Friday, February 26, 2021

SCALES OF JUSTICE


 



This is how ignorant I am:       For years, I’ve had a real hate-on for the legal system in the U.S. because trials seemed to be more about winning the argument than about seeking the truth. And the winner was often the person with the most money. If the argument was good enough, the defendant or plaintiff rich enough, seemingly guilty parties were acquitted and innocent people convicted. You could get away with murder if you had a good enough lawyer. That just did not seem right.

 

But, lo and behold, I recently found out why this was the case.

 

My friend and accomplished litigator, Robert Shapiro of Chicago, explained to me for the first time that it is because our legal system is an adversarial, or ‘adversary’ system. This is a legal technical term, not an interpretation. In an adversary legal system, presenting the better argument is precisely what the lawyers are supposed to do. 

 

Each side presents its perspective on the facts of the case and a neutral party decides which perspective is more convincing, the neutral party being a jury, judge, or tribunal of judges. Truth, supported by evidence, is required and assumed on both sides. It is the neutral party’s conclusion regarding which perspective, which interpretation of the facts, is the better one, that determines the outcome. The exception is in a criminal trial where the jury is not 'neutral' because the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. If the prosecution leaves any doubt about guilt in a criminal case, it is the jury’s duty to acquit.

 

The adversary system applies to all or most legal systems that originate from English law…as opposed to an inquisitorial or magisterial system (common in Europe and most of the rest of the world) where the judge investigates the case before ruling.

 

So, that’s the essence. Here in the West, the argument is the determining factor. I now have more respect for the system and how prosecutors, litigators and defense attorneys operate.  

 

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

BRANDING JESUS

 

THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL MARKETING



In the history of branding, one image has captured the world more than any other. Many have come close: the Nike swoosh, the MacIntosh apple, the hammer and sickle, the swastika, even Coca-Cola. But no symbol has had more world-wide recognition than the Christian Cross.

 

Whether unadorned or with Jesus nailed to it, The Cross took the world by storm more than two thousand years ago and probably earned the Holy Roman Empire trillions of dollars. That’s some marketing! Were there consultant fees? Who owns the trademark?

 

The Cross is a killing device, nothing more, a wooden structure on which to nail convicts for as long as it takes for them to die. Crucifixion was the method of choice for executing criminals long before Jesus walked the earth. Supposedly invented by Persians in circa 300-400 BCE, the Romans seem to take most of the credit for perfecting the design and creating the cruelest, slowest way to punish or dispatch undesirables, e.g. thieves and Jews. 

 

The Cross has a longer history than, say, a guillotine or the rack or the electric chair. And nicer lines from a design standpoint. But what if Jesus had been executed by guillotine? Would modern followers be wearing miniature guillotines around their necks or installing bigger-than-life guillotines on the frontispieces of their megachurches? 

Guillotine ornament

What would Christian athletes from Latin countries do, tilt their necks and apply a chopping motion instead of crossing themselves before running onto the soccer field or after hitting a home run? I suppose one can get used to anything. 

 

What if Jesus’s head had been severed on a chopping block? A double-bitted axe is not a bad look, symmetrical as it is; it could work well on a necklace or on the front of a church. Blood would be optional.

A noose? Not so much. A gun? Was there even gun powder in Jerusalem back then?

 

Or how about this: What if Jesus had been strangled? That would have been a marketing challenge, indeed.

 

But, the cross! A forlorn-looking Jesus nailed to a cross, upright with his head still on? People loved it! Brilliant! 


Tuesday, February 2, 2021

It Must Be Someone's Birthday

Here's my latest composition, a little rendition of the old standard. To hear it, go to:

jameschanningshaw.com/music