Of Evil, Free will, and Fate (from 'Gollum')

[Kalessin]

Thenamir, I am still unsure about your argument concerning justice as a validation of the state, the executive - or status quo.

You say

... punching a policeman is actually two crimes, first of harming the man, and second, of rebelling against the authority represented by the fact that that person is in uniform. Ergo, punching a policeman is a more serious act than punching a peer.

It follows, therefore, that if the authority being resisted or rejected is greater, then the seriousness and consequences increase in proportion to the level of authority of the entity being resisted or rejected.

The problem I have is that whilst the hierarchy of crime, so to speak, makes sense, it has absolutely nothing to do with justice or morality. For example, an African-American slave that attempted to escape, or resisted enslavement with violence, may indeed have committed a crime against the legislature and office, and even against the will of the majority, over and above any harm to those particular individuals attempting to enslave him. But is this a crime that is invariably punished by the highest of authorities? You have 'render unto Caesar' on the one hand and 'they that are persecuted in My name' on the other.

In the end, surely true justice would be that the act itself is judged (the intention, circumstances etc.) and punished, not that any judgment is based upon the authority of the victim.

You could then argue that, yes, in an ideal world this would be the case - yet still a non-human being such as Eru would have overarching powers to punish any direct challenge to Divine authority. Eru is not bound to accept any human concept (or gesture) of redemption. But if this is the case, the question of first cause again arises.

If a punishment so terrible will inevitably follow a damning judgement, the crime itself must be of awesome magnitude. If this crime was foreknown, and allowed, and either a result of, or an aspect of, a Free Will which is no more than a gift (or act of will) from the original Creator, then Free Will was given with this knowledge ... and, it is certainly possible to argue, with this purpose.

As I said, I am not convinced Tolkien or 2,000 years of theological philosophy provide a satisfactory answer to the conundrum. Unlike the 2,000 years etc., Tolkien was perhaps not attempting to, nor should he bear any responsibility for leaving the question unanswered. That the question is asked, and explored, with such resonance and depth is his contribution.

Peace [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Kalessin