On Justice and Payback

When injustice and corruption breeds vigilante violence:

One long-standing definition of justice – going back to the classical Greek philosophers – is giving to each one his or her due. The idea is that wrongs should be punished and rights rewarded. People should get what they deserve. So in a loose sense at least, there is an element of payback in this understanding of justice.

Another key aspect of justice was nicely encapsulated by William Gladstone when he said this: “Justice delayed, is justice denied.” And Adam Smith was quite right to state this basic truth: “Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.” In sum, justice must be blind and even-handed; it must be swift; and punitive justice must go after the guilty.

The Bible of course often speaks about justice, including the matters just outlined above. Consider just some of the proverbs on this matter:

Proverbs 17:15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous
    are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

Proverbs 17:23 The wicked accepts a bribe in secret
    to pervert the ways of justice.

Proverbs 18:5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked
    or to deprive the righteous of justice.

Proverbs 19:28 A worthless witness mocks at justice,
    and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.

Proverbs 20:10 Unequal weights and unequal measures
    are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

Proverbs 21:3 To do righteousness and justice
    is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Proverbs 21:15 When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous
    but terror to evildoers.

Proverbs 28:5 Evil men do not understand justice,
    but those who seek the Lord understand it completely.

Proverbs 28:21 To show partiality is not good,
    but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong.

The New Testament also speaks about justice. Generally speaking, payback comes at the hands of the state. That is the clear message of Romans 13:1-7 for example. As verses 2-4 put it:

Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

So that is the normal way that we see the delivery of justice in the public arena. Private citizens should not be taking the law into their own hands. Personal vigilantism is not the way to proceed here. Let the state go after the wicked.

BUT, what happens when the state becomes unjust, and it is not doing its duty to maintain justice? What happens when wickedness is rewarded and righteousness is punished? What happens when a two-tiered justice system develops, as we now see in so much of the West, especially in the UK?

The horrific act of injustice handed out to Henry Nowak who died while the police sided against him as he lay on the ground handcuffed and bleeding to death, while they sided with his murderer, is a classic case in point. See more here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2026/05/30/the-death-of-henry-nowak-and-the-death-of-justice-in-the-uk/

When laws become unjust, or just laws are no longer enforced, then what is our recourse? Civil disobedience and the possibility of just rebellion are two options. I have discussed both positions in various places, including these:

https://billmuehlenberg.com/2008/11/02/christians-and-civil-disobedience/

https://billmuehlenberg.com/2013/07/11/is-revolution-ever-justified-part-one/  

https://billmuehlenberg.com/2013/07/11/is-revolution-ever-justified-part-two/

Indeed, the whole notion of resistance theory needs to be addressed. For more detail, see the 140 articles that I have penned on this: https://billmuehlenberg.com/category/politics/resistance-theory/

Citizen Vigilante

A new film dealing with these issues is certainly stirring up heated debate. It is being banned in certain places; critics dislike it; and audiences quite like it. That is because it is dealing with the real world. It is about a vigilante who is tired of all the rapes and murders taking place in the UK by non-white migrants, with the authorities doing nothing about it. So he tracks down some of these folks and gives them swift justice.

I have not seen the movie, but others have. Conservative Catholic commentator Matt Walsh offers this two-minute take on the film: https://www.facebook.com/MattWalshBlog/videos/reviewing-citizen-vigilante/1655952955703344/

As mentioned, God is greatly concerned about justice; he has established the state to punish evildoers; and generally speaking the individual is not to take this upon himself. But the questions I asked above still need to be addressed. One reviewer of the film has sought to look at these matters in more detail. 

The title of Delphine Chui’s piece reveals her stance: “Citizen Vigilante isn’t the solution, but it’s asking the right questions”. So too the subtitle: “The film is a brutal thriller that sensationalizes contemporary anxieties about crime, migration, and declining public trust—fears that have become politically potent across Europe.”. She begins her article this way:

Few films this year have generated as much controversy as Citizen Vigilante. Reports that Germany has considered banning the film, combined with Elon Musk temporarily making it freely available on X to his millions of followers, have propelled what would otherwise have been a niche action film into an international political conversation. It arrives at a time when debates over migration, crime, policing, and trust in government institutions dominate headlines across Europe.

She goes on to say:

At its core, Citizen Vigilante is less interested in revenge than in institutional collapse. It argues that governments no longer protect ordinary citizens, that judicial systems increasingly prioritize offenders over victims, and that Western society has lost its moral compass. Its critique extends beyond crime to immigration, welfare, property rights, fatherlessness, and political elites. Biden and Trump are both namechecked alongside Russia, China, and Islamist extremism, broadening the film’s worldview into one of geopolitical and ideological conflict. It raises questions many people are asking about public safety, delayed justice, and eroding trust in institutions. [Armie] Hammer’s character ultimately declares: “These people never voted for what’s happening. This is an unfriendly takeover by the Islamic extremists and blindsided woke left.”

She concludes:

Citizen Vigilante’s storyline isn’t the only aspect that makes it culturally significant; the public reaction to the film is equally telling. Across Europe and beyond, many increasingly express concerns about crime, inconsistent sentencing, anti-social behavior, civic decline, and whether governments are fulfilling their most basic responsibility: protecting law-abiding, tax-paying people. The film gives voice to those anxieties, albeit in the most hyperbolic way imaginable. Society today can seem more disrespectful, violent, hypersexualized, and less rooted in any shared code of honor than previous generations. But that does not make vigilantism the answer; rather, it exposes a dangerous vacuum of confidence in institutions.

Citizen Vigilante is cinematically weak and morally limited. It articulates frustration effectively but cannot imagine justice beyond violence. In doing so, it highlights a cultural mood of anger—but not a way forward. If you can stomach the violence and gratuitous sexual content, watch it only to understand the anxieties driving today’s cultural debates, not because it offers convincing answers or any sign of renewal or resolution. https://www.restoringthewest.com/p/citizen-vigilante-isnt-the-solution

While ordinary citizens who feel powerless, betrayed, abandoned and overcome by injustice should not be resorting to violence and bloodshed, something must be done in the West or this WILL more and more be what too many people end up doing.

If the corrupt system does not get fixed, and fast, then films like this – and realities like this – will increasingly be on offer.

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