"Only God can create justice"

In a new encyclical, titled Spe Salvi" (in hope), Pope Benedict declares that "[o]nly God can create justice."

Ratzinger is an explorer of ideas, and I imagine that the authoritative position of Pope is uncomfortable for him at times. The encyclical makes fascinating reading even when I disagree with it, and occasionally he hits the nail on the head: "[Marx's] real error is materialism: man, in fact, is not merely the product of economic conditions, and it is not possible to redeem him purely from the outside by creating a favourable economic environment."

But Ratzinger's real error is eschatology. He makes justice something that comes "purely from the outside" -- not just outside man, but outside present reality.

To protest against God in the name of justice is not helpful. A world without God is a world without hope (cf. Eph 2:12). Only God can create justice. And faith gives us the certainty that he does so. The image of the Last Judgement is not primarily an image of terror, but an image of hope; for us it may even be the decisive image of hope.

This is empty assurance. There's no reason to think a deity is providing justice now, but we're supposed to have faith that there is a God who eventually will. But why should we believe this? The only answer he offers is that "faith gives us the certainty."

The worst consequence of his calling on people to await divine justice is that he rejects human justice:

Since [according to atheists] there is no God to create justice, it seems man himself is now called to establish justice. If in the face of this world's suffering, protest against God is understandable, the claim that humanity can and must do what no God actually does or is able to do is both presumptuous and intrinsically false. It is no accident that this idea has led to the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice; rather, it is grounded in the intrinsic falsity of the claim.

Where does this leave us? Is he saying that we should passively withdraw from issues of justice and wait around for the Last Judgment? Or is he calling for theocratic institutions to dispense divine justice? He doesn't give any answer, but veers off in another direction without completing the thought.

In the preamble of the United States Constitution, "we the people" seek to "establish justice," and the Constitution has no reference to a deity. Ratzinger apparently doesn't like such a constitution. What does he offer instead? Only hope in an indefinitely postponed future, to be provided by a deity whose very existence must be accepted on faith.

Henry Hyde

Former Representative Henry Hyde has died. His name weirdly suggests both sides of Stevenson's famous split-personality character, Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde, and he certainly had a mixed record. Still, he should be remembered not just for the ways he diminished liberty, but for taking a courageous stand against the worst excesses of civil forfeiture. In 1995 he wrote Forfeiting Our Property Rights, published by the Cato Institute, on the subject. He didn't oppose it outright, but he said that it should follow a criminal conviction. He wrote:

Currently, as we have seen, it is the property owner, not the government, who is assigned the burden of proof when he sues in an attempt to get his property back. Al the government need do is make an initial showing of probable cause that the property is "guilty." The property owner must then establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the property is "innocent" or otherwise not subject to forfeiture. This probable-cause standard for seizure allows the government to dispossess property owners based only upon hearsay or innuendo -- 'evidence' of insufficient reliability to be admissible in a court of law.

The Times article mentions that he supported an "assault weapons" ban, as well as constitutional amendments to prohibit flag-burning, abortion, and same-sex marriage. But he should also be remembered for his opposition to a lucrative police racket.

See also commentary at Cato.

Harvard Square business stunts

Local blogging just for a change.

As I'm writing this, a half dozen people are standing directly in front of Felipe's, across from my office, handing out flyers for some new place called Juan Pablo's. A stunt like that pretty much assures that Juan Pablo isn't getting any dinero from me.