Law #4

Equality and justice are both widely used words in the business of law and most specifically, Critical Legal Studies. Critical Legal Studies seeks, in fact, to embrace equality and justice by overturning social norms that do not represent the nation in the way it should be represented. Additionally, CLS lawyers see great flaws in the liberal legal system that is held on a pedestal today, and embrace the theories of postmodernism instead, aiming to deconstruct the law in order to overturn the oppressors and the oppressed. Equality and justice, however similar they may seem, are slightly different in meaning and use. Equality works to create a sense of "equalness" in quality, rank, or degree, while justice focuses more on the judgement of people, and the administration of punishment or reward. In a perfect legal system, justice works to bring equality to the world-this is how these two terms coincide. Critical Legal Studies lawyers believe that they bring equality to the world by breaking down the hierarchy of law, but equality may not always be right in every situation. In regards to homosexual marriage or abortion, we as Christians know that God does not want His people to partake in these things, but Critical Legal Studies lawyers look at these issues, see that homosexuals, for instance, are feeling "oppressed" and seek to change this by bringing equality to marriage. Similarly, CLS lawyers approach justice radically, as they want to turn the tables of law and make sure that the oppressed are no longer in disparaging situations. However, they will often go to extremes to make sure this happens, and although they may try to break hierarchy in law, it ultimately cannot be broken.


As Christians, we have a large responsibility to "do justice," which the Bible speaks adamantly about. We are, in fact, called to not only fear the Lord, but remember that God shows no partiality to any of His people. Therefore, we are equal in His eyes and are all under the wing of God's defense. We are to recognize this and "do justice" by loving those who are not loved, and change not only the way we view other people, but how the rest of the world views them as well. God doesn't look at the homeless man on the street any differently than he does at you or me, and we must ingrain that into our memories if we are to ever successfully "do justice" in the world. Similarly, Jeremiah commands us to carry out justice in this world by doing what we know to be right, to rescue the oppressed, and not waste our lives doing what we know to be wrong. We need to carry out these things in such a way that we set an example for everyone else! Although Jeremiah commands us to rescue the oppressed, we must not confuse this with the Critical Legal Studies' view of deconstructing law. Yes, we must rescue and help the oppressed, but do it in such a way that we help to sooth the cycle of oppression--not by radically changing the legal system that God has put into place for man to carry out. Micah reminds us that we must remember that God has given us the steps to act justly, and in order to carry out His will of "doing justice" we must be mercy givers to others. Furthermore, as James says we must not only help those who can't help themselves, but we must also keep ourselves from being polluted by the world so that we can set an example for others, and stop the terrible cycle of oppression the right way!