For so long as evangelicalism has existed, American Christians have been divided over find out how to finest method problems with public coverage. Whereas abortion has been one thing giant numbers of conservative Christians have agreed upon, different points have been harder to construct consensus round. Areas of coverage like immigration, crime, and the surroundings proceed to divide well-meaning Christians with completely different concepts about find out how to obtain complicated targets.
Certainly one of these multifaceted areas of coverage is the felony justice system. America is residence to the world’s largest inhabitants of incarcerated folks. At simply 4 p.c of the world’s inhabitants, our nation homes sixteen p.c of the world’s incarcerated people. Not solely does America imprison a rare quantity of individuals, the success of our system in shelling out justice has drawn criticism for its failures. Regardless of the issues, issues of safety stay a priority for Christians and felony justice reform is notoriously troublesome to implement.
What Is Justice in an Unattainable Scenario?
It’s towards 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, had been accused of murdering their rich mother and father of their Beverly Hills residence. On August twentieth of that yr, the 2 brothers entered the lounge the place Jose and Kitty Menendez had 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 gives believers with a chance 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. In the end, nonetheless, these questions defy the simplistic black-and-white views evangelicals usually gravitate in direction of.
Whereas the general public mocked the brothers’ claims of sexual assault through the trial, immediately that abuse is taken severely.
The story advised 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 fingers on their mother and father’ substantial fortune, the reality specified by the documentary is extra complicated.
Maybe essentially the most memorable a part of the documentary is the story the protection workforce introduced at trial. The account, argued by nineties’ powerhouse lawyer 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 advised through 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. In line with the testimony of the brothers, the homicide was a tragic finish to an unimaginable 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 nicely finished and paints a sympathetic image of the 2 brothers. Whereas the trial’s prosecutor Pamela Bozanich comes off as dismissive in direction of the brothers’ claims in featured interviews, members of the family and others concerned within the trial paint a much less easy and simplistic story. In some ways, the movie serves as a reminder of how far we have now come up to now thirty years. Whereas the general public mocked the brothers’ claims of sexual assault through the trial, immediately that abuse is taken severely. 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 severely means we should stability this sympathy with the biblical theme of retribution.
It’s laborious to look at the movie and never really feel as if the brothers had been failed by the system. Whereas their preliminary trial resulted in a hung jury, the retrial severely restricted the protection in not permitting them to make use of a “battered ladies’s” protection. In line with the decide, males can’t use this protection as a result of they couldn’t presumably undergo the identical emotional penalties as abused ladies. Whereas Christians who watch this movie will probably be inspired by the progress our society has made in caring for abused folks, 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 folks had been prepared to imagine what these younger males went by way of is shameful. For Christians, nonetheless, a part of taking this movie severely 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 duty of wielding the sword in pursuit of justice (Romans 13:1-7). Moreover, the Outdated Testomony establishes a precept of proportionality in punishing sin. In different phrases, the Outdated Testomony legislation permits for capital punishment in circumstances of homicide (Exod. 21:23-25; Deut. 17:6). Biblical justice is definitely not a mandate to be smooth on crime.
Maybe much more importantly, the Bible calls for that sinners take duty for his or her actions. Within the e-book of James, we’re advised that “every individual is tempted when he’s lured and enticed by his personal want. Then want, when it has conceived, provides beginning to sin” (James 1:14-15). The Bible is obvious: we’re liable for the sins we commit. Christians shouldn’t have the choice of pointing the finger at another person’s sin as an excuse. Whereas that is true, the Bible can be clear that conditions can change into morally difficult when a number of wrongs are dedicated.
In Matthew 18:6, Jesus makes an essential assertion that’s important in understanding the Menendez Brothers. On this portion of Scripture, Jesus is instructing his disciples what the Kingdom of God appears to be like like. In doing so, Jesus calls a little bit youngster over to himself and says this: “[W]hoever causes certainly one of these little ones who imagine in me to sin, it could be higher for him to have an amazing 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 take advantage of 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 definitely be thought of when considering by way of what justice calls for. Grappling with each duty 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 Fact?
Morally difficult questions are nothing new to humanity. I’ve at all times 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 offer 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 gives 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 reality.
Taken within the context of the traditional world, Tamar’s actions change into extra comprehensible. A lady with out a husband was at nice threat, and a girl with out an inheritor confronted many social pressures. In the beginning, members of the family watched over their aged relations, and with out a youngster there could be nobody to offer for her. Secondly, her first husband’s title and land could 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 felony justice reform as an space of alternative for Christians, I hope this case will transfer some believers to struggle for change. Whereas I don’t have all of the solutions, evidently the dearth 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 Lawyer in Los Angeles was determined for a win and super stress was placed on the prosecutor to get a responsible verdict.
Though that is essential, the variety of those that will probably be moved to work for reform will most certainly be restricted. Whereas Christians have contributed in useful methods to conversations in regards to the demise penalty, issues with the best way crimes are prosecuted, and the state of juvenile justice in America, this motion has not but change into as widespread as different types of Christian social advocacy. Way more Christians immediately put their sources in direction of the pro-life motion than in direction of felony justice causes.
By treating folks as layered and many-sided people with usually painful tales, we’re higher capable of talk the grace provided on the cross.
Maybe much more than my hope for Christians to be concerned in felony justice reform, I’m optimistic that movies like this might 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 at all times be excellent news for the susceptible. This consists of these mistreated by our justice system, however it additionally consists of those that are susceptible in each space of human life. I worry that too usually we’re unwilling to enter into the complexities of individuals’s tales.
This willingness is essential for our witness. When Jesus was on Earth, he was unafraid to enter into the lives of morally difficult folks. For Simon the Zealot, a political terrorist, Jesus provided redemption. For Matthew the tax collector, Jesus provided a approach into a greater group. In Mary Magdalen, Jesus noticed a sinner worthy of affection. Jesus refused to cut back folks to one-dimensional characters; we’d do nicely to mimic him on this. By treating folks as layered and many-sided people with usually painful tales, we’re higher capable of talk the grace provided on the cross.
I’m unsure if the Menendez brothers must be set free of jail. The crime they dedicated was brutal and their actions after the crime appear complicated for even essentially the most cold-blooded criminals. Whereas that is true, this movie no less than acknowledges that there’s extra to their story. The worth of this documentary is that it opens as much as the viewer a chance to see these brothers as one thing extra complicated and worthy of compassion.
Watch this movie, and it’s possible you’ll nicely stroll away with a better understanding of human expertise, and change into extra prepared to think about what grace appears to be like like in even essentially the most troublesome circumstances.
