Previous Challenge Entry
Topic: Breaking the Rules (08/16/04)
TITLE: Chaos in the Courtroom By Patrick Whalen 08/19/04 |
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT SEND ARTICLE TO A FRIEND |
Anyone who has visited the inside of a prison, whether voluntarily or involuntarily knows the answer. It is not the sound itself that is unique, but the emotional reaction that occurs at the slamming of a cell door. If taken outside the setting of a prison, the slamming of a heavy metal door evokes little or no emotional reaction. Inside the prison, the same slamming door echoes among the barren walls and reverberates with something most definite.
For the person behind such a door, slamming door can ignite a sense of panic. The solid, metallic bang carries with it a sense of permanence and condemnation. Any amount of freedom sensed before the closing of the door disappears in an instant. For them it is a solitary, foreboding sound.
For the one closing the door, the opportunity for danger exists as long as the door remains open. The hard slam of the jail cell door evokes a sense of security and peace. With each squeak of the hinge and the metallic clank of the latch and lock, freedom is restored.
These emotions occur time and again each and every day within the ever-growing prison system. Our society has become a people obsessed with removing from our fabric those who break the rules, no matter how trivial the offense. It is generally accepted that those who commit violent crimes such as assault or homicide should be punished and removed from the general populace. At the same time, we have become a society so paranoid at the thought of anyone offending us at almost any level that the sentence for many petty crimes now involves some amount of time in jail. So many infractions are prosecuted that the judicial court systems find themselves in a quandary.
Our court systems have become overloaded and judges no longer have the comfort of spending enough quality time carefully reviewing each case. They are pressed harder and harder to make room for the next case. Their courtrooms are standing-room only. A new plaintiff and defendant approach the bench each time the gavel falls.
Is it no wonder that there are judges who want to take the law into their own hands? It is not hard to imagine an overworked judge who wants to change laws so that a broader range of human interaction is no longer deemed necessary to settle in the courtroom. There is indeed chaos in the courtroom.
It is in this chaos that Satan has a tremendous opportunity to wage his war against the Children of God. Satan is the father of lies and has at his disposal the tools of corruption and confusion. He can and does use these judges to re-write historical law to create a society less offended by human immorality. In this light it is not hard to chart a path in which Satan can then influence non-believers, secure and comfortable in their immorality, to find offense in Christian morality. An offense sufficient enough to warrant jail sentences for those who hold true to the morality desired by their faith.
Who then will be behind the slamming door? If the tenets of the Christian faith were to be deemed contrary to public safety, who would be willing to remain true to the Father in Heaven? If public meetings held for the sole intention of worshipping Jesus Christ were prohibited by law, who would break the rules?