Saint Augustine — you have probably heard the name — was a celebrated philosopher and theologian, and a devout Christian, who lived in the Roman Empire a few hundred years after Christ died. Justice was an important part of Saint Augustine’s theology and it was rooted in his love of God. Saint Augustine said that “the function of justice is to assign to each his due.” In other words, justice is when people get what they deserve. His view has been widely adopted in Western theology and philosophy. Some have criticized this definition as being trite, as being a cliché, as being vacuous. Saint Augustine’s critics say it doesn’t tell us anything.
I think it does. Here’s why. In a republic like ours, the people get to decide what justice looks like. Through their elected representatives, they make the rules, the norms, the laws. Can a law be unjust? You bet. Racial segregation was once both law and custom in America, and it was wrong. But the American people finally realized it, and they fixed it. Our system isn’t perfect — but we’re always trying. And more often than not, we get there. Justice, to me, still means what Saint Augustine said: people getting what they deserve. If you hurt someone or steal his stuff, you deserve to be punished. Not tortured. Punished, humanely but firmly. Maybe as retribution, maybe for deterrence, maybe to protect the rest of us. And sometimes that means you need to be separated from society. That’s just common sense.
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