Ex iusticia

I had kind of an insight earlier this week. One reason why I believe in God, and why so many other people have believed in God in this world, has to do with the notion of justice. I know, I've said before that we can't prove that God exists, but I'd like to think that there must be one.
I guess the main reason for this goes back to my last post. We, as humans, tend to be so corrupt. We shamelessly attack each other and often have no apparent sense of dignity. I wonder why we are like this, and many an atheist has used the evil world we live in as direct evidence of there not being a God.
However, many disciplines, chief amongst which are physics and philosophy, have taught us that every action has an equal recourse for it. Why is it, then, that there seems to be no real justice in the world? A thief breaks into a family's home and in the ensuing process kills a family member. All the rehabilitation or prison time, or community service won't bring that family member back.
Then I think of all the other atrocities we have seen in this world. We have so many people who commit so much injustice that seem to get away with so much of it. It is, needless to say, discouraging. But what is there to make up for it?
In Jewish theology, there is often times an apocalyptic motif. In fact, the entire Jewish view of history is one of a corrupt and fallen world being restored to a glorious and heavenly place. After being conquered by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans, I don't blame the Jews one bit for thinking that their God must grant a just future to them.
Christians have latched onto this idea as well. The Apocalypse of John is full of imagery of the wicked being punished and the righteous being saved. The rapture is supposedly the saving of all the righteous Christians on the earth and their delivery from the hands of the wicked. The Millenium is supposed to be a time of peace following the greatest battle in the history of the world.
I don't know that I would necessarily plan on some kind of glorious end of the world. However, it helps me sleep better at night trusting that there will be some kind of justice for the oppressed, food for the hungry, haven for the persecuted, clothing for the naked, reward for the meek, blessing for the poor in spirit, etc. It doesn't have to come in this lifetime. In fact, if history shows us anything, it's that the big things only happen after long and toilsome efforts. However, i do hope and fully believe that in the end, God will take care of those who had no one to take care of themselves.
I'm reminded of the power of the Church in the Middle Ages. A lot of people wonder why it is that Christianity had such great control over all of Europe during the Medieval Era. The truth of the matter is that the Church was able to procure the favor of feudal lords. But the reason why it was so successful among the peasantry is simply this: because of the nature of the lives the peasants lived, having a glorious hope to look forward to after they die was, essentially, the only thing they really had to look forward to.
Similarly, African slaves in America became very spiritual, singing songs of deliverance as they longed for nothing more than the freedom that all human beings deserve.
I am of a similar mindset. I see the world as an unjust place with the redeeming qualities being overshadowed by its vices. However, two atheists I have spoken to recently voiced the opinion that it is only those redeeming values that we have to live for. I would then surmise that perhaps we should seek the qualities that some people express, such as philanthropism, charity, selfless giving, environmental awareness, justice and others. However, even as we pursue these options, it seems like Nietzsche's Will to Power still proves true for most humans. And it is in this case that I am forced to think the only true happiness or justice that we'll ever find does not come from this world or in this life.

In imago humani

In The Brothers Karamazov, one of the brothers, Ivan, is discussing his theological views with his brother Alexey. Following a certain popular phrase, Ivan states that he believes that if man created God, then man must have created God in his image. Alexey responds that if God was created in man's image, then the devil surely was as well.
What seems most puzzling of all is why we often times cease at explaining the movements of God, but we never have a hard time explaining the temptations of a devil. We puzzle why good people are plagued with injustices, but whenever an evil befalls a wicked man we state with self-righteous justice that "that man deserved what he got."
But the truth of the matter is, for all the praise and honor we give to philanthropic action, we are much more versed in misanthropy. Perhaps the reason why we laud those like Mother Theresa, Dorothy Day, Schindler, and others is because what they do is truly extraordinary. We are such connoisseurs of wretchedness that when we observe somewhat exhibiting truly magnanimous action we are astounded and stand in reverence.
Take, for example, Dante's Divine Comedy. The punishments of Hell are much more graphic, descriptive and moving than the toils of Purgatory or the blessings of Paradise. It may be argued that the reason why it is as such is because more men are afraid of going to Hell than of being punished in Purgatory. However, I think that the real reason is because we are so much better at tormenting humans than of simply putting them to toil, and much more than of rewarding them.
Think, for example: what great evil and misanthropic movements have taken place in the last few hundred years? Immediately we think of the Holocaust, the Spanish Inquisition, Genocides, Slavery, Religious persecution in general, Internment Camps, Political Witchhunts, Real Witchhunts, etc. But, on the other hand, what great deeds of philanthropic magnitude have been wrought? Can we think of any movement, other than recovery efforts, that was not in response to the great injustices that we have brought about before?
But we don't have only terribly evil men to look at. Stalin and Hitler are not the only men who have mistreated humans in horrific fashion. Everyday, we walk by the poor in our streets, we turn a deaf ear to the cries of the politically oppressed and sometimes we go so far as to condemn people simply because they are from another part of the world. We are all masters of wickedness. We are all workers of evil. For every time we ignore the beggar, or spurn the homosexual, or flat out scorn the political prisoner from the Middle East, we are all displaying the truly voracious, despicable side to human nature.
Indeed, if there is a devil, he must have been made in the image of man.