Topsy Turvy World

How Justice Suffers When the Standard for Truth is Rejected

The state of California has recently meted out some rather eyebrow-raising notions of justice, as mandates, guidelines, and prosecutorial priorities from various lawmakers of the Golden State have generated headlines of peculiar interest. From the criminal prosecution of Catholic journalists and Christian ministers to the decriminalization of pedophilic sex and looting, California stands as the ultimate poster child of a topsy turvy world of legal and judicial moral decay.

In the hallowed name of justice, of facilitating equal rights for members of the LGBTQ+ community, the California house and senate passed SB 145 this past week. Current law criminalizes homosexual sex acts between an adult and minor, mandating that the adult offender registers as a sex offender. Under the new law, if the age difference between the adult and child is less than ten years, then a judge has some flexibility as to whether the adult player must register.

Senator Scott Weiner introduced the bill because he deemed it unfair that if a theoretical 24-year old man engages in heterosexual sex with a 14-year old girl, the law does not mandate he register automatically as a sex offender. By contrast if this same 24-year old man engaged in homosexual acts with a 14-year old boy, he would. Critics of the Weiner bill argue that rather than amending existing law to include heterosexual intercourse with a minor as an act requiring mandatory sex offender registration, the bill treats all sex acts equally by providing language enabling offenders to evade such registration under a sympathetic judge. In effect then, rather than raising the bar to protect minors, the bar is lowered to protect the predators. Topsy turvy to say the least.

Sexual predators then, can all breathe a sigh of relief that California lawmakers are looking out to guarantee its citizens equal treatment under the law by redefining conduct that could be unfairly misconstrued as criminal or even immoral.

Sex offenders are not the only ones enjoying new-found protections as looters have similarly found a sympathetic ear in Contra Costa County District Attorney Diane Becton. Becton is seeking to make prosecution of looters–er, protestors who happen to steal–more difficult by requiring prosecutors to consider the looters’ “needs” when weighing criminal charges against them. The new legal rubric compels investigators to determine whether the theft offense was triggered by the state of emergency or merely “occurred contemporaneously to the declared state of emergency.” Additional guidelines require that the investigators ascertain whether the theft was committed for “financial gain” or “personal need.”

Critics of the guidelines decry the fact that the DA is cherry-picking crimes it will prosecute rather than just enforcing the laws as they currently exist. Steve Aiello, president of the Antioch Police Officers Association, called the guidelines reckless, that they “hurt the community, local business and business owners.” Aiello rightfully asks, at what point does the DA’s office advocate for the true victims–those whose businesses were looted and destroyed? If the DA’s office will not support these business-owners by ensuring that restitution is made than who will? Topsy turvy, as the criminal looters enjoy greater advocacy from the County DA than the real victims.

Now lest anyone think that California has descended into total anarchy, rest assured that appeal’s courts and state district attorney’s offices are turning their prosecutorial teeth on what they believe to be the real criminals: Christian pastors who scandalously dare to hold worship services in the midst of shut-down orders and undercover Catholic journalists audaciously exposing Planned Parenthood’s baby-part trafficking scheme.

In defiance of a July 13th order by California Governor Gavin Newsom to churches to stop all indoor services immediately, Pastor John MacArthur continued services, following mask-wearing and social distancing guidelines. MacArthur reasonably argued that “it has never been the prerogative of civil government to order, mollify, forbid, or mandate worship,” as “freedom of worship is a command of God, not a privilege granted by the state.” In the face of his “civil disobedience,” the state is threatening fines, turning off the power to the church, and his arrest. Time will tell us how the state deals with the pernicious threat to public safety that the elder gentleman MacArthur presents.

Another case of legal irony involves Catholic journalist and pro-life activist David Daleidan. His organization, The Center for Medical Progress, released a video in late August featuring sworn deposition testimony from top Planned Parenthood leaders concerning the means by which the Organization advised doctors to perform abortions in order to harvest more usable fetal organs and tissues for the purposes of illegally profiting from their sale for the purposes of medical research. For his organization’s painstaking undercover journalism, Daleidan did not earn a Pulitzer, but rather an indictment, while Planned Parenthood enjoyed a jury award of $870,000 in punitive damages.

In light of Daleidan’s voluminous evidence against Planned Parenthood for the illegal trafficking of fetal body parts for profit, the state of California under the direction of then Attorney General Kamala Harris felt prosecutorial priority should be directed at Daleidan for illegally videotaping conversations he had with Planned Parenthood employees. Harris sued Daleidan by way of an unprecedented application of an eavesdropping law. Topsy turvy, as under Harris, California authorities raided Daleidan’s home, confiscated his property and treated him as a dangerous criminal.

What lesson does the topsy turvy administration of justice by the Golden State have for the rest of the country? When in their arrogance lawmakers, civil servants, elected officials, and leaders turn their backs on the truths found in scripture, when Biblical authority means nothing and people holding power instead allow their own distorted and corrupt minds to inform their notions of justice, the contorted application of justice gives way to a dystopian society where evil is exonerated as “good,” and good is prosecuted as “evil.”

God warns us through the writings of the Jewish prophet Isaiah, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20)! Indeed, we are living in times like Isaiah’s. For the good of our cities, our states, and our country, we all need to pray that the people holding power return to the objective truths found in Scripture for living in a free and equitable civil society.