Stop the moral evasion

On August 22, 2025, Decarlos Brown Jr. and Iryna Zarutska both got onto the Charlotte light rail. Zarutska was brutally murdered by Brown Jr., allegedly. I’ve seen a recording of the incident, as have millions of others.

A few months later, Brown was evaluated by Central Regional Hospital and a report was issued that said he was “not competent to stand trial.” Results of that report were sealed until April 7 when a motion was filed by Brown’s attorney. If the judge accepts the report and agrees that Brown is incompetent to stand trial, state charges will be dismissed.

Before this atrocity, Brown had been arrested 14 times and convicted twice (he hadn’t been declared “not competent” for any of those violations). Should mental health issues or incompetence matter in the administration of justice?

This brings to mind three key passages in Scripture. One is about the value of human life, one is about the responsibility of the government, and one is about the responsibility of a farmer.

First, the death penalty was God’s idea: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6). The ground of that law is that man is made in God’s image; the dignity of the victim is the cause of the retributive justice.

Second, in Romans 13:3-5, Paul says the State should be a “terror” to bad conduct. The one who does evil should “be afraid” because the government “does not bear the sword in vain” and is a servant (or minister) of “God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” Yes, evil will be punished in eternity. Yes, people can receive the grace of Jesus and be saved (consider the thief on the cross!), but that doesn’t negate earthly consequences.

Third, in Exodus 21:28-29, Moses outlines case law that is an expansion and application of the Sixth Commandment, “thou shalt not murder.” What happens if the murdering is done by an ox? Because of its diminished agency, is it exempt from penalty?

When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.

An ox certainly is “not competent to stand trial.” But incompetence is not a license, nor is it a valid excuse or a reason to delay or deny justice to the victim.

If the ox kills, it must be killed and the owner is not liable. If he fails to kill the ox that has been “accustomed” to goring and it gores again, the owner is liable for “not keeping it in” and likewise faces the death penalty. The ox owner is morally responsible when he knows the danger posed by the ox. Common sense, really. If love of the ox supersedes love of victims and possible additional victims, your loves are disordered.

Killing the ox would be incredibly costly to a farmer. There are a lot of reasons a farmer might not want to kill his ox, but these reasons don’t erase the responsibility to protect the vulnerable in his community.

Mental health issues are not causes of evil. Most people with schizophrenia never commit murder. I have many friends with mental health illnesses who are upstanding citizens, successful entrepreneurs and employees, and excellent church members. Why? Because they’ve embraced moral responsibility for themselves. A diagnosis is not a life sentence. It’s an acknowledgment of additional responsibility.

Imagine a world in which Decarlos Brown Jr. was rightly “kept in” by the civil magistrate. Do you know who’d be alive? Iryna Zarutska. Imagine a world where judges were held responsible for the murders committed by the people they’ve failed to “keep in.” How many fewer dangerous criminals would be walking around our streets?

“All sin is inherently stupid,” my seminary ethics professor, Dr. Wayne Grudem, once said in class. Violating God’s law isn’t just wrong, it’s idiocy. By that definition, acting stupid and incompetent is a precondition of murder.

If moral responsibility is a fiction, why were Adam and Eve kicked out of the garden? It’s not a fiction, and we know it.