For so long as evangelicalism has existed, American Christians have been divided over how you can greatest method problems with public coverage. Whereas abortion has been one thing giant numbers of conservative Christians have agreed upon, different points have been tougher to construct consensus round. Areas of coverage like immigration, crime, and the surroundings proceed to divide well-meaning Christians with totally different concepts about how you can obtain advanced targets.
One among these multifaceted areas of coverage is the prison justice system. America is house to the world’s largest inhabitants of incarcerated individuals. At simply 4 % of the world’s inhabitants, our nation homes sixteen % of the world’s incarcerated people. Not solely does America imprison a unprecedented quantity of individuals, the success of our system in dishing out justice has drawn criticism for its failures. Regardless of the issues, safety issues stay a priority for Christians and prison justice reform is notoriously troublesome to implement.
What Is Justice in an Unattainable State of affairs?
It’s in opposition to this backdrop that the Netflix documentary The Menendez Brothers has been launched. Filmmaker Alejandro Hartmann brings viewers again to 1989 when the brothers, Lyle and Erik, have been accused of murdering their rich mother and father of their Beverly Hills house. On August twentieth of that 12 months, the 2 brothers entered the lounge the place Jose and Kitty Menendez have been watching tv, and fired a number of shotgun rounds into the defenseless mother and father. Regardless of the gory particulars of the homicide and the investigation, The Menendez Brothers supplies believers with a possibility to suppose deeply about elementary questions related to justice. Many of those questions—such because the State’s function in punishment and the character of redemption—are difficult. Finally, nevertheless, these questions defy the simplistic black-and-white views evangelicals usually gravitate in the direction of.
Whereas the general public mocked the brothers’ claims of sexual assault throughout the trial, at this time that abuse is taken critically.
The story instructed within the documentary is actually the story of Lyle and Erik Menendez. Whereas it’s undisputed that the brothers killed their mother and father, the film investigates the story behind the murders. Though the prosecution painted the brothers as entitled wealthy youngsters stressed to get their arms on their mother and father’ substantial fortune, the reality specified by the documentary is extra advanced.
Maybe probably the most memorable a part of the documentary is the story the protection workforce introduced at trial. The account, argued by nineties’ powerhouse legal professional Leslie Abramson, was of a brutal father and two severely abused younger males. The protection introduced the story of a rich and highly effective Cuban immigrant, Jose Menendez, who ruthlessly abused his kids bodily and sexually. In tales instructed throughout the trial and backed up with new proof from different younger males, Jose Menendez is described as a monster who repeatedly assaulted his kids and others. Within the case of the youthful brother, Erik Menendez, the abuse solely stopped with the demise of his father. Based on the testimony of the brothers, the homicide was a tragic finish to an unattainable state of affairs.
The Christian Narrative and Human Brokenness
The general public response to the documentary has been enthusiastic. Premiering on October seventh, over twenty-two million viewers watched the movie in its first six days. The movie is effectively carried out and paints a sympathetic image of the 2 brothers. Whereas the trial’s prosecutor Pamela Bozanich comes off as dismissive in the direction of the brothers’ claims in featured interviews, relations and others concerned within the trial paint a much less simple and simplistic story. In some ways, the movie serves as a reminder of how far we’ve come previously thirty years. Whereas the general public mocked the brothers’ claims of sexual assault throughout the trial, at this time that abuse is taken critically. In 2024 America, we all know that one in six younger males is sexually abused throughout their childhood and the ramifications are well-documented.
A part of taking this movie critically means we should stability this sympathy with the biblical theme of retribution.
It’s onerous to observe the movie and never really feel as if the brothers have been failed by the system. Whereas their preliminary trial led to a hung jury, the retrial severely restricted the protection in not permitting them to make use of a “battered girls’s” protection. Based on the decide, males can’t use this protection as a result of they couldn’t probably undergo the identical emotional penalties as abused girls. Whereas Christians who watch this movie might be inspired by the progress our society has made in caring for abused individuals, the documentary poses sure questions we should wrestle with.
The Menendez Brothers does a beautiful job at exposing the issues with society and the justice system within the early Nineties. The truth that few individuals have been keen to imagine what these younger males went by is shameful. For Christians, nevertheless, a part of taking this movie critically means we should stability this sympathy with the biblical theme of retribution. The Scriptures make it clear that the federal government has been given the accountability of wielding the sword in pursuit of justice (Romans 13:1-7). Moreover, the Previous Testomony establishes a precept of proportionality in punishing sin. In different phrases, the Previous Testomony regulation permits for capital punishment in instances of homicide (Exod. 21:23-25; Deut. 17:6). Biblical justice is actually not a mandate to be delicate on crime.
Maybe much more importantly, the Bible calls for that sinners take accountability for his or her actions. Within the guide of James, we’re instructed that “every individual is tempted when he’s lured and enticed by his personal need. Then need, when it has conceived, provides delivery to sin” (James 1:14-15). The Bible is evident: we’re answerable for the sins we commit. Christians should not have the choice of pointing the finger at another person’s sin as an excuse. Whereas that is true, the Bible can also be clear that conditions can turn into morally difficult when a number of wrongs are dedicated.
In Matthew 18:6, Jesus makes an vital assertion that’s important in understanding the Menendez Brothers. On this portion of Scripture, Jesus is educating his disciples what the Kingdom of God seems to be like. In doing so, Jesus calls just a little little one over to himself and says this: “[W]hoever causes one among these little ones who imagine in me to sin, it will be higher for him to have an ideal millstone mounted round his neck and be drowned within the depths of the ocean.”
The purpose Jesus is making is highly effective. For many who maintain affect, it’s a nice sin to make use of that energy to use or harm a weaker particular person. Within the case of Erik and Lyle, their father used his energy to inflict deep psychological and bodily hurt on his boys. Though this doesn’t excuse homicide, it ought to actually be thought-about when pondering by what justice calls for. Grappling with each accountability and exploitation within the pursuit of justice is one thing I hope many Christians will do within the context of this movie.
Is Simplicity the Enemy of Reality?
Morally difficult questions are nothing new to humanity. I’ve all the time discovered the story of Tamar within the Bible difficult. In Genesis 38, the widow Tamar deceives her father-in-law into sleeping together with her when he fails to supply her with an inheritor (a brand new husband) who will give her offspring. Regardless of the deceit and sexual immorality, the story ends with Tamar because the the sufferer who took again her rights from a dismissive father-in-law. Whereas the Bible is crystal clear about sin, this story supplies one thing that American Christians usually fail to think about. In a world marred by sin, typically justice doesn’t look the best way we hope. Oftentimes, simplicity is the enemy of a extra strong view of fact.
Taken within the context of the traditional world, Tamar’s actions turn into extra comprehensible. A girl and not using a husband was at nice threat, and a girl with out an inheritor confronted many social pressures. At first, relations watched over their aged family, and and not using a little one there can be nobody to supply for her. Secondly, her first husband’s identify and land can be misplaced with out an inheritor. Whereas the offense Tamar commits is much less grotesque than the Menendez brothers’, the purpose stays: context is essential when evaluating justice.
Complexity and Grace
My hope for Christians who watch this documentary is two-fold. As a result of I’m somebody who sees our prison justice reform as an space of alternative for Christians, I hope this case will transfer some believers to combat for change. Whereas I don’t have all of the solutions, it appears that evidently the shortage of a very good protection for many offenders is morally problematic. Whereas this wasn’t the case for the Menendez brothers, the movie does present an image of the system’s issues. On the time, the District Legal professional in Los Angeles was determined for a win and large stress was placed on the prosecutor to get a responsible verdict.
Though that is vital, the variety of folks that might be moved to work for reform will almost definitely be restricted. Whereas Christians have contributed in helpful methods to conversations concerning the demise penalty, issues with the best way crimes are prosecuted, and the state of juvenile justice in America, this motion has not but turn into as widespread as different types of Christian social advocacy. Way more Christians at this time put their sources in the direction of the pro-life motion than in the direction of prison justice causes.
By treating individuals as layered and many-sided people with usually painful tales, we’re higher in a position to talk the grace supplied on the cross.
Maybe much more than my hope for Christians to be concerned in prison justice reform, I’m optimistic that movies like this may also help believers develop a extra holistic public witness. Too usually, conservative Christians have uncared for the plight of the oppressed. The Kingdom of God has been and can all the time be excellent news for the susceptible. This contains these mistreated by our justice system, nevertheless it additionally contains those that are susceptible in each space of human life. I concern that too usually we’re unwilling to enter into the complexities of individuals’s tales.
This willingness is vital for our witness. When Jesus was on Earth, he was unafraid to enter into the lives of morally difficult individuals. For Simon the Zealot, a political terrorist, Jesus supplied redemption. For Matthew the tax collector, Jesus supplied a manner into a greater group. In Mary Magdalen, Jesus noticed a sinner worthy of affection. Jesus refused to scale back individuals to one-dimensional characters; we might do effectively to mimic him on this. By treating individuals as layered and many-sided people with usually painful tales, we’re higher in a position to talk the grace supplied on the cross.
I’m undecided if the Menendez brothers ought to be let loose of jail. The crime they dedicated was brutal and their actions after the crime appear complicated for even probably the most cold-blooded criminals. Whereas that is true, this movie at the least acknowledges that there’s extra to their story. The worth of this documentary is that it opens as much as the viewer a possibility to see these brothers as one thing extra advanced and worthy of compassion.
Watch this movie, and you could effectively stroll away with a larger understanding of human expertise, and turn into extra keen to think about what grace seems to be like in even probably the most troublesome circumstances.
