The Justice Gene Pause (Part Two of Three)

Driving around a packed parking lot at the YMCA one evening, I saw that someone was walking to their car to leave.  Stopping just behind them, I put on my turn signal to make it clear that I was waiting for the spot. I left room for them to comfortably back out.  When they did, just as I started to turn-in, another car swept past me on the left and took the space I was waiting for.  We nearly collided.

My justice gene was fully inflamed as I yelled (fortunately with my windows up) at the offender who stole “my” spot.  I stayed in place and glared.

Then I watched an older woman get out, open the trunk, remove a wheelchair, and struggle to get her disabled husband into the wheelchair.

My righteousness was replaced by embarrassment as I drove on, hoping she had not noticed me.  Just a moment before, I could not imagine any perspective different from my own.

The parking lot rules, written exclusively in my head, had been broken.  However, this couple needed the spot far more than I.  Some rules may be made to be broken.

This is not life and death, like the Covid vaccines, or racial injustice, or immigration, but the physical manifestations of my righteousness were identical—rapid heart rate, anger, knotted stomach, red face, and an impulse to immediately react.  When someone stomps on our justice gene (even unintended) it generates a call to action, often without circumspection or consideration of the impact.  Only with practice can we imagine another point of view.

We will not all see fairness through the same lens, but when we are prompted to think, say, or yell, “that’s not fair,” it is a good time to take a break. Then we can think whether there is a perspective beyond our own. After that delay, we can decide whether to drive on, whether to pause and listen, or whether to marshal our resources to fight the injustice even at very high personal costs.

Any of these responses can be useful, but our first may not be the best guide. Even if we are right about the level of the injustice and the consequences, there are times when living to fight another day has value, and other times when extreme and life-threatening responses are called for.

It is essential to remember that some injustices are truly a danger or systemically damaging to one or more groups of people.  These kinds of injustices may require immediate action, societal change, or profound and prolonged protest.  Inaction has its own consequences.  Most assaults to our justice gene, however, do not need instant reactions. Nevertheless, our bodies and minds will suggest otherwise. Horribly disproportionate reactions can make sense in the moment despite being ill-advised.

When the justice gene gets stung, it is important to discern the level of the threat and choose an effective response. Pausing, no matter how valuable, is uncomfortable and not natural for most of us.  The truth is that we will be uncomfortable either way.  Why not use the discomfort beneficially?

Next week…the justice gene tended…or not.

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