The Ineffectiveness of Law, and the Perils of a Christ-less Nation

By David Hobbs

Here is a letter to the editor I wrote that was published in our local paper (the Appeal-Democrat) on Jan. 18, 2013. I am including it here because of all the letters I have written, this is the one I felt God's presence most strongly in writing it. He did not dictate it, but Holy Spirit was feeding me the ideas as I was writing. I was so caught up that if I couldn't come up with the right word to say, I would pray desperately for the word (desperate not to break the flow) and it would pop into my mind (neat experience!). While the initial idea of the ineffectiveness of laws to control human behavior was standard doctrine from the Bible (logos), where it went from there (rhema) was smarter than myself, which is a good way to tell when God gives you something.

Dear Editor,

There is a blindness in our society that’s breathtaking. It has to do with the power of laws to accomplish things—as if all we had to do to prevent tragedies like Sandy Hook was outlaw multiple clips and assault weapons and require strict background checks. It is already illegal to shoot students and teachers on school property! Did that prevent it from happening? Those guns were stolen, and you don't need a background check to acquire guns by stealing! Why would more laws produce a different result?  How about our drug laws, have they curbed the drug epidemic? 

We try to create desired outcomes with laws yet fail every time. Ever heard of New Year’s resolutions (laws we enforce on ourselves)? How do they work? 

The real problem is the sinful nature of man. Laws can reveal that rebellious nature, but cannot change it. Only God can change the human heart. But wait, isn’t God the One we kicked out of our schools and try to exclude from public life? 

The mass murderers aren’t concerned with human laws because they think they can escape justice by killing themselves when their rampage is over. How are more laws going to change that? But how would it affect them knowing that right after their killing spree they would be standing before an all-holy God? You see, they can and do evade man’s justice, but they can never escape God’s justice. Within moments of their death they are suffering in agony that will never end. Wouldn't knowing that be a greater deterrent than a hundred new gun laws? Yet we can’t teach that in schools because we kicked God out—remember?