Morality and law

 We follow the law to avoid the chaos of not doing so. But the law is not a moral agent. In fact, sometimes the law defies morality and needs to be defied to be righted. The law and moral codes are both made by human beings, but for different purposes. We see these purposes in conflict in the way legislators behave and legislate. We see these in conflict in the lives of those who protest the laws they believe morally wrong.

We see the same dance of law and morality in the search for justice in the Rittenhouse and Arbery trials. We’ll never know what really happened in these instances. That reality is trapped in the heads of those involved in the incidents. So two stories built from the skills of the lawyers and the management of the judge are offered to the jury for consideration and judgment.

What happened in moments is played out in days, months, even years; and in these two cases, depended on unnecessary guns. These are American stories.