The Justice Of Love

No one could possibly be owed mercy, for it is by nature the undeserved suspension of just punishment, of a just but perhaps unwanted treatment that a person deserves because of their beliefs or actions.  Whether it is shown by God or fellow humans, mercy cannot ever be what one should by default offer to anyone.  It is offered, at least by God and anyone other than emotionalistic people, out of sadness over the evil that requires justice, out of the redemptive hope that someone will change for the better, or perhaps even out of manipulative intentions (on the part of people).  As transformative as it can be and despite the fact that it is morally good (but not obligatory) on the Christian worldview, mercy cannot be anything other than wholly undeserved.

It is justice that is always obligatory.  Short of showing mercy for non-emotionalistic or otherwise non-irrationalistic reasons, justice is how a person should treat others because they deserve it.  Justice is indeed broader than only giving people the right punitive treatment, which is an enormous issue itself, as it is impossible for all the different, conflicting ideas about what punishment people deserve to be true at once.  Punishments like prison, crucifixion, or decades-long enslavement are all evil treatments that no one deserves according to Mosaic Law.  However, beyond just punitive justice, there is also the justice of honoring philosophically and morally upright people as they deserve, of acknowledging the human rights of all people, or of treating one's spouse, children, or friends correctly.

There is also the justice of love.  Love is at its strongest not an emotionalistic attachment stirred up by happenstance situations or subjective psychological desires.  It is the caring for others as full humans with whatever human rights that entails.  Even if this does not always involve personal affection such as that towards a cherished friend, it is actually a part of justice in at least the sense of not being apathetic or dismissive with regards to how they deserve to be treated.  This is not tolerance or superficial affection.  It is a deep caring for and commitment to the moral wellbeing of all people, no matter their gender, race, class, age, health status, appearance, or deeds.

Directed towards God, love can transcend subjective affection as well.  The most significant love of God is not about feeling happy about the entire state of the world or mustering a shallow fondness for him.  It is about recognizing that a deity with a moral nature deserves respect, honor, and submission, for no other being's very character could make something obligatory.  In Christianity, since humans are created in God's image (Genesis 1:26-27), there is a kind of love that they deserve by sharing similarities with God, though angelic beings would share some of these similarities, perhaps to a lesser extent.  It would be unjust to be unloving, not by happening to not experience personal affection towards everyone, but by trivializing them in thought or deed.

This is the true philosophical context of Paul's charge in Romans 13:8-9, where he says that people owe each other the unrelenting "debt to love."  No one is obligated to treat someone in a given way, on the level of behavior, words, or attitude, unless they deserve it.  Love is deserved by both God and other people on the Biblical worldview.  No one can perfectly love someone else without treating them as Mosaic Law deserves: by not carrying out slander (Leviticus 19:16), murder (Exodus 21:12), rape (Deuteronomy 22:25-27), physical assault (Exodus 21:18-19), kidnapping (Exodus 21:16), abusive punishments (Deuteronomy 25:1-3), and so on.  Love without the desire for, recognition of, and practice of what is just is truly dead.  To do these righteous acts only to benefit oneself or out of irrationalistic, insincere motives, nevertheless, is to live without the love of reason, God, and morality that is demanded by the Christian God.  Love without just deeds is an illusion or meaningless emotionalism; just deeds without love are very much incomplete.