Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Unsystematic Theology

Home
Progressive Christian
The Problem of Certainty and “Making a Murderer”

The Problem of Certainty and “Making a Murderer”

Last updated on: February 12, 2016 at 10:46 am by Kyle Roberts

The Problem of Certainty and “Making a Murderer” 2016-02-12T10:46:43-05:00 Kyle Roberts

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Like a lot of the rest of America, I was entranced with the Netflix documentary “Making a Murderer.” (Spoiler alert!)

Dean Strang. Image: Netflix Screenshot via the Guardian

The series–filmed over a period of 10 years–follows the story of Wisconsinite Steven Avery, a two-time convict. Avery was exonerated by DNA evidence while serving time for his first conviction, only to be convicted again for a second violent crime shortly after his exoneration and release.

Steven Avery, mugshot (Netflix Screenshot)

I’m not going to speculate as to Avery’s (or his nephew, Brendan Dassey’s) guilt or innocence regarding his second conviction. There are numerous theories out there as to what may or may not have actually happened. A new theory, based in part on a photograph of victim Teresa Holbach, suggests that the conviction of Avery and Dassey was the result of a perfect storm of being simultaneously framed by two independent parties.

The documentary does a fantastic job at shining the light on weaknesses (flaws, even) within our criminal justice system and making a case at how easily things could go awry. They press the point that, no matter the well-intentions of police and prosecutors, personal biases can get in the way and clouded judgment can have serious, life-destroying consequences.

The series closes with a moving reflection by Avery’s attorneys–both of whom come of as probably the most likable (and most rational) people in the series. The remarks of Attorney Dean Strang caught my attention.

Reflecting on the jury’s verdict of “guilty,” Strang had this to say:

I just can’t imagine he [Avery] did them…and I don’t believe he did them.

The forces that caused that I understand and I don’t think are driven by malice. I think [they] are just expressions of ordinary human failing. But the consequences are what are so sad and awful.

Most of what ails our criminal justice system lie in unwarranted certitude on the part of police officers and prosecutors and defense lawyers and judges and jurors, that they’re getting it right. That they simply are right. Just a tragic lack of humility—of everyone who participates in our criminal justice system.

Granted, Strang has his biases, too.

But that phrase, “a tragic lack of humility,” seems to me to describe not only the glaring weaknesses in the criminal justice system–at least as portrayed in “Making a Murderer”; it also captures so much of what ails our society as a whole. So often we are driven by certainty, empowered by a dogmatic feeling that we (me, my tribe, my party, etc.) are absolutely, unequivocally in the right.

The feeling of being in the right may or may not be warranted by solid reasons.

In the book, On Being Certain, neuroscientist Robert Burton explains, from a scientific perspective, this “feeling of certainty” or the “feeling of knowing.” It’s a common, unavoidable phenomena–part of the human experience. He argues that the feeling of certainty is not–despite assumptions to the contrary–a product of “conscious deliberation” or of reasoned, deliberative judgment:

Despite how certainty feels, it is neither a conscious choice nor even a thought process. Certainty and similar states of “knowing what we know” arise out of involuntary brain mechanisms that, like love or anger, function independently of reason. (xiii)

The feeling of certainty is based in biology. How much more natural can it be?

The brain creates an “involuntary sensation of ‘knowing’ and this “sensation is affected by everything from genetic predispositions to perceptual illusions common to all bodily sensations.” This intuition or feeling of having knowledge or being certain is, Burton suggests, the source of many of our “seemingly irresolvable modern dilemmas.”

The feeling of knowing can lead to, as Strang put it, a “tragic lack of humility on the part of everyone.”

Perhaps by understanding the biological, neurological, and genetic basis of the feeling of knowing we might be able to expose unwarranted certainty for what it is.

Aside from having a more just judicial system, perhaps we could also minimize the political rancor, religious and ideological warfare, and unwarranted dogmas that cause so much of our current social conflicts.

For more theology and society posts and discussions, like/follow Unsystematic Theology on Facebook

Image Source (Dean Strang)

Image Source (Steven Avery)

Previous Post

February 10, 2016

Ash Wednesday from a Mexican-American Perspective

Next Post

February 17, 2016 Brueggemann's Prophetic Imagination and the "Book that Breathes"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2020 November 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 December 2018 July 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz