’re higher in a position to talk the grace provided on the cross.
I’m undecided if the Menendez brothers needs to be let loose of jail. The crime they dedicated was brutal and their actions after the crime appear complicated for even probably the most cold-blooded criminals. Whereas that is true, this movie a minimum of acknowledges that there’s extra to their story. The worth of this documentary is that it opens as much as the viewer a possibility to see these brothers as one thing extra complicated and worthy of compassion.
Watch this movie, and you could properly stroll away with a larger understanding of human expertise, and develop into extra prepared to think about what grace seems to be like in even probably the most tough circumstances.
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