Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis described culture as “the sum of the achievements and institutions which differentiate our lives from those of our animal forbears and serve two purposes, namely that of protecting humanity against nature and of regulating the relations of human beings among themselves.” The Judeo-Christian ethic colours every aspect of Western culture, including the basic principles of our social, political and judicial systems. It is the foundation of our lifestyle. Our secular system of justice comes to us from the time of Moses and the Israelites in the desert. Freedom is so vital to our evolution that God Himself taught us by example; by His hand He freed the Israelites from their enslavement to Pharaoh and by extension, freedom of all peoples from all Pharaohs.
It was Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, who said to him, you cannot be the judge for all the people. Moses would be the teacher of the laws and statutes given by God, but dispensing justice required a group of trustworthy and incorruptible group of men. The law would be brought closer to the people by judges of “heads of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens” (Exodus 18:21). These judges would deal with minor cases in law and refer the more serious to Moses. It is the paradigm, today, for country, province and local courts; power shared and not in the hands of only one man.
The Bible is a book of laws which have become the underpinnings of western government and justice. From out of the wilderness a new form of a nation emerged. New laws were decreed to make living together possible. There were laws about the legal rights of women, ownership of land, the waging of war, the design of courts. Leviticus 5:1, one must offer testimony if one has important information; Leviticus 5:21-23, one must return property taken dishonestly; Leviticus 10:8-11, a priest should not enter the sanctuary or render a legal ruling while intoxicated; Leviticus 18:21, the prohibition against sacrificing children; Leviticus 19:10 contains prohibitions against greed-one must leave a portion of one’s harvest for the poor; Leviticus 19:11, the prohibition against stealing.
There are prohibitions against delaying payment to a day-labourer, against judges who may favour the rich over the poor. And then there is the obligation to defend victims of violence as one is not to stand by while another’s blood is shed. There are admonitions against giving false evidence, perjury and requirements for more than one witness to convict someone of a crime. (Deuteronomy 19: 15-16) “If you have resident aliens in your country, you will not molest them. You will treat resident aliens as thought they were native –born and love them as yourself, for you were once aliens in Egypt.”(Leviticus 19:33-4)There are laws about safe building practices (Deuteronomy 22:8). There are laws about business. “You must not keep two different weights in your bag, one heavy, one light. You must not keep two different measures in your house, one large, one small. You must keep one weight full and accurate” (Deuteronomy 25:13-15).
There are laws regarding the care of animals. Animals are not things. They have a soul. They are to be protected. There is a commandment to treat them with kindness. The commandment regarding the Sabbath requires rest for the family, the domestic help and the cattle. And the Bible teaches empathy regarding animals; do not take a mother bird with her young; do not take the chicks in the presence of the mother bird. Imagine the concern ethical monotheism has for humans.
A new nation walked out of the desert and into the promised land and brought with it a new ethic that prioritized justice, peace and the care for the weak and the oppressed, and to protect them from the strong and wealthy. From Jeremiah (9:22-23)
Thus says the Lord:
Let not the lies man glory in his wisdom;
Let not the strong man glory in his strength;
Let not the rich man glory in his riches.
But only in this should one glory:
In his earnest devotion to Me.
For I, the Lord, act with kindness,
Justice , and equity in the world;
For in these I delight-declares the Lord.
