Derek Chauvin has been convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and is likely to spend much of what is left of his life in prison. That may not be very long in his new surroundings: his incarceration is probably a de facto death sentence.

Did he receive a fair trial? I really don’t know, but I think earthly justice is an elusive commodity. As Blaise Pascal noted:

Love or hate alters the aspect of justice. How much greater confidence has an advocate, retained with a large fee, in the justice of his cause! How much better does his bold manner make his case appear to the judges, deceived as they are by appearances! How ludicrous is reason, blown with a breath in every direction!….. Our magistrates have known well this mystery. Their red robes, the ermine in which they wrap themselves like furry cats, the courts in which they administer justice, the fleurs-de-lis, and all such august apparel were necessary; if the physicians had not their cassocks and their mules, if the doctors had not their square caps and their robes four times too wide, they would never have duped the world, which cannot resist so original an appearance. If magistrates had true justice, and if physicians had the true art of healing, they would have no occasion for square caps; the majesty of these sciences would of itself be venerable enough. But having only imaginary knowledge, they must employ those silly tools that strike the imagination with which they have to deal; and thereby, in fact, they inspire respect. Soldiers alone are not disguised in this manner, because indeed their part is the most essential; they establish themselves by force, the others by show.

This doesn’t bother Justin Welby, who has always seemed more interested in illusory temporal justice than the genuine eternal variety. Would Welby have been tweeting his satisfaction if justice had been served by the jury finding Chauvin innocent? Almost certainly not.

Will Welby also be praying for Chauvin? Let’s hope so: Welby believes Chauvin is a guilty sinner; didn’t Jesus come to save sinners?

I fear the truth is that Welby, like most others, wanted retribution not justice.