Fairness Matters

Her work reminded me of something fundamental to a healthy society, fairness. Children understand fairness almost instinctively and every parent has heard the cry, that's not fair. We recognize unfairness when we see it, yet fairness is more complicated than it first appears. Fairness requires us to listen carefully, understand different circumstances. Fairness from one perspective can look very different from another. That's why our justice system depends on due process and competent legal representation. Fairness requires that evidence be tested and facts be examined and every person be given a meaningful opportunity to be heard. The public defender I met has spent two decades helping make that possible. Her work reminds us that fairness isn't automatic. It takes effort, discipline, humility, and a commitment to the dignity of every person. Life matters because fairness matters and fairness matters because every life has value. This is Dr. Scott Morris for Church Health.