I sent this to every Texas Legislator and every unelected Legislator with the title of Chief of Staff, as well as some others in the Legislative Division of our government and a few in the Executive. The subject line was:
The Politics of Easter
For Christians (I am one) this is Holy Week. It is a good time for all, including non-Christians, to be reminded of a propensity of Human Nature. Possibly a flaw but I do not feel qualified to pass judgment on my species. The story involves the political scene at the time. Politicians today should reflect on the story and consider the ramifications.
The story tells us what a Prosecutor, known then as a Priest for the religion of the people, and a Judge, and a jury of peers did to a man who was innocent of any crime. The Judge even said he could find no fault with this man. But the jury, stirred up by the prosecutors, was unanimous in their verdict. They yelled “crucify him”, “crucify him”, “crucify him”.
THE POLITICAL SITUATION
The Judge had acquired his position by appointment. He was chosen by the government in Rome. The people of this Roman province were different from other provinces, or what we might refer to as States of our Union. They were of a different ethnic identity and religion. They had nationalist feeling and there was the chance of rebellion in a quest for independence from the federal government seated in Rome. So for political purposes the Judge deprived Jesus of the protection of the Laws of the Republic of Rome. In other words he deprived Jesus of Liberty. To appease the jury he ordered that Jesus be executed and as an additional measure for purely political purposes, he ordered he also be tortured before the execution.
I believe humanity has evolved through education. We learn from past experiences of others that are shared in the texts of religions and in history books as well as from our own experiences. I am an exoneree. That means I was convicted of a crime and later found innocent of violating the law. I was granted the protection of the law. The protection of the law is known in a word as LIBERTY. But I, like Alfred Brown in Houston, have not been granted Justice. Judges, and others including our Texas Legislature, have deprived us of Justice for political purposes. And in doing so they have deprived all Texans of Liberty. You may be next. There is NOTHING to deter them from depriving you of the protection of the law!
Liberty requires that you have the protection of the law BEFORE you are charged and WHILE you are being tried. If it comes later, after a conviction and imprisonment, then Justice requires, at the minimum, Restitution for your property taken, damaged and destroyed, and Remedy for your Injuries. These are Rights that are God-given, inherent, inalienable, and in our Texas Constitution they are declared as inviolate. Our Texas Constitution further decrees that these rights are “excepted from the powers of government”. Translation = They are inalienable. Neither the Legislature, nor the Judiciary, no the Police Union as an agent of the Executive, can lawfully or ethically or morally take them from you. But that has not stopped them from doing so.
In the story of Alfred Brown and Ed Heimlich we see that human nature has changed little in the over 2,000 years since the trial of Jesus. It reveals the importance of Easter as a time to remind us of this propensity to want to see our fellow humans punished. Even if they have not wronged us in any way. I’ll leave it to psychologist and philosophers to come up with an explanation. The evidence of this propensity leaves little question that it exists in our nature. I pray that we, as a species, will eventually learn from annual reflection during this Holy Week known as Easter.