Show Me the Man and I'll Show You The Crime
As you listen to this podcast today, reflect on how little has changed. As I was reading the accounts of the interrogation of Jesus, it struck me how much we could learn just by going back to our roots for justice, for accusation, for testimony. Think about this. We often drag people (via subpoena) to "testify under oath" in the hopes of setting up a perjury trap. Smear campaigns are more than normal; they are part of the system. Leak something to the media - it doesn't have to be true; it just has to sell or fit the agenda of the offending party. Once it's out there, we convict!
Lavrentiy Beria, the feared head of Stalin's secret police, is reported to have boasted: 'Show me the man and I'll show you the crime.' The phrase captures something more ancient than Soviet terror—it names the mechanics of a verdict in search of a charge, power exercised as judgment, and truth put on trial. We might say, well that's communist Russia, that's not our freedom loving country. REALLY? Have we made any progress in 2000 years since the prosecution of Jesus, or do we just wrap it in newspaper and tie it up with a pink social media bow?
Episode link:
