"Now the other myth that gets around is the idea that legislation cannot really solve the problem and that it has no great role to play in this period of social change because you’ve got to change the heart and you can’t change the heart through legislation. You can’t legislate morals. The job must be done through education and religion. Well, there’s half-truth involved here. Certainly, if the problem is to be solved then in the final sense, hearts must be changed. Religion and education must play a great role in changing the heart. But we must go on to say that while it may be true that morality cannot be legislated, behavior can be regulated. It may be true that the law cannot change the heart but it can restrain the heartless. It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me but it can keep him from lynching me and I think that is pretty important, also. So there is a need for executive orders. There is a need for judicial decrees. There is a need for civil rights legislation on the local scale within states and on the national scale from the federal government.
-Taken from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s address at Western Michigan University, December 18, 1963
9 comments:
we are already legislating morality to some degree....
at least half of the ten commandments are law...
thou shalt not steal...
thou shalt not murder...
ok, maybe not half.............
laws won't change the heart, no..
but they might change the kind of place we live in..
at least have a place where we can have a church, can tell people about Jesus...
in many countries you can't even do that...
but most in our country are social clubs anyways........ :-\
I have to agree! Even biblically well the 10 commandments are a good example God even knew men needed laws, why? Because he knew satan exists, because he knew the ways of sin, because he knew we are weak.
Law is a guide to go by. Abortion is a good example since abortion became legal (law being used in a bad way) the morality of man has fallen, why people stop valuing human life. Making it a law to teach myth in schools, such as darwin , why again teaches that humans have no true value and that were just animals anyway so there is nothing stopping us from killing one another, like an animal in the wild. (There can be a huge post on that alone). Anyway laws can be set that can have an affect on people good or bad, this is why us helping vote the right laws into place is so important.
Your post is true Eric, very true.
Did you see A Man for All Seasons yet? Go rent it.
Legislation didn't stop him from being assassinated. Legislation doesn't stop anyone from anything. It is designed only to punish those it finds to be guilty, nothing more. It does not educate.
Morality can only be taught by love. Even the 10 commandments were trumped by Jesus when he said the most important commandment was to love your God, and equally important was to love your neighbor. Jesus said EVERYTHING is summed up in love. He pointed out time and again that the Jews didn't understand the law at all, they used it only to rule and punish. That is not the purpose.
The law written on my heart has only one word.
I think Romans 13:1-7 explains a sphere of God ordained life that exists in tandem with the principle of a renewed heart. It's a reality living in a fallen and redeemed world.
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
I think the issues that revolve around human community require more than leaving self to be the moderator of cultural stability or norm or basic agreed upon law.
Are you telling me that law as it exists today in whatever arena...holds no power to dictate choice or curb behavior and extends no protection over citizens? I think that's a premise that could be debated fairly easy.
I'm personally not a fan of Anarchy, as an ideology or a state of community.
so...........the law may change behavior but the law alone won't change the heart?
yes, we need the law because most peoples hearts are not changed....
We all hate the police until we need them.
"i don't hate them, i just feel better when they're not around...."
-henry chinaski- barfly
Um, I've never actually met a policeman or woman that I didn't like... truly! I used to work with many of them on an everyday basis when I worked for Spokane Municipal Court. Thank God for our police force! I don't think any of us really know what our society would be like without them.
This post and the subsequent comments have me thinking about the "Undercover" series by John Bevere, which truly changed my life. I don't remember the whole thing, but I remember the main points, one of which is that to God, our submission to authority is as important as our submission to Himself. In fact, if we rebel against God's designated authority in our lives (parents, pastors, government officials, etc), we are in fact rebelling against God as surely as if it were He Who gave us the command directly. (Unless the person is requiring us to do something that goes directly against God's written Word.)
The other live-altering truth I remember from that series is this: There is freedom in submission, and bondage in rebellion.
I found the series to be incredibly freeing. One of the things I realized was that it is my husband who will stand accountable before God as to the way he leads our family, and I will stand accountable before God as to the way I submit to my husband's leadership.
There are many aspects to the ways these truths are lived out, and this is an oversimplification, but my life and family are still greatly benefited as, with God's help, we do our best to walk in these principles.
Justin, I sincerely hope and pray that you will vote this year. So many people have given their lives over the years to secure and preserve this freedom, this privilege, and this responsibility for us.
Pastor Eric, thank you for providing such wonderful food for thought and opportunity for discussion.
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