37And as he was speaking, a certain Pharisee prayed him, that he would dine with him. And he going in, sat down to eat. 38And the Pharisee began to say, thinking within himself, why he was not washed before dinner. 39And the Lord said to him: Now you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but your inside is full of rapine and iniquity. 40Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without, make also that which is within? 41But yet that which remaineth, give alms; and behold, all things are clean unto you.
42But woe to you, Pharisees, because you tithe mint and rue and every herb; and pass over judgment, and the charity of God. Now these things you ought to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 43Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the marketplace. 44Woe to you, because you are as sepulchres that appear not, and men that walk over are not aware.
45And one of the lawyers answering, saith to him: Master, in saying these things, thou reproachest us also. 46But he said: Woe to you lawyers also, because you load men with burdens which they cannot bear, and you yourselves touch not the packs with one of your fingers. 47Woe to you who build the monuments of the prophets: and your fathers killed them. 48Truly you bear witness that you consent to the doings of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and you build their sepulchres. 49For this cause also the wisdom of God said: I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute. 50That the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation, 51From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, who was slain between the alter and the temple: Yea I say to you, It shall be required of this generation. 52Woe to you lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you yourselves have not entered in, and those that were entering in, you have hindered.
Mathew 23: 37-52
As I have oft opined to judges, people would have more respect for law if attorneys and judges simply did not so often act like complete bandits. Go here to read the disgusting details of this insult to justice. Another of my frequent legal homilies is that just because something is a legal matter, that fact alone should not always mean that common sense is immediately cast out the window. I have often thought that one human reason Our Lord had such a poor opinion of the Scribes, the doctors of the Jewish Law, was because while He was growing up in Nazareth He witnessed how often people like Mary and Joseph were cheated by the Scribes in the name of the Law, thus profaning God who gave the Old Testament Law.
Unless someone has studied law diligently, he is usually at a complete loss as to how law applies in a given situation. However, due to conscience, which the hand of God places in all human souls, right and wrong are clear enough to most of us on most occasions, no matter how we attempt to run from conscience when convenient.
This whole case sounds dodgy. Bendigo is a country town where I’m sure this sleazebag magistrate knows the right people. The lady’s mother probably had no hope. Remember this is the same State (Victoria) that tried and convicted an innocent George Pell and a State which is currently run by a Premiere who has sold out to China and has the whole State in
Lockdown for the second time over a handful of Covid cases…
This is why, in general, I’m fairly libertarian and think the law should be kept as small and simple as possible.
It probably comes from my days of gaming, but there’s just too many instances (like this one) where what you intended with the law, is not how it ends up interacting with reality. (Common example: Magic card gets designed for one strategy – ends up being broken and overwhelming when applied to a completely different other strategy.)
No offense to Don, but I think society would be much improved if lawyers and law-makers had much more humility and reluctance to utilize the law.
Of course Nate in this case the law had to act. Short of pistols at dawn there would be no way to resolve this dispute, absent a settlement, short of a legal proceeding.
Yeah but I think maybe some form of dueling should be brought back for some resolutions. Maybe not with pistols though. Maybe with pokemon cards? The american gladiator foam sticks?
Judges could still have a use – as DMs.
I have a suspicion that the judgment in his favor was a discretionary decision by people who do not value marriage or family life.
There are givers and there are users in this life, and he’s a user. And you can bet her mother made it plain to him that her daughter belonged with someone with whom she could build a proper domestic life and he would never be that guy, so his business is vengeance that someone should tell Judge Viagra to keep his creepy 68 year old hands to himself.
Torches and pitchforks.
He laid claim to the money 24 hours after her death (suicide by throwing herself in front of a car- her mental state was not brought up in court). If he hadn’t challenged the fact the daughter left her Super to her mother then it would have just gone to her mother (her mother was financially dependant on her). Her wish was non-binding which meant the Super fund Trust did make their own decision to give him the money because he was her defacto (for 7 months). And what defines a defacto relationship is open to the trusts discretion- it’s usually 2 years of continually co-habiting in most legal circumstances (I’m no lawyer but I’m thinking legal relationship matters etc..) but not with Super. It’s interesting also that he had been under investigation by AG for having a relationship with this lady (court clerk) and the investigation fizzled. He also was a labor candidate in the town of Shepparton for the same political party who appointed him as judge. Just seems off that the court ruled in his favour against the girls wishes.
I hate be a nag, but I think the Biblical citation for what is in the article should be Luke 11:37-52. The woes in Matthew 23 are far more revealing. In Matthew 23 in the methods of the killing of the prophets, Christ mentions crucifying and stoning. This would cover Christ’s and St. Stephen’s deaths. The deaths of St. John the Baptist, Christ, and St. Stephen (listed in chronological order) proved the validity of Christ’s charges in the woes.
What makes this truly ludicrous is that someone earning 324K is considered to have been financially dependent upon her because he was shacked up with her for a few months prior to her suicide. Her suicide indicates that, at best, this fellow was having a relationship with/taking advantage of a deeply troubled young woman
Yeah Don- he is a scumbag. Kinda makes you wonder if he is fit to be a judge.
What makes this truly ludicrous is that someone earning 324K is considered to have been financially dependent upon her because he was shacked up with her for a few months prior to her suicide.
Well, of course that’s ludicrous, which suggests that someone in the apparat at that insurance company is a crook. Who made this decision in the 1st instance. Name and shame.
Her suicide indicates that, at best, this fellow was having a relationship with/taking advantage of a deeply troubled young woman
With a few eccentric exceptions (Tony Randall? James Doohan?), any association of that character is going to be exploitative, even when the parties are just people with shortcomings (rather than sociopaths), And, note, if the suicide rate in Australia among women in her age range is the same as it is in the U.S., you’ll see 5 or 6 in a given birth cohort in an average year. You’re supposed to help the young by offering them the perspective they haven’t had time to acquire, not gaslight them into oblivion.
I don’t know the statistics but I do know rates are increasing amongst the younger generation. The more they create “awareness” and “campaigns”, the more prevalent it is amongst the young (either that or it’s just not taboo subject). I’m assuming suicide causes in the West is stemming from the younger generations inability to cope with adversity because children don’t learn resilience. (I’m generalising here I realise). Combine this with a lack of faith in God and a moral compass which is continually shifting or just absent altogether- actions don’t have consequences ie. shacking up with a judge when you are a court clerk and he is nearly 3 x your agency and not expecting scrutiny etc.. In this girls case, a bad relationship decision that got scrutinised in the media would have contributed to her mental state. But obviously her reason to take her life will only be known by God. Sad story and feel for her mother.
Suicide.
That sounds like the young woman was abused in a hostile work environment.
I apologize, Mac.
This story reminds of the old joke about when a bus with lawyers ran off a cliff killing all on board. The tragedy was there was an empty seat.
because children don’t learn resilience. (I’m generalising here I realise). Combine this with a lack of faith in God and a moral compass
I think an ambient sense of certain imperatives is helpful in taking certain options off the table. As for resilience, life’s a great deal more comfortable than it was ca. 1925 and certainly more convenient than it was ca. 1970. It has damaged people’s capacity to be patient with life. Also, the quality of intimacy among the young seems to get grosser every year. I think it induces a labile quality in some and a horrid callousness in others. I can’t help but suspect she had daddy issues galore and he took advantage of that.
stemming from the younger generations inability to cope with adversity because children don’t learn resilience.
This I can speak on.
And it’s not you being wrong, it’s…stuff you didn’t get.
It’s not that THEY aren’t able to deal with it.
It’s that they were robbed of all resources.
It’s like how my mom (for an emotionally strong but not her fault example) will fuss at me about the kids doing this or that, or my not doing this or that, which requires the kids having adult supervision… ignoring that she had six aunts, two grandmothers, and a mess of family friends to draw on.
None of which I had, mostly because they were never born.
I could graph out the demographics, but the short version is that both my (born Catholic) husband and I came from great grands with over six. (Barring my grandfather, who had Very Good Reasons to be an only.)
They had roughly six kids- which is roughly “each parent got replacement.”
Said kids… averaged below one point 5 kids, per woman. To the point of my mom being actively shamed for having three kids with the same man.
They didn’t get taught stuff because 1) Everybody Knew and 2) Of Course You’ll Adapt.
Yes, I HAVE been stung, a lot, by “everybody knew.”
Yeah Foxfier- I can completely understand this- mum had 4 siblings and dad had 6 siblings… It seems to get worse at each generation because we live a sort of isolated existence raising our kids. But kids from larger families do better because really they have no choice but to adapt to the large family environment dynamic (I laugh when one of my kids tells me they wish they were an only child, because go ask an only child and they (well many) would do anything for a sibling..)
I’m a miracle-only baby though not for lack of trying. I do wish sometimes I had the chance to be an older brother.
Ironic because sometimes you write like “everybody knows” your context/metaphors. 😉 Sometimes I’m making an odds-on guess that I agree with your point.
It must be something about big families because more than once I’ve also been “stung” by lacking something I should have known by then. My dad being 1 of 4 and mom being 1 of 5 I guess they never realized or thought about how knowledge was passed or realized how much siblings helped you learn. The last few generations have been a lesson that no, humans don’t learn very much on their own, but must be instructed in all the ways of their family and culture. Too much has been taken for granted.
grins Star trying to purge metaphor from your writing sometime, it’s really cool how much of language is context and metaphor– not literally accurate. (I blame Star Trek’s “this language is all metaphor/story based” episode for thinking about it….)
If someone’s an only, they can pick stuff up from more normally sized families, if they exist…. and there are “spare” aunts and uncles to draw on, too.
Yeah, @Foxfier, I’ve written a few words about metaphor and culture. 😉 😉
But also programming habits do get me to habitually try and define variables at the start.