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We Tend to be Judge, Jury, and Executioner, but We Make Terrible Gods
To be a judge, jury, and executioner means that a person has the authority to determine what happens to another and how it happens. They get to judge; the individual who decides the cases brought to court and how that case will be heard. They get to be a jury, a group of people who choose the verdict of the case. They get to be the executioner, the person who carries out the sentence.
We tend to be judge, jury, and executioner.
It’s the staple of today’s cancel culture. Someone did something. We decided that it was problematic, judge. We then decided that thing was wrong and that person needs to apologize for it, jury. We think their apology isn’t good enough, so they have to go away, executioner.
The problem is we make terrible gods.
Traditionally, a culture uses a God (or gods, depending on the faith) to be the ultimate judge, jury, and executioner. In the Christian faith, God decides what actions are problematic, decides the punishment for those acts, and carries out the penalty.
But something changed in our culture. We have rejected all significant religions and are more secular than ever. Whatever you think about religion, you can’t deny that it gave everyone a moral code by which to live. Now we don’t have shared…
