' and justice for all'

I don't know how the newspaper reporter managed to put the words on paper. This was more than two decades ago, if not three, but the story continues to haunt me, as I'm sure it does that reporter and anyone else who read the story. I can barely stand to retell even a portion of it here.

It involved the death of a 2-year-old girl, at the hands of her parents, who, upon discovering that she had wet the bed in the Denver motel room where they were staying, took turns beating her. Even after all these years, I can almost recall, verbatim, one phrase in particular.

"When one or the other got tired of beating the little girl with the belt, they would send her across the room to the other parent, who would take up where the other had left off."

The girl, guilty of the heinous crime of wetting the bed, eventually died from the injuries inflicted in the name of discipline.

Who will avenge her? Can imprisonment, even life in prison, answer for the crime?

Not too many years ago, the body of Dave Moreau was discovered on a summer lush, green lawn in McCook, shortly after daybreak July 18, 2004. Initially treated as an accidental death, the coroner discovered that he had, in fact, been murdered -- cause of death, blunt force trauma.

His blood continues to cry out for vengeance.

So long ago hardly anyone can remember the details, two young boys were assaulted by a grown man. When their parents were made aware of the crimes against them, they chose not to reveal the man's identity -- nor his sexual proclivity for young boys -- to the authorities, leaving both boys to "work through" the assaults, and all that entailed, on their own.

Are they to be denied justice? Are they to be denied vindication?

Justice. We hunger for it. And we will not be denied. Our entire judicial system is predicated on the idea that justice can be served, that justice must be served, that justice can be fairly meted out.

How are we doing so far? Apparently, not all that well. The aforementioned unsolved murder provides only one example. Also, there are too many headlines about the wrongfully imprisoned being released based on new evidence to have much confidence that when someone is convicted, it's the right person. For more victims, for the Dave Moreaus of this world, for the young boys and little girls who have no one to advocate for them against powerful adults, there must be another answer.

Recent headlines show that some have taken matters into their own hands, even if innocents are among the casualties.

One man, besieged by IRS troubles, decides to exact his own "pound of flesh" while offering that federal agency theirs by flying his airplane into an IRS office complex.

More recently, a young man walked up to the Pentagon, guns blazing.

And just this week, a "disgruntled employee" took it upon himself to protest a less-than-favorable employee evaluation by shooting two of his co-workers, killing one and wounding the other before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide.

Each was seeking retribution or their own twisted version of justice in a murderous rage, sacrificing themselves in the process. This isn't the answer, though I fear others will follow suit.

I recently learned about a program in its second season on MTV that seems to be all about retribution. Called "Bully Beatdown" the premise of the reality show is simple. Bullies are confronted and offered the chance to go one-on-one against a mixed martial artist. Part of the incentive for the bully and of some possible consolation to the bullied, $10,000 in prize money is in the offing. The bully forfeits his potential winnings in $1,000 increments to his victim if he is bested by the MMA.

Sounds like a little old-fashioned payback to me, albeit a bit over the top, with much macho posturing and obvious stage-setting, reality show status notwithstanding. And is true justice really served, even with a healthy portion of shame on the side?

Justice. It is part and parcel of the American promise. It's even part of our Pledge of Allegiance. But is it attainable?

This question is perhaps more troubling than any other that runs through my head when considering the sacrifices atheists are called to make in order to embrace their disbelief. What about justice?

So far, I've received no satisfactory answer. True justice, it seems, is beyond human capacity. We are fearful. We are cruel. We are prejudiced. We are judgmental without discernment. We are emotional. We are victims. We are perpetrators. We are broken.

Can the guilty rightly judge the guilty? Can the broken repair the one who breaks? The question "why?" is valid. The answers, at best, elusive. Where can we go? Where can we find true justice?

Who can determine the motive, the heart, the source of the wounds of those who wound? Who can wed justice with mercy and satisfy the righteous call for justice while still satisfying the righteous cry for mercy?

Only God. Because only God sees the heart of every man. Only God knows the particular assaults each man has endured and the toll taken. Only God knows the blessings each man has received and his heart's response. Only God can test the motives behind each decision, each action. As hard as man tries, and rightly yearns to administer justice and to mete it out, it is all too often far beyond us, especially in these days when the absolutes are relegated to the place of "pretty good suggestions;" where truth has been replaced by the as-yet-to-be defined phrase "truthiness" of this age.

Apart from God there can be no true justice. And of all that is sacrificed when God is rejected -- forgiveness, eternal life, peace, purpose that outlives us -- certainly justice is among the most precious.

"The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress." Job 37:23 (NIV)