The 7th Trust: I will uphold justice by being fair to all.

The 7th Trust: I will uphold justice by being fair to all.

Civilization evolves over time. From earliest on, however, justice has provided the core principle that makes peaceful coexistence possible.

We tend to think of justice as something derived from courts of law, but that misses the central message of this Trust. Justice means being fair to all people. This includes all our personal and business transactions, our relationships, what we say to people, the judgments we make, the placards we raise, the words that we post, and the rumors we are tempted to spread. Justice means defending what is true, not selling one’s integrity to ideological propaganda.

From this prospective, prejudice is the bane of justice. As the word suggests, it pre-judges people based on their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual preferences, religion and just about any criteria on which stereotypes choose to focus. When we do not judge people by their deeds, or as Martin Luther King said, the “content of their character,” we not only do them instant offense, we belittle ourselves as unable to see things as they really are.

We are all guilty of prejudice to some extent. Awareness of that fact can be used to help us overcome its detrimental tendencies. Pause and think. Listen to the influence of conscience and reason. Stop searching for reasons to support wrong conclusions, while ignoring everything to the contrary.

Justice includes avoiding cut-throat practices in business. Fighting for equality. Facilitating opportunities for the disadvantaged. Adopting a heroic stance against evil. Take the time to evaluate a situation before group pressure implants its error.