“I pushed the back of my finger into the grooves of the tiny gold cypress tree that hung on a chain around my neck. There had to be some kind of justice for my clients, many of whom had been abused by their own families. Some kind of justice for people like my grandparents who had died in the holocaust just because they were Jews. Some kind of justice for me.” From Justice Forbidden, my new fiction book available now.
From a young girl on, my protagonist, Dr. Faythe Bradington has been driven to search for truth and make sure justice is done in the world. Her father, because of his loss of faith in life after his parent’s death, committed suicide when she was fourteen, and she promised herself and him, that she would bring justice to people like him.
This need for justice and to help people with PTSD has followed her into her career as a clinical psychologist. And now because of a lawsuit, she risks losing her career, her good name, her home. It is her turn to find truth and justice for herself.
Every day, as I watch the news I am struck by the injustice in the world, and yes, in many ways I am like my protagonist, Faythe Bradington. I too learned to believe that ultimately truth and justice must prevail. But will it?
When I saw the news last night about the “whistle blower” who released the secret government documents about the war in Afghanistan, a part of me regained hope. I realize the issues are complex and controversial and that there are some things that need to be kept secret for the welfare of our troops, but the vast majority of material should be released to the American people. We need to know. How else can we as citizens decide on what needs to be done if we don’t get the truth? And although we must check out the facts on everything we hear and read such as blogs on the internet, at least there is a form of communication that does not restrict. In the long run that will be the salvation of our democracy.
It is now almost impossible to keep secrets, although we still try.
But here is the thing about justice. Once we learn the truth, it is up to us to make a decision as to what we will do about that issue. Will we ignore it, merely lament about it and wring our hands, spread gossip? Or will we make sure justice is done? And then, more than “throwing the guy in prison,” will we make sure changes are made to right the wrongs?
Unless we encourage people to tell the truth (instead of firing them) we will never know what is really going on in our world. On the other hand, would we rather pretend everything is great and never know the truth? Lots of people use denial as a way to cope, and I guess that’s okay if it works for them.
But remember, without the truth, justice cannot be done.
