We are a nation of Laws. Here are some facts/figures. I didn’t do an exhaustive search, but probably
these are fairly accurate; just open up the yellow pages in any town in America,
if you can still find a phone book!
According to the American Bar Association there are
currently 1,116,967 lawyers practicing in the United States. That is
approximately one for every 300 people, or approximately 0.36% of the total
population. These statistics relate only to those currently practicing and
maintaining their licenses. There are far more with inactive or retired status.
We, as Americans, are in love with the Law. We are a ‘nation of Laws.’ America has more lawyers and legislators who
are lawyers than can be construed as random chance. And a large percentage of them make their home
in the halls of Congress!
According
to the Congressional Research Service 170 members of the House and 60 Senators
are lawyers. Out of a total of 435 U.S. Representatives and 100 Senators (535
total in Congress), lawyers comprise the biggest voting block of one type,
making up 43% of Congress. Sixty percent of the U.S. Senate is lawyers and 37.2%
of the House of Representatives are lawyers.
So, what
can we conclude about all this in the wake of yet another horrific terrorist
attack? I don’t care if he is home-grown or not…he was a terrorist. Shall we
seek our lawyers to draft another law to keep us safe? Shall we ponder if the 2nd Amendment
is necessary?
Gun-grabbers
say yes. Average Americans say no.
All of
this is just too ironic for words! In a
post-Christian America we idolize the rule of law. Sorry folks, that’s the way I see it based on
our culture and what we enact as lawful (abortion comes to mind). We want the rule of law! More laws will make us safe! More laws make us free! Really?
Now, that
the knee-jerk emotional response is past let’s look at this from another
perspective. All of you will not like
it, but it is the way I see it.
Thirty-five
hundred years ago, give or take a few years, the Creator gave his prophet, Moses,
a list of laws. The concise list was
only TEN. Ten Laws that support the
remaining detailed instruction for man to live peaceably with each other and
with our Creator Himself.
TEN. Not 100, Not 1,000, not 40,000 (which is just
a rough estimate of the laws Obama signed into effect just days after his 2012
election). Forty thousand on top of the
uncountable numbers of laws, statutes and ordinances we are living beneath in
America today. And that is just the
Federal government!
Yet, as
soon as some lunatic decides to put ‘I hate everyone, including God’ at the top
of his list, the first response is: “There ought to be a law against it.”
Well,
duh. How many laws did the shooter in
Vegas break? Did it prevent him from
carrying out his sick plan? No.
I highly
doubt another law is going to make a difference. Do you?
But the real
irony is this: YHVH (God/Creator) gave us a pretty concise, pared-down-to-basics
list of do’s and don’ts. But, today,
many believe those laws have no force and can be ignored. The Christian Church claims that we are no
longer ‘under’ the Law of Moses (even though, if you would study it, you’d see
that Yeshua (Jesus) never said any such thing).
We find
it impossible to ‘keep’ simple instructions like: Do not murder. But we are more than willing to enumerate
some secular laws to make all modes of murder illegal. Do you see the problem yet?
It is not
our laws (nor even YHVH’s Laws) that make us safe. It is our heart. If we really and truly loved, feared and
revered YHVH and each other, we could live very happily under His
instruction. Adding to his basics hasn’t
gotten us anywhere, has it?
Someone
posed the question (as they always do): If there is a God, why didn’t he stop
the shooting? End the hunger? House the homeless?
Why?
It is a
good question. If you believe that we
are free and have rights, what does that mean?
Are you responsible for yourself?
Your family? Your community? Is it your job or is it the job of some bureaucrat? You want it to be the government that stops
evil, but you don’t trust the Creator.
What is the difference?
YHVH gave
us a list of instruction whereby we could live together in peace. He also gave us freedom. Freedom to choose to follow Him, or do our
own thing.
I ask
you: Has ‘doing our own thing’ made us safer, happier, cured hunger, violence
or greed?
You say a
law to limit guns will keep us safe? How
are we doing so far?
I think
we have placed our faith in the wrong entity.
The government will not keep us safe.
The government has no moral authority.
It sticks its proverbial finger in the air and tests to see which way
the wind blows before enacting another ‘rule of law’ for us to follow.
We rail
against God, but we won’t take Him at his word which says he will bless us if
we are obedient to His instruction. As
far as I can see, He is the only One who can intervene. But, I ask you: would you recognize Him if He
did stop the killing? What would it take
for you to place your faith in Him? The
bad stuff that never happens is invisible to us. Does that mean He never intervenes? How could we know?
We expect the ‘government’ to be effective in
changing the heart of men, all the while rejecting the Creator who loves us
enough to allow us to live in this imperfect nation called America; who allows
us the freedom of choice.
Until we
get our hearts in order, until we allow someOne with moral authority to give us
laws to follow (oh wait! He already did
that!) we are still relying on men to purify their own hearts.
Who can
truly help us? When is the last time you
read some lawyer-inspired legislation that taught you how to love your fellow
man? Give us the Law! Or give us the Law-giver?
Mat 19:16 Now behold, one came to Him and said,
“Teacher, what good shall I do to have eternal life?”
Mat 19:17
“Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Yeshua said to him. “There is
only One who is good; but if you want to enter into life, keep the
commandments.”
