Love and justice: Opposed or complementary?

Abstract

This article was prompted by two incidents; one domestic, the other, political. The domestic one was the concern resulting from diametrically opposing views on "fairness", implicit in the motives underlying behaviours expressed simultaneously by a child and his mother. The political event was the worldwide, diverse reactions that supporters and opponents exhibited in the aftermath of the execution of Iraq's former president, the late Saddam Hussein. These incidents moved the writer to strive to examine his worldview of love and justice vis a vis God's display of love toward humankind, beginning from Old Testament times, to date. The complexity of the words "love" and "justice" which we use so freely in our day-to-day conversations, is evident. The human virtues, love and justice, appear to represent two sides of a coin; one without the other makes life incomplete. However, it is shown in this article that sometimes love and justice are complementary and at other times, they are not. Justice is more important in organisational matters whereas love operates best in personal relations. Having said this, it is also very evident that in certain unique situations, justice appears to be the tough side of love. In this essay, the writer begins by exploring the meaning of love, followed by a discussion of what justice is. Next, he discusses possible ways in which the two virtues complement or oppose each other. The writer ends by demonstrating that a definite relationship exists between the two virtues; love and justice do indeed represent the two sides of the same coin.