BTV: Justice
by Daniel Sheets
Scene One:
[sound-effects: indoor crowd noises; music: BTV intro
theme – it quickly fades out]
Bernard: Hi, everyone, and welcome to BTV. Today we’re at
the Odyssey courthouse, and judging from the commotion right now it looks
like we’re about to see a case come to a close. Let’s see if I can get a
word with one of the members of the jury. (Bernard walks over to a man)
Excuse me, sir.
Guard: Yes, what is it?
Bernard: Is there any way I can speak with one of the
members of the jury?
Guard: What’s the matter with you? Haven’t you ever been
called up for jury duty before?
Bernard: I have.
Guard: Then you should know that I can’t let you speak to
the jury during court proceedings.
Bernard: Why not?
Guard: Because you might try to sway them into making a
decision that is in your own interests.
Bernard: Meaning…
Guard: Meaning you’ve got no business talking to them.
What are trying to do, huh? Pervert the course of justice?
Bernard: No, officer, I was just checking to see what
you’d say.
Guard: Yeah, sure you were.
Bernard: (to the camera) So, you see, folks…justice isn’t
something we should take lightly. They wouldn’t let me in because they were
afraid I might try to…well, like the guard said – pervert the course of
justice. – That and…he didn’t want to get fired for breaking the rules. But
rules do have a lot to do with justice as well…and that’s just what we’re
gonna see on today’s episode of BTV. Don’t go away. We’ll be right back.
[BTV intro theme music begins again - cut to first
commercial break]
Scene Two:
[BTV intro theme music begins again and quickly fades
out]
Bernard: Welcome back to BTV, where we’re learning about
justice today…and who better than to talk about justice than Judge
Abernathy. Tell us, Judge. Is it hard to grant justice to people?
Judge: What do you mean?
Bernard: Well, you know, if the person whose case you
were seeing happened to be your best buddy, do you think you would find it
difficult to act justly?
Judge: No, it wouldn’t be difficult because I wouldn’t
see the case.
Bernard: Oh…well, what if someone in your family needed
some extra money…and you knew that if you ruled against someone, they would
have to hand the dough over to them.
Judge: That would be dishonest. What are you implying? –
That my family is full of cheats?
Bernard: No, I was just…
Judge: Oh, I see, you’re saying something about me and my
personal integrity!
Bernard: No, no, nothing like that…
Judge: I don’t have time for this. Where’d that bailiff
go? (Judge wanders away grumbling)
Bernard: Well…I guess that just goes to show how important justice is. Yet
you’ve got to wonder just how many of us actually appreciate the justice we
have in our country…and whether or not we really want to be treated with
justice. I mean…justice can mean great things for some people…and not so
great things for others.
(Brief TV static sound-effect cuts to Scene Three)
Scene Three:
Bernard: There once was a rich man…
Rich man: Hey, hey, wait a minute now, just because I own
half of the wealth in the entire kingdom…that doesn’t make me rich. (beat)
Oh, wait…yes it does (greedy laugh).
Bernard: The rich man dressed in a purple robe and wore
fine linen clothes…
Another rich guy: Sir, why do you always wear that purple robe? It reminds
me of singing dinosaurs.
Rich man: Hey, when you’ve got as much money as the king,
you deserve to wear a purple robe. It sends a message you know.
Another rich guy: Yes, it does, doesn’t it?
Bernard: The rich man lived in luxury every day.
Rich man: Like I said, it sends a message.
Bernard: Now, in front of the rich man’s house, lying by
the gate – too weak to stand - was a beggar named Lazarus…
Lazarus: (begging) Alms…alms for the poor…
Bernard: The man was covered with sores and he longed to
eat what fell from the rich man's table.
Rich man: Oh, gross, what’s that awful smell?
Another rich guy: Maybe it’s the bean burritos we had for
lunch…
Rich man: That smells terrible…Oh, I see what it is.
Someone dumped a pile of trash by my front gate.
Another rich guy: Sir, that’s a man begging for food at
your front gate.
Rich man: Yeah, like I said…a pile of trash.
Bernard: As Lazarus the beggar sat in front of the rich
man’s house – in too much pain to walk - even the dogs came and licked his
sores.
Rich man: Oh, now that’s just nasty. I’m not gonna look
at this anymore.
Bernard: And so, the rich man chose to ignore the poor
beggar on his front step. Day after day, whenever Lazarus would come into
view, the rich man would look the other way. Until one day the time came
when the beggar finally died. The angels carried Lazarus up to heaven where
he met his great great great great great great grandfather Abraham.
(quick cut to children’s choir director)
Children’s choir director: (Singing while kids run wild
in the background) Father Abraham – had many sons – and many sons had Father
Abraham… (talking to the kids) Come on, kids, sing along…pay attention
now…Jeremy, be a good boy and stop pulling Margaret’s hair…
(quick cut back to story)
Rich man: Hey, what ever happened to that pile of trash
in front of my house?
Another rich guy: You mean the beggar? Oh…he died last
week. I called the undertaker, and he came and…well, he took him away.
Rich man: Hey thanks. That guy was bringing down our land
values.
Another rich guy: (unsure) Yes…I suppose that’s one way
of looking at it.
Bernard: Eventually, the rich man also died and his
friends called the undertaker on him. (beat) They had a nice funeral for
him…
Friend: (fake-crying) He was a good man…the best man I
ever met…lovely load of cash, too.
Bernard: …And then they buried him. (short pause as music
becomes spooky) In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw
Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him…
Rich man: Father Abraham! Father Abraham!
(quick cut to children’s choir director)
Children’s choir director: (still singing as the kids run
wild) Father Abraham – had many sons (speaking) Come now, children, pay
attention…Brandon, be a good boy and stop choking your brother…
(quick cut back to story)
Rich man: Father Abraham! Oh, Father Abraham! Have pity
on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my
tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.
Bernard: But Abraham replied…
Abraham: Son, remember that in your lifetime you received
your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted
here and you are in agony. And besides all this, there is a great chasm
between you and us, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot,
nor can anyone cross over from there to us.
Rich man: Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus back to my
house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not
also come to this place of torment.
Abraham: They have Moses and the Prophets; let them
listen to them.
Rich man: No, father Abraham, but if someone from the
dead goes to them, they will repent.
Abraham: If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets,
they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.
Rich man: (scared) No, no… (crying out in terror) NOOOOO!!!!!
[The rich man’s voice echoes and fades away, as the music
becomes dramatic and fades out. TV static sound-effect then plays briefly
and cuts to the next scene.]
Scene Four:
Girl: When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to
evildoers.
[TV static sound-effect plays briefly and cuts to the
next scene.]
Scene Five:
Eugene: Justice – noun – one – A – the maintenance or administration of what
is just – impartial adjustment of conflicting claims – the assignment of
merited rewards or punishments - B – a person duly commissioned to hold
courts or to try and decide controversies and administer justice.
[TV static sound-effect plays briefly and cuts to the
next scene.]
Scene Six:
Bernard: Many times, when we see poor people in other
countries – or even here at home - it looks like God doesn’t seem to care
about them.
(quick cut to College Bum)
College Bum: Hey, dad, can I ask you somethin’?
Dad: Go ahead, son. Uh…you aren’t asking for an extra
five thousand dollars to pay for textbooks are you?
College Bum: No…no, nothin’ that big.
Dad: Oh good.
College Bum: So, my question’s like - doesn’t God have
the power to feed all the starving people in Africa? I mean, dude, if God
loves them, why doesn’t He provide for them? And why’s it seem that he’s,
like, given the rest of us too much? Where’s the justice in that?
Dad: (uncomfortable) Uuuuhhh…Are you sure you didn’t want
to ask about an extra five thousand dollars?
(quick cut back to Bernard)
Bernard: Well, when we ask these kinds of questions we
need to remember that while it’s true that a lot of people in Odyssey and
other places have more than enough food to eat, and many other people don’t
have enough, this doesn’t mean that God loves us more than he loves them.
You see, God has called us to work justice on His behalf by helping those
who need help. Those of us who have been blessed with a lot have been given
the privilege of helping those who are less fortunate. If we expect God to
feed the hungry while we go off and do whatever we want to with our wealth,
then we go against what God has told us to do, and in this way, we’re the
ones who haven’t acted with justice. So rather than ask ‘why doesn’t God
feed the hungry?’, maybe we should ask ‘what are we doing to feed the
hungry?’.
Scene Seven:
Girl: Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty
will be with you, just as you say He is. Hate evil, love good; maintain
justice in the courts.
Scene Eight:
[This scene is called “And You Think You’ve Got Problems?: The Unjust
Judge.” This scene is one of the “shorties” that first aired in 2000. Bart
Rathbone plays the part of the unjust judge. Jim Ware is the writer.]
Johnny (Whit): Welcome to…And You Think You’ve got problems? Ever had
trouble getting people to listen to you?
Alex: Only my mom, my dad, my brother, my sister, my
friends, my enemies, my teacher, my…
Johnny (Whit): Then you can probably relate to this story that Jesus told in
Luke eighteen. (Narrating) Once in a certain city there was a judge who
didn’t fear God nor respect man.
Judge (Bart): God…man…big deal.
(knock on door. Door opens.)
Man #1: Your honor, this man took my donkey.
Judge (Bart): Donkey-shmonkey. What am I supposed to do about it? Next!
Man #1: But…
(door closes. Knock on door. Door opens)
Man #2: Your honor, my landlord just evicted me without
notice!
Judge (Bart): Tell it to the judge. Next!
Man #2: But…you are the judge.
(door closes. Knock on door. Door opens)
Man #3:Your honor – it’s my wife. She thinks she’s an
elevator.
Judge (Bart): So? Take her to a psychiatrist.
Man #3: I would, but she’s stuck on the third floor.
Johnny (Whit): Now there was a widow in that city who
came to the judge and said…
(knock on door. Door opens)
Widow: Get justice for me from my adversary.
Judge (Bart): I don’t do advertising. This is a legal
department. Go away.
(door closes)
Johnny (Whit): But the widow refused to give up. She came
back again.
[Widow knocks on door – door opens]
Widow: Get justice for me from my adversary!
Judge (Bart): You again? What do you think this is? A
court?
[door closes]
Johnny (Whit): And again…
[Widow knocks on door – door opens]
Widow: Get justice for me from my adversary.
Judge (Bart): Give it up, Gramma!
[door closes -]
Johnny (Whit): And again…
[Widow knocks on door – door opens]
Judge (Bart): Now what?
Widow: Get…
[door closes - Widow knocks on door – door opens]
Widow: …justice…
[door closes - Widow knocks on door – door opens]
Widow: …for me from my adversary!
[Continuous knocking]
Johnny (Whit): After awhile, the judge got really tired
of this and said…
Judge (Bart): This old bag ain’t gonna leave me alone. I
better get justice for her advertiser before I gotta get a new door.
[door opens]
Johnny (Whit): Then Jesus said, “Don’t give up when you
pray. Even the unjust judge eventually granted the widow’s request. How much
more will your Father in Heaven who loves you answer your prayers if you
have faith in Him. (beat) This is Johnny B. Grateful inviting you to join us
soon for another “And you think you’ve got problems?”
Judge (Bart): Go away. Come back tomorrow.
Johnny (Whit): Oh, be quiet.
Scene Nine:
Girl: Blessed are they who maintain justice, who
constantly do what is right.
Scene Ten:
[“Shakespearian” music plays]
Walter: And now…it’s time for poetry corner…with Edwin
Blackgaard.
Edwin: (reciting poetry) How do I love thee? Let me count
the ways./
I love thee to the depth and breadth and…
Walter: Um, excuse me, sir.
[“Shakespearian” music stops]
Edwin: (irritated) What is it?
Walter: I’m sorry, but I thought you were supposed to
recite a poem about justice.
Edwin: Well, I couldn’t find any poems about justice, so
I decided to recite a love poem instead.
Walter: But, sir, what does a love poem have to do with
anything?
Edwin: Oh, it has everything to do with everything. What
is that saying? - without love, we are nothing.
Walter: That’s a very good saying, sir. But I’m not sure
that’s the kind of love this poem is talking about.
Edwin: It’s close enough.
Walter: Sir, you’re doing your audience a great injustice
by reciting the wrong poem.
Edwin: Well, maybe I don’t have any interest in poetic
justice.
Walter : But I really think you ought to…
Edwin: Oh, leave me be, you poltroon.
Walter: (offended) Sir…
[“Shakespearian” music begins again]
Edwin: (reciting poetry) How do I love thee? Let me count
the…
[Sound-effect: static – cuts to next scene.]
Scene Eleven:
Bernard: Well, since they wouldn’t let me near the jury,
and Judge Abernathy decided to leave, I decided to get some answers about
justice from the real expert – John Avery Whittaker. (Bernard knocks on the
door to Whit’s office) Hello? Whit, are you in there? (Bernard opens the
door)
Bart: Walton!
Bernard: Bart?
Bart: What are ya’s doin’ here?
Bernard: Me? What are you doing in Whit’s office? Where’s
Whit?
Bart: (caught off guard) Oh, um…he had to step out for a
minute.
Bernard: (upset) But I’m supposed to interview him…we’re
live.
Bart: (doesn’t care) Oh, now that is a predictlament,
now, ain’t it? So, why can’t ya’s talk to me?
Bernard: (non-believing) You? – About justice?
Bart: (cheerful) Sure! Why not? I knows plenty stuff
‘bout justice.
Bernard: (skeptical) You do?
Bart: Yeah, just check out our prices over at the
Electric Palace. Now there’s justice for ya’s. We always give a fair price.
Ten Double A batteries for no less than thirty nine, ninety five.
Bernard: Less? What kind of justice is that?
Bart: Hey! They’s just gettin’ what they’s deserve!
That’s justice ain’t it?
Bernard: I guess…if they really deserved it.
Bart: Oh, they’s deserved all right…all those crumby
folks that didn’t vote for me all those times I ran for mayor…
Bernard: It sounds to me like you’re talking about
revenge…
Bart: What’s the difference, huh? What’s justice anymore
than one guy gettin’ back at the other?
Bernard: I was actually thinking of a different kind of
justice…
Bart: Oh, you mean those guys with the black robes? Yeah,
I got married by one of them. I knows about that kind too. (laughing) Oh,
man, that guy had funny hair…
Bernard: (to the camera) Maybe now we should go to
another story…
Bart: Hey! I wasn’t finished talkin’ about justice yet!
Scene Twelve:
[cheerful music plays – sheep noises are heard in the background]
Narrator: Once, there was a large flock of sheep who sat
grazing on a hill.
George the Sheep: How’s the grass over there, Bill?
Bill the Sheep: It’s green. How’s your grass, George?
George the Sheep: It tastes like chicken.
Bill the Sheep: Hmm, must be one of those bio products.
Narrator: One day, the owner of the sheep needed to go on
a business trip, so he left his two shepherds, Schlimiel and Obadokie, in
charge.
[the music becomes “suspicious.”]
Freddie the Sheep: What do you think of those two new
shepherds the Master left in charge of us, Frank?
Frank the Sheep: I don’t know what I think, Freddie. What
do you think?
Freddie the Sheep: I don’t like the looks of them. They
look like the type to rob the fleece off a sheep’s back.
Narrator: As soon as the Master set off on his journey,
the two shepherds went and threw a party.
[Party noises.]
Narrator: …and from there it went downhill.
[The two shepherds laugh idiotically.]
Obadokie: Just look at all those bone-headed sheep,
Schlimiel. Whatever are we to do with them all?
Schlimiel: Hey, I got an idea. Why don’t we dump wine
into their drinking water?
Obadokie: (cracking up) That’ll make ‘em daffy and
bone-headed.
[The shepherds laugh idiotically.]
Bill the Sheep: Oy vei! Oy vei!
George the Sheep: What’s wrong, Bill?
Bill the Sheep: Oh, I fell out of a tree and broke my
leg. The funny thing is it doesn’t hurt one bit. (hiccups)
George the Sheep: Now, I’m just a sheep, and I don’t got
much sense…but what in the world were you thinking by climbing a tree?
Bill the Sheep: Am I supposed to know what I was
thinking? I’m a sheep after all. (hiccups)
[cut to shepherds]
Schlimiel: Hey look, one of those bone-headed sheep broke
its leg.
Obadokie: Good, now it won’t run away like that one up
there.
Schlimiel: Where?
Obadokie: Up by that cliff, see? I’ve been watching this
one for half an hour.
Schlimiel: Shouldn’t we go get him?
Obadokie: What, are you kidding? Walk all that way for
sheep? No, it’s much more entertaining to watch them walk off cliffs. -
Oops, there he goes now. (giggles)
Schlimiel: Hey, after this, let’s go buy some paintball
shooters. (laughs) That could be fun.
Narrator: Well, things went from bad to worse. The two shepherds not only
treated their Master’s sheep badly, but they even went and had some of them
for supper.
Obadokie: How’s your sheep, Schlimiel?
Schlimiel: Tastes like chicken.
Obadokie: Hmm, must be one of those bio products.
Narrator: Finally, the sheep had enough.
Freddie the Sheep: That’s it! I’ve had enough! I’m out of
here.
Frank the Sheep: Where are you going?
[Thunder begins to rumble in the background as Freddie
speaks. The music becomes “heroic”]
Freddie the Sheep: Someplace where the sheep aren’t shorn in the winter,
where the shepherds don’t eat their flocks, where the grass don’t taste like
chicken, and the water’s sure to be dry! Who’s coming with me?
[Many sheep make sheep noises indicating that they will
go with him. – the music is still heroic, but becomes calmer.]
George the Sheep: What do you think he meant by dry
water?
Bill the Sheep: I don’t know what I think. I’m a sheep.
[music becomes dramatic]
Narrator: And so, what was left of the flock set out on
their own to find a safer place to live. Unfortunately, sheep tend to be
directionally challenged, and the thunder and lightning only added confusion
to their muddled state, so the sheep ended up separating from each other in
the rain, and wound up in all kinds of weird places.
[Thunder and rain stops and French music begins playing
in the background.]
Bill the Sheep: Where are we?
George the Sheep: I don’t know. I’m a sheep. I’ve never
known where I was my entire life. I’ll tell you one thing, though, this Brie
cheese is a lot worse than the chicken grass.
Bill the Sheep: Hmm, must be a bio product.
[French music stops]
Narrator: Back at the pasture, the Master returned to
find his two shepherds, Schlimiel and Obadokie, throwing paintballs at the
sheep that were too sick to run away.
Obadokie: (surprised) Oh! Uh…Master, (chuckling
nervously) we weren’t expecting you back so soon.
Narrator: Needless to say, things didn’t go well for
them.
Master: I will hold you accountable for my flock.
Shouldn’t you have taken care of it instead of only taking care of
yourselves? You are now removed from your positions, and you will no longer
be called shepherds.
Narrator: After this, the Master went out and looked for
all of His lost sheep in order to bring them back from all the weird places
in which they had ended up. He rescued them from all the places where they
were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. He brought them out from the
nations and gathered them from the countries, and He brought them into their
own land. There, the Master Himself watched over His sheep, and the sheep
enjoyed eating the rich pastures.
Frank the Sheep: Eating the rich pastors? Why would we do
that?
Freddie the Sheep: The sermon went past noon and we got
hungry.
Narrator: No, no. Pastures. You know…grass that tastes
like chicken.
Frank the Sheep: Oh, right, I gotchya.
Scene Thirteen:
Girl: Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord
understand it fully.
Scene Fourteen:
Host: (played by Cory Burton) And now it’s time for…Did…You…Know?
Eugene: Did you know that in Plato’s Republic, Socrates describes justice as
"working at that which one is naturally best suited"? He goes on to say that
justice is "to do one's own business and not to be a busybody." Plato
describes justice as the founding and preserving virtue because it is only
after an individual understands justice that they can truly take hold of the
other three virtues of wisdom, courage, and moderation.
Connie: No…but did you know that in October of 1685 the King of France
proclaimed an edict stating that all Huguenot churches be destroyed and that
all protestant schools be closed? In response, Frederick William of
Brandenburg issued the Potsdam Edict to establish justice and religious
freedom. He offered the Huguenots safe passage to his country, exempted them
from taxes for ten years, and allowed them to worship freely and hold church
services in their own language.
Host: (played by Cory Burton) Well…you know it now. And don’t you forget it!
Scene Fifteen:
Connie: (narrating) As Jesus was teaching his disciples, a man in the crowd
came to Jesus and said to him…
Man: Teacher, please go and tell my brother to divide up our father’s
inheritance with me.
Connie: (narrating) But Jesus replied…
Jesus: Friend, who made me a judge between you to decide things like that?
Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Life is not measured
by how much you own. (beat) Listen to this story: There once was a rich man
who had a fertile farm that produced good crops.
Rich fool: (happy) Just look at all the crops I’ve grown this year! Wheat,
Barley, Corn…Soybeans. I’ve really outdone myself this time. (laughs
greedily) By my own mighty power I have planted these beautiful crops to be
my joy and to display my own majestic splendor! (laughs greedily)
Jesus: But then he began to think to himself just what exactly he was going
to do with all he had planted…
Rich fool: Wait a minute, now. What am I gonna do? I don’t have enough room
in my barns to store all these crops.
Jesus: The rich man came up with an idea…
Rich fool: Hey, I know what I’ll do. I’ll tear down all my old puny barns
and then I’ll build a whole bunch of bigger ones. Then I can sit back, relax
and enjoy myself. I’ll never have to work again. (laughs greedily – talking
to himself) Oh, I’ve made a pretty good livin’ for myself now. I can keep
all this stuff to myself and party for the rest of my life!
Jesus: But God took notice of all of this, and he saw something that the
rich man didn’t see. God came to him and said…
God: You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who
will get what you have prepared for yourself?
Jesus: This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself
but is not rich toward God.
Scene Sixteen:
Girl: Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a
lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.
Scene Seventeen:
(St. Antony is chanting “Dona eis requiem sempiternam” in
the background.)
Bernard: Justice is something that speaks to the hearts
of all of us. We all want to be treated with respect and dignity, and we get
angry when we feel as though our rights have been ignored. This desire for
our own well-being ought to...
St. Antony: Uh, excuse me.
Bernard: Uh...what is it? We’re in the middle of a show.
St. Antony: Oh, perfect.
Bernard: Who are you?
St. Antony: I am St. Antony of the desert.
Bernard: Wait...the father of all monks?
St. Antony: The one and only.
Bernard: Good grief.
St. Antony: May I say something?
Bernard: Sure, why not? What’s one more distraction?
St. Antony: (clears throat) Some of those who stop in
inns are given beds, while others having no beds stretch themselves on the
floor and sleep as soundly as those in beds. In the morning, when night is
over...
Bernard: Obviously...
St. Antony: ...all alike get up and leave the inn,
carrying away with them only their own belongings.
Bernard: That’s very nice. Do you think...
St. Antony: I’m not finished.
Bernard: Oh.
St. Antony: It is the same with those who tread the path
of this life: both those who have lived in modest circumstances, and those
who had wealth and fame, leave this life like an inn, taking with them no
worldly comforts or riches, but only what they have done in this life,
whether it be good or bad.
(awkward silence)
Bernard: Are you finished?
St. Antony: Mmm-hmm. Ponder these things, and mean them.
And now God save you, children, for Antony departs and is with you no more.
(chanting) Dona eis requiem…
Bernard: Weirdo.
St. Antony: Heretic.
Scene Eighteen:
King David: (played by Will Ryan) The Lord works righteousness and justice
for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the
people of Israel: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger,
abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger
forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to
our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is
his love for those who fear him.
Scene Nineteen:
Walter: And now…your thought of the day…with Edwin Blackgaard.
Edwin: (complaining) Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…
Walter: Uh…is everything alright, sir? Didn’t Mr. Walton get you your
script?
Edwin: Yes, he did – a pox upon him!
Walter: (confused) Sir?
Edwin: I can’t read this! It would be too great an injustice against William
Shakespeare!
Walter: But, sir, I thought you said that you didn’t care for poetic
justice…
Edwin: That was before Mr. Walton handed me a script written by Bacon! He
did this to me on purpose, didn’t he?
Walter: Please, sir…we’re on the air.
Edwin: Oh…very well. (reciting with great dignity) If we do not maintain
Justice…Justice will not maintain us.
Walter: Very good, sir. See now? That wasn’t so bad.
Edwin: Where’s Mr. Walton? I want to have a word with him.
Scene Twenty:
Eugene: Poetic Justice – noun – an outcome of a fictitious or real situation
in which vice is punished and virtue is rewarded usually in a manner
peculiarly or ironically appropriate to the particular situation.
Scene Twenty-one:
[story-appropriate music begins]
Narrator: Meanwhile, back at the pasture, all was not well.
George the Sheep: Hey, bill, look at what’s going on over there.
Bill the Sheep: What?
George the Sheep: Those goats over there, see?
Bill the Sheep: What about them?
George the Sheep: Just look. They’re ripping up all the grass and throwing
it around.
Bill the Sheep: Hmm, must be some sort of…goat ritual.
George the Sheep: There ain’t gonna be anything left if they keep that up.
Bill the Sheep: I suppose you were wanting me to go make them stop.
George the Sheep: Well, if it weren’t no trouble.
Bill the Sheep: It is…and so are those goats. You go talk to them.
George the Sheep: Why me?
Bill the Sheep: Because you’re the one who brought it up. And besides, my
leg’s still broken from when I fell out of that tree.
George the Sheep: Oh yeah.
(later)
George the Sheep: Hey…Hey, buddy.
Larry the Goat: Yeah? What do you want? Can’t you see I’m busy throwing
grass in the air?
George the Sheep: Uh…yeah, I noticed. Uh, about that, see. Some of us sheep
were talking, and we were thinking that we didn’t like that so much.
Larry the Goat: Wait – did I hear you right? Did you actually say that you
were thinking? Ha! Maybe you should mind your own business, sheep, and not
tell us goats what to do. You can send that message back to your buddies…if
they can understand it.
George the Sheep: Uh…
Larry the Goat: In the meantime, we’ll just keep throwing grass in the air.
George the Sheep: Uh…
Narrator: Well, the problems didn’t stop there. The goats not only kept
ripping up the good pasture, but they even got some of the other sheep to
join with them.
Larry the Goat: Oh, no, we don’t rip up the good pastors – only the ones who
preach too long.
Narrator: No, no, no. A pasture – a pasture!
Larry the Goat: Oh.
(later)
Larry the Goat: Okay, everybody, listen up. We goats have decided on some
new rules for this here pasture.
Freddie the Sheep: New rules?
Larry the Goat: Rule number one. Any sheep who disagrees with anything a
goat says will be immediately butted.
Freddie the Sheep: Butted? What’s that supposed to mean?
[Freddie gets butted by a goat and goes flying through the air. He yells,
but his voice fades into the distance.]
Larry the Goat: That also goes for any sheep that interrupts a goat. Rule
number two: any sheep caught being stupid will be immediately butted.
Frank the Sheep: I still don’t get that whole butted thing.
[Frank gets butted by a goat and goes flying through the air. He yells, but
his voice fades into the distance.]
Bill the Sheep: I object! He wasn’t being stupid!
Larry the Goat: Sure he was. He’s a sheep. Oh, wait, you’re all sheep! Get
‘em, boys!
[The goats butt the sheep.]
(later, the goats are jumping around in a stream)
George the Sheep: Hey! Hey! Hey! What are you guys doing?
Larry the Goat: What’s it look like? We’re turning your little babbling
brook into a bunch of mud.
George the Sheep: But wait a minute! You guys have to drink out of this
thing, too.
Larry the Goat: Yes, but it’s so much more comforting to know that you’ll be
suffering right along with us.
[George gets butted by a goat and goes flying through the air. He yells, but
his voice fades into the distance.]
Narrator: Well, it wasn’t long before the Master took notice of the way the
goats were treating the other sheep, and He wasn’t too happy about it. So,
the Master went and gathered up all of his flock, both the sheep and the
goats.
The Master: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and
goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Is it not
enough for you to drink clear water? Must my flock feed on what you have
trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet? Because you shove
with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until
you have driven them away, I will save my flock, and they will no longer be
plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.
Narrator: Then the Master had His own son come and look after the sheep. The
Son separated the sheep and the goats. He put the goats on his left and the
sheep on his right. To the sheep he said…
The Son: Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the
kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was in need
and you had compassion on me and helped me.
Freddie the Sheep: But, sir, when did we ever see you in need?
The Son: I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these
brothers of mine, you did for me.
Narrator: Then the Son turned to the goats and said…
The Son: Get away from me! You are cursed! When you saw me in need, you
didn’t help me.
Larry the Goat: But, sir, we never saw you in need!
The Son: I tell you the truth, whatever you didn’t do for one of the least
of these, you didn’t do for me.
Narrator: Then the Master made his sheep a promise of peace.
[music becomes “beautiful”]
The Master: I will drive away the dangerous animals from the land. Then you
will be able to camp safely in the wildest places and sleep in the woods
without fear. I will bless you and your homes around my holy hill. And in
the proper season I will send the showers you need. There will be showers of
blessing. Your orchards and fields will yield bumper crops, and everyone
will live in safety. For I have broken your chains of slavery and rescued
you from those who enslaved you. Now you know that I am with you and that
you are my flock, the sheep of my pasture.
[Music takes over and ends scene]
Scene Twenty-two:
Bernard: Well, we were finally able to catch up with Whit. Unfortunately
we’re out of time and Whit won’t be able to say anything.
Whit: What?
Bernard: (chuckling) Just kidding. We still have some time left. So, Whit,
tell us, is it ever hard to act with justice?
Whit: (Chuckling) Oh, it definitely is sometimes, especially when people
mistreat us for doing what’s right. But you know, whenever we feel as though
we’re being treated without justice, it helps to keep in mind that God
establishes justice, and in the end, He has the final say – like the story
about the sheep. In the meantime, though, we should remember what the
prophet Micah said: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does
the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly
with your God.
(quick cut to Girl reading)
Girl: Matthew chapter five, verses eleven and twelve. Jesus said…
(quick cut to voice of Jesus)
Jesus: God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about
you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my
followers. Rejoice and be glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And
remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
(quick cut to girl reading)
Girl: John 15:18 and 16:33.
(quick cut to voice of Jesus)
Jesus: If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first…I have
told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you
will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
(quick cut to girl reading)
Girl: 1st Peter 2:21-25.
(quick cut to voice of Peter)
Peter: For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as
Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his
steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when
he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in
the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is
right. By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered
away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.
(quick cut back to Bernard)
Bernard: Well, that’s all the time we have left for today’s episode of BTV.
For all of us here, I’m Bernard Walton, see you next time. Good-bye.
[BTV theme music plays briefly and takes us to the end.]
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