You’ve seen the horror films, or read the horror stories, wherein someone finds a way to measure criminal intent directly. It is as if there is some activity in the human mind which can be read from the outside, correlated with known patterns of bad guys.
God’s Laws say that’s none of your business.
The assumptions behind the Law Covenants is not what you might surmise a person is likely to do, but what they do. Yes, we know mystically hearts are evil, but if you ever for moment forget you are fallen, too, you will have crossed the line into blasphemy. Because your heart is also given to evil, you cannot possibly prosecute based on what you might know beyond all doubt an evil man wants. As long as he manages to restrain himself, he has successfully wrestled with his demons.
You see an image. An adult man picks up a young girl, tickles her and then even bites her playfully, making her squeal with laughter. Or maybe she screams and cries. Child molester? Father figure? Both? Don’t pretend you know, because what you might think you see is merely the reflection of your own evil heart.
Do you know how to fake a personality inventory? I do. It’s easy, because I learned to write them myself, and I’m not all that brilliant. What I do know is the major element of our Western Civilization is utterly broken, hopelessly sold out to Satan because it assumes to know and quantify some legal fiction called “intent.” The Laws of God do distinguish between intentional and accidental crimes. It also recognizes your best efforts are still guesswork. Furthermore, the sentence is limited to actual harm, and on top of that, mercy. There has to be some real proof this person intends to do this, or does not take sufficient care to prevent accidents, before you impose a heavy sentence.
Our justice system, as it currently operates, is shot full of arrogant state officers institutionally incapable of admitting error. That itself is a fundamental insult to God.
Do you know why Lex Talionis is so important in ANE cultures and in the Bible? To prevent revenge. If all you can take from someone is what they took from their victims, at least symbolically, then it prevents overzealous prosecution. Boy, do we have a problem with overzealous prosecutions! When their employment rests on fickle popularity, they will always cultivate an image of being tough, not fair. And in pursuit of that, I know of not a single one who would be unwilling to play games with the facts to hide the truth, if it would make them look good.
We have cultivated a fearful society. Fearful people, as a whole, have always in history been the worst of societies, always unconscionably unjust and dangerous. We refuse to trust in God’s justice, so we pretend to be God in taking extreme measures. This is not a just society. God says so.
