I was reading something in the Los Angeles Times recently about the flight on Sept. 11th that was brought down by the passengers.  It was a transcript of what was heard from the cockpit.  Apparently there were people saying things like God is the greatest while pilots were begging for their lives and saying things like 'please, please, I don't want to die'.  I bring this up precisely because it is an example of evil done in the name of religion.   I think Bruce and myself can agree that there are terrible things done in the name of religion, including Christianity.   Note I am not saying all of Islam, or Christianity, or religion is evil, that is not my point here.  I'm saying I believe these actions were evil.
 But calling something evil presupposes a morality.  And morality needs to be based on something; a social contract, a deity's laws, or even subjective right and wrong.  If a person becomes the judge of his or her own morality, then logical problems result.  
 Imagine a repeat pedophile priest who is unrepentant and not caught (again I bring this up because its a religious example).  If this person justifies what they do in their own mind, then there is no reason for them to be perfectly comfortable in the afterlife.  If they are their own judge, presumably one could make the rules however they choose.  Because under Bruce's view, these people would end up with other child molesters, but I suppose once they came to the realization that they are in a Belief System Territory they could simply move along to a higher plane.  This priest would have utterly destroyed young people's lives when he was on earth, and now in the afterlife he simply realizes that Christianity is a Belief System that should be transcended, and then he gets to fly around, make friends, and happily explore all over.
 The problem becomes that there is no justice in the world or the afterlife then it seems.  What about all of the billions of people who have lived in grinding poverty and with preventable disease while western nations have exploited the world's natural resources for luxuries (I am guilty of this myself of course)?  People who do not want to see the suffering of their neighbor should need to give some account of their actions at least.  Jesus would teach no less (i.e. parable of the rich man and Lazarus).  It seems that life is a cruel joke to millions, if not billions, if there are no consequences for actions committed here.  It seems there is not much justice for victims in this life, and if there is no account given for right and wrong, then the universe is absurdly unfair.

Just an addendum; I am not saying that one needs to be judged against absolute laws to be fair.  Someone arguing for more morphine for a dying person is not murdering someone in the same way a thug with a gun might.

Well, it has been suggested by some in the
mental-health field, that pedophiles are quite
immature and childish themselves. (I can see
how they are attracted to formulaic religion -
e.g. pedophile priests - as the need for a "big
daddy in the sky" is a rather childish desire.)
Maybe they find that in their afterlives, they have
become little boys... in a world full of horny, brutal,
degenerate, baby-raping MEN! ("Demons" maybe?) There's your "justice", perhaps...

B-man

Yeah, it's unfair.

..but, do rapists create themselves as such, or were they conditioned to be rapists by countless factors that influenced their being, which was created a certain way, whether randomly on intentionally, to react through "free will" to become a rapist.

Both the victim and the rapist are victims of the way this universe works, IMO.
Every murderer that's suffered guilt for what they did, thinking it was their own fault, is a victim.

If this whole "karma" thing is real, then supposedly no matter where a soul exists, it can't escape payment for it's actions.  Everything has to be corrected of the "imbalances".
To me, this doesn't make any sense at all in the slightest.  Any kind of true balance is impossible with such a system.  Free will is merely the result of how a being was conditioned in it's creation to react.

Scenario A results in being B's action C, as it was created to react with action C in scenario A.

Deserving payment for how a being was created to react.  Karma's a sickening concept.

I don't know what "higher" purpose, if any, we may serve, but all in all, I feel like a tool, and that it's not in least worth it.
I'd go as far to call it rape on a cosmic scale.

Of course, most typical new-agers seem quite willing to just bend over, unquestioningly, to what they think they've figured out is the will of "god".

Justice is a matter of logic, and handled by karma.

Let's not confuse it with (a) vengeance or (b) our ignorance.

dave

There is no justice innate to the physical universe. The physical
universe is just a machine, that is indifferent to the welfare of
man or beast. This can be seen from the earthquake at Bam, Iran,
the Tsunami at Sri Lanka, or in Hurricane Katrina. These show that
the physical universe is not controlled by a benevolent, loving
god. These events have nothing to do with justice.

However, the universe is inhabited by some benevolent entities
capable of intervening into the purely mechanical flow of events.
These interventions reflect the morality of the entities making the
intervention.

Justice is an idea invented on earth, and probably other planets,
as part the morality invented here, for the purposes of group
animals and humans, to have a better, safer life. Each group
invents, over a period of time, codes that fit their circumstances.
These codes will only produce justice when an agency to enforce
justice exists and operates. Otherwise there is no justice.

These codes are then carried by the reincarnation cycle into
various heavens and BSTs, where people carry on the codes they
brought with them.

Various religions claim their rules come from a god, and have a
divine source. This is basically a witch doctor's trick to get
obedience. But actually, morality arises from the needs of group
living here on Earth. Legislatures are continually engaged in
deciding what shall be right or wrong.

Justice by way of karma would have to be enforced by some spiritual
entities who have the power to plan or influence our lives and have
their particular set of values.

An example of karma would be this piece of lore that I can not say
whether it is true or not, it is just lore. Martin Luther King
was a white man who mistreated his slaves in a previous life. So he
was told by some authority to return to pay his karmic debt. And he
certainly did that, advancing the cause of justice considerably.

Such an authority apparently exists, and sends people back to
finish their assignment. But it is not the same thing as the basic
power of the physical universe, which is mechanical, and produces
natural disasters without any regard for justice. Justice is not a
principle of operation of the physical universe, the way that for
instance gravity is. Justice exists only where there is something
able to maintain it, and a code of values to determine it.

 So if karma is the answer, there are still problems.  Boris you mentioned karma is based on the various codes that people bring with them into heaven.  This is still not helpful and unfair.  Someone's karmic code (or own justification) could enable them to have no karmic debt to pay for things that others might consider wrongs done to others.
 Imagine a kid raised out in the country in the mountains, in a rural area.  Lets say he has older brothers.  Imagine his older brothers show him that its cool and fun to skin animals while these animals are still alive.  Torturing animals is fun, and he enjoys seeing them suffer.  He does not feel this is wrong because this is what he has been taught.  The kid dies, then goes to a high spiritual plane because he feels no guilt or karmic debt to tie him to a belief system territory.  Is this example of karma representing justice?
 Or what about the fact that karma can be used to justify not being compassionate and helping others?  Some will actually advise against helping others (under a karmic system) because the sufferer is working out their past debt.  If you alleviate their suffering you simply push back the payment of that debt of suffering.
 Additionally, if we never remember the reason why we are suffering, what good is the suffering?  If we knew we were suffering for a reason then it would carry great emotional impact.  That would immediately change behavior for many people.  And we would lose some of our free will in the process.
 The real reason that we have people who suffer and people who victimize others while still enjoying a pleasant physical life is because we have a creator who above all else values our free will.  If there were immediate consequences for our actions in this life than free will would be severely restricted.  God wants to see what we will do with our gift of free will on a planet that has regular laws that which provide for moral consequences for physical actions.

The law of cause and effect stands, it matters not if you like it. It is how it is, no soul can lie or cheat that which is divinely guided, energy out energy returned that is the law . Whether you recall your past miss deeds dose not matter; As your soul on a higher plane knows the reason behind all you have to endure. And to further its total being it will agree to work out its karmic Dept's on the physical plane.

But know this, no one gets away with anything all is worked out through the upper planes, and balance will be returned. To ponder  that which at this time is beyond your perception is futile , but of-cause you can continue to argue and disagree we always seem to fight the very things that are so simple and plain in there truth, all you need to really know is. That there is a universal law that takes care of everything.

Cause and effect is justice. That I must sleep in the bed I make is justice. That I must eat the food I cook is justice (Ugh).

A machine is totally just.  But then, it is just a machine.

Whe we see an infant tortured or any of the other outrages, we have no basis from our immedioate perspective to say that that is either "right" or "wrong", but merely that we would prefer that it never need to happen again. That doesn't mean that the tortured infant is or is not a person whose prior lifetime was devoted to murdering children. And, regrettably, it has been a Arabic custom for millennia to bury girl children alive at birth so as to increase the number of sons. What we are seeing might simply be thekarmic result.

Injustice often seems to start with do-gooders who intervene in a hateful manner, exacerbating the issue. For example, who seriously can believe that murdering murderers will accomplish anything? We simply institutionalize hatred. The victim's parents scream for vengeance (a truly loving and enlightened attitude?) while the perpetrators friends scream for mercy. Something seems to be wrong with this picture.

dave