Blood Money and the Hypocrisy of American Justice: When “Innocent Until Proven Guilty” Becomes “Judged, Juried, and Executed on the Spot”
America loves to proclaim that it believes in innocent until proven guilty. We teach it in civics classes, engrave it in legal textbooks, and invoke it whenever our preferred defendant is under scrutiny. But our national behavior increasingly reveals a different creed:
judged, juried, and executed on the spot — and then rewarded for it.
This is not merely a legal crisis.
It is a crisis of hypocrisy — a widening gap between what we say we believe and what we actually practice.
And Scripture has seen this pattern before.
1. When Killing Pays: Kenosha and Minneapolis
Kenosha, Wisconsin
After the killings in Kenosha, supporters raised nearly $600,000 for the shooter.
Not after a trial.
Not after a verdict.
But immediately — as if the act of killing itself was a credential.
Minneapolis: The Ross–Good Shooting
Internet reports suggest that ICE officer Jonathan Ross, who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, has received around $1,000,000 in combined fundraising.
And Renee Good — the woman who died — has reportedly received around $1,500,000 in support.
(Disclaimer: Both figures are based on internet reports and cannot be verified with certainty.)
Even with the uncertainty, the moral absurdity remains:
We now live in a world where both the shooter and the slain can become fundraising symbols — not because justice has spoken, but because factions have.
This is not due process.
This is trial by tribe, where money becomes a verdict and loyalty becomes evidence.
2. Hypocrisy on the High Seas: The Caribbean Boat Killings
When U.S. forces fired on a Venezuelan fishing boat suspected of smuggling, no one paused to ask whether the occupants were innocent until proven guilty.
Suspicion became justification.
Justification became execution.
Execution became silence.
We condemn extrajudicial killings in other nations.
We warn other governments about human rights abuses.
We lecture the world about due process.
And then we kill fishermen on suspicion.
This is hypocrisy with a passport.
3. Hypocrisy in High Office: Pardons That Rewrite Reality
Presidential pardons for individuals convicted of violent offenses — including war crimes — reveal another contradiction.
We say no one is above the law.
We say justice must run its course.
We say the courts speak for the people.
But when power steps in to erase a conviction, we reveal what we truly believe:
Justice is binding for the powerless, optional for the powerful.
Scripture has a name for this:
“Woe to those who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.” (Isaiah 5:23)
Hypocrisy is not merely inconsistency.
It is the deliberate performance of righteousness while practicing the opposite.
4. Hypocrisy in the Shadows: ICE and the Erosion of Due Process
ICE’s pattern of random arrests, detentions without hearings, and family separations without judicial review exposes another contradiction.
We say we are a nation of laws.
We say every person deserves a fair hearing.
We say justice applies to citizen and stranger alike.
But when agents can detain first and justify later, we reveal what we actually believe:
Some people deserve due process. Others deserve whatever happens to them.
The prophets saw this coming long before America existed:
“They crush the needy and say, ‘The Lord does not see.’” (Psalm 94:5–7)
Hypocrisy always assumes God is not watching.
5. The Bible’s Uncomfortable Mirror: Hypocrisy as a National Sin
Scripture does not treat hypocrisy as a minor flaw.
It treats it as a nation‑destroying disease.
A. Judas and the Price of Innocent Blood
Judas accepted thirty pieces of silver to betray an innocent man.
The priests refused to put the money back into the treasury because it was “blood money.”
Today we raise vast sums for those who kill — and call it charity.
B. Cain and Abel: The First Hypocrite
Cain kills his brother and then pretends innocence.
“Am I my brother’s keeper?”
We echo him every time we say:
“It’s not my problem. The courts will sort it out.”
Even as we fund the shooter and ignore the slain.
C. The Prophets and the Bribed Courts
Isaiah, Micah, Amos — all condemned societies where money distorted justice.
- “Her rulers judge for a bribe.” (Micah 3:11)
- “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.” (Isaiah 5:20)
When killing becomes profitable, we are no longer a nation under law.
We are a nation under patronage.
D. Jesus and the Hypocrites
Jesus reserved His harshest words not for sinners, but for hypocrites — those who performed righteousness while practicing injustice.
He did not say, “Woe to the violent.”
He said, “Woe to you hypocrites.”
Because hypocrisy sanctifies violence.
It baptizes injustice.
It turns sin into virtue.
6. The Final Courtroom: Who Judges, Who Advocates, Who Accuses
Human courts may fail.
Fundraising may distort justice.
Power may rewrite verdicts.
But Scripture insists that history is moving toward a courtroom where no bribes are accepted, no partiality is shown, and no violence is rewarded.
A. Who Judges at the End of Time?
Jesus Christ is the Judge of all the earth.
- “The Father has entrusted all judgment to the Son.” (John 5:22)
- “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)
The One who received no due process will administer perfect due process.
B. What Is That Judgment?
It is a reckoning where:
- Every hidden act is exposed
- Every motive is weighed
- Every injustice is answered
- Every life taken without cause is accounted for
There is no tribal immunity.
No political protection.
No GoFundMe advantage.
Only truth.
C. Who Is Our Advocate?
Believers do not stand alone.
- “We have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1)
He is both Judge and Defense Counsel — not because we are innocent, but because He is righteous.
D. Who Is Our Accuser?
Scripture names him plainly:
- “The accuser of the brothers and sisters.” (Revelation 12:10)
Satan prosecutes.
Christ defends.
Only one verdict stands.
7. The Final Word: The Blood Still Cries Out
The question “Does due process exist anymore?” is not cynical.
It is prophetic.
And Scripture answers it with a sobering truth:
- God hears the cry of spilled blood.
- God sees the hypocrisy of those who reward the violent.
- God remembers the injustice we try to forget.
The blood of Abel cried from the ground.
So does the blood of Renee Good.
So does the blood of the fishermen.
So does the blood of all who were killed or persecuted without trial, without hearing, without a chance to speak.
The only question left is whether we — the people who claim to follow the God of justice — will hear it too.
Epilogue: Why Two People Can Watch the Same Video and See Opposite Realities
One of the most unsettling features of our moment is this:
Two people can watch the same video and walk away with completely opposite verdicts.
One sees self‑defense.
One sees murder.
One sees restraint.
One sees brutality.
One sees a justified shooting.
One sees an execution.
How is this possible?
Scripture gives an answer far deeper than psychology or politics. It tells us that the human heart is not a neutral camera. It is a theological instrument, shaped by what it loves, fears, worships, and protects.
The Bible names several forces that explain this dilemma.
1. Spiritual Blindness: When God Gives People Over to Their Own Vision
Scripture teaches that people can look directly at truth and not see it.
- “The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers.” (2 Corinthians 4:4)
- “Seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear.” (Matthew 13:13)
- “God gave them over…” (Romans 1:24–28)
Blindness in Scripture is not merely ignorance.
It is judgment — a consequence of refusing to love the truth.
When a society prefers its tribe to the truth, God allows it to see only what it wants to see.
2. Hardened Hearts: When Evidence Cannot Penetrate
Pharaoh saw ten plagues and still refused to acknowledge reality.
Israel saw miracles in the wilderness and still grumbled.
The religious leaders saw Jesus heal the sick and still plotted His death.
Scripture describes this condition:
- “Their hearts were hardened.” (Mark 6:52)
- “They refused to love the truth.” (2 Thessalonians 2:10)
A hardened heart can watch the same footage as a soft heart and draw the opposite conclusion — not because the evidence is unclear, but because the heart is committed to a predetermined outcome.
3. Tribal Loyalty: When Identity Overrides Reality
The Bible repeatedly warns that people will choose their group over the truth.
- “Each did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)
- “They loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” (John 12:43)
- “Crucify him, crucify him! John (19:6)
When a video threatens the reputation of one’s tribe — political, racial, ideological, or religious — the instinct is not to seek truth but to protect the tribe.
Two people can watch the same footage and see two different realities because they are not watching with their eyes.
They are watching with their allegiances.
4. Deception: When Lies Become More Comfortable Than Truth
Scripture warns that deception is not merely external — it is internal.
- “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie.” (Romans 1:25)
- “They will turn away from listening to the truth.” (2 Timothy 4:4)
Deception is powerful because it is comforting.
It allows us to avoid repentance, avoid responsibility, avoid grief.
A video that contradicts our preferred narrative becomes intolerable — so we reinterpret it until it fits our worldview.
5. The Dividing Line: Those Who Want Truth and Those Who Want Vindication
Jesus said something that explains our moment with chilling clarity:
- “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37)
Truth is not merely a matter of evidence.
It is a matter of desire.
Two people can watch the same video because one wants truth and the other wants vindication.
One wants justice and the other wants justification.
One wants clarity and the other wants comfort.
The video is the same.
The heart is not.
6. The Hope: God Can Open Eyes
The good news is that blindness is not permanent.
- “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.” (Psalm 146:8)
- “Then their eyes were opened.” (Luke 24:31)
- “I will remove the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)
If God can open blind eyes, He can open blind minds.
If He can soften stone hearts, He can soften hardened ones.
If He can reveal truth to those who crucified Him, He can reveal truth to us.
But the first step is humility — the willingness to say:
“Lord, show me what is true, even if it contradicts what I want to believe.”
The Final Word
Two people can watch the same video and see opposite realities because the issue is not the video.
It is the soul.
The Bible teaches that:
- Some are blinded
- Some are hardened
- Some are deceived
- Some are loyal to their tribe
- Some refuse to love the truth
- Some are under the influence of the accuser
- Some are being transformed by the Advocate
The question is not, “What does the video show?”
The question is, “What does my heart want it to show?”
And the deeper question still:
“Am I willing to let God correct my vision?” Am I willing to follow The Truth, The Way, and The Life?
Final Prayer
Lord of justice and mercy,
You see what we refuse to see,
You hear what we try to silence,
You remember what we rush to forget.
We bring before You the blood that cries from the ground—
the lives taken without cause,
the families left in grief,
the truth twisted by fear, pride, and tribal loyalty.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Where our eyes are blind, open them.
Where our hearts are hardened, soften them.
Where our minds cling to lies, free them.
Where we have called evil good and good evil, forgive us.
Teach us to love truth more than comfort,
justice more than advantage,
mercy more than victory,
and Your kingdom more than our tribe.
Judge us with the righteousness of Christ,
advocate for us by His mercy,
and silence the accuser who delights in our division.
Make us a people who do not reward violence,
who do not excuse hypocrisy,
who do not abandon due process,
but who walk humbly, love mercy,
and do justice in the power of Your Spirit.
Until the day when every hidden thing is revealed,
every wrong made right,
and every tear wiped away—
keep us faithful, courageous, and true.
In the name of Jesus,
our Judge, our Advocate, and our Hope.
Amen.