Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Romans and juries
Boston Romans are upset at being excluded from the Tsarnaev jury. Too fucking bad. Recent Roman teaching is strictly opposed to justice. The last two Popes, and the current Antipope, have intentionally misread the commandments to forbid self-defense. This is loony and suicidal. God didn't say "Don't take human life under any circumstances." He said "Don't commit murder."
Based on my life experience and jury experience, I'd be inclined to exclude educated Romans for a completely non-religious and non-ideological reason. Jesuit colleges train students to be tenacious and expert debaters, willing and able to deploy all sorts of gambits and tricks to keep an argument running. When I served in December, two of the jurors were Gonzaga graduates who used this training to great effect. Every point and subpoint took an extra hour to settle because these two expert arguers kept hammering on all sides.
¶ 4:43 AM 
