CREEDE HINSHAW: Dehumanizing not needed for administration of justice

Do you know anybody who is a sack of human waste?

How about Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong-un?

How about the perpetrators of 9/11? Is a child molester a sack of human waste?

What about your irritating neighbor or your ex-spouse?

How about 21-year old Devin Wilbert and 22-year old Quantavis Jones?

These latter two persons are alleged armed robbers accused of two crimes, the more recent of the two a heist that failed when the intended victim, 66-year old-Billy Harrell of Dublin, foiled their plans by shooting Wilbert. Now, these young adults are in jail awaiting trial and Harrell, thankfully unharmed, is the recipient of a new handgun, given to him by a gun store.

All’s well that ends well, except for Telfair County Sheriff Chris Steverson’s Facebook interpretation of the thwarted robbery. This public official, in a display of utter contempt, identified the alleged gunmen as “two sacks of human waste.”

What Mr. Wilbert and Mr. Jones are accused of was wrong. Very wrong. It was criminal. I am glad they were apprehended and hope they will plead guilty and be sentenced appropriately. No reasonable person would deny 66-year-old Billy Harrell the right to defend himself and his property.

I am also glad for law enforcement officers like Sheriff Steverson. To study his Facebook page is to appreciate the role of law enforcement in rural Georgia and to be thankful for public servants who risk their lives for little pay and diminishing respect.

But Wilbert and Jones are not human sacks of waste. They may be lawbreakers, criminals or even thugs, but both Hebrew and Christian scripture affirms that all humans are children of God, created in the image of God, though it’s easier to affirm this when one looks into the face of a baby or a saint like Mother Theresa. Psalm 8 affirms that humans are created a little lower than the angels – a proposition difficult to affirm when the person in question may be a rapist or a mass murderer.

These are not easy times to be a dedicated law enforcement professional. Brave and loyal police officers also have been victimized by bitter, abusive language. They, too, have been denied simple human dignity, having been called racists, pigs and tools of the propertied class. Far worse, they have been targeted by murderous assassins who have no respect for a uniform or the one wearing it.

The first step to devaluing another human being is to describe the other as less than a person — as something foul and disgusting to be flushed down the toilet, for instance. No person should be robbed of his/her possessions; no person should be robbed of his/her dignity.

Are Wilbert and Jones lawbreakers? if so, apprehend them. Convict them. Punish them and let them take their medicine. They don’t have to be coddled, pampered or excused for their alleged crime. Wrong is wrong. But a fair administration of justice acknowledges that, rather than sacks of human waste we, are dealing with persons made in God’s image.

Email columnist Creede Hinshaw, a retired Methodist minister, at [email protected].