To the Editor:

Jacob Paul and Ruddy Wang (“U.S. Must Pursue Justice in Tune with Christ,” 10/11) have misinterpreted the justice of Christ. They state that because we are all sinners, both individually and as nations, we cannot enforce justice, since no one is just.

But that line of reasoning will lead us to the conclusion that we cannot jail shoplifters or murders — since I am a sinner, who am I to convict the murderer? Do Paul and Wang also advocate the United States turning loose all convicts into the streets to terrorize the defenseless?

In their faulty analysis, they have overlooked Romans 13:1-7, where St. Paul urges us to submit to the justice of the state: “But if you do wrong, be afraid, for [the earthly ruler] does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer.” Yes, we are sinners, but that must not stop us from executing the wrath of God. The voice of our brothers’ blood is crying to God from the ground.

Emily Grant ’02

OCTOBER 11, 2001