A New Brand Of Legalism

Something hideous is happinging all around the country. It takes place in all sorts of ways and it has nothing to do with the church. But it will affect the church. I just got back from a hospital where I saw an instance of this plague.

It's a plague of the soul. What is it? It's a new American tradition. In this new American tradition, regulations and laws, in government or in the private sector, are enacted with no practical purpose at all. Instead, the purpose of many of these new regulations is simply to make someone we hate feel really, really bad and to cause them some sort of discomfort.

At the hospital it took the form of a sign that accomplished nothing for the health, wealth, or general welfare of mankind and had nothing to do with glorifing God. It was in the parking lot of the hospital. It said, "Our campus is smoke free St. Vincent Health Care." Out under God's beautiful blue sky, the guy leaning against a car three spaces down was not allowed to smoke. Why? Was it because if I inhaled one molecule of carbon from that guy's cig I'd sprout tumors all over my body like a B movie from the 80's? No. The point was to make the smoker feel bad. Notice the sign didn't say, "Please don't smoke." It said, "(We are) smoke free," implying, "and you're NOT, you dirty smoker, you!"

That sign did nothing to protect me, the non-smoker. But that wasn't the point. It was worded specifically to make smokers feel one or two notches below St. Vincents.

And I think that's a crime.

As we Americans loose the concept of the image of God in our neighbors and the golden rule is replaced by selfishness, we find it easier to vent grudges, pride, and hatred in all sorts of ways. One way is to make our hatred a law.

Recently in our Congress, a non-binding resolution was almost passed against the President by the House. "Non-binding" means it has no practical value. No one anywhere in the country is bound to do anything differently because of this new resolution. So the only reason for it was to tell the President and the world that they are angry with him. Do we really pay these guys to pass laws that mean nothing? Why don't they just pass a note around the class that says, "Bush is a doo-doo-head?"

However, it's not always as harmless as that. Today, laws are being pushed by liberals in Congress that seek to punish Christians for speaking of the righteous law of God. If you're a Christian--and I mean a real Christian, not the typical mamby-pamby churchie--they want to punish you for it. They want to cut your tongue out.

For a quick look at what I refer to, see "Freedom to Evangelize" in the blogroll.

In Christ,
Phil Perkins.