The Bible vs. Bedlam

“Don’t you know that you can’t legislate morality?”

I have lost count of how many times I have been told that by well-meaning but clueless Christians and other political conservatives. They decry the way our society is going to hell in a handbasket but feel helpless to do anything about it.

My response is always the same.

“Why can’t I walk out of this restaurant without paying for my meal,” I ask them over lunch.

“Well, because that would be stealing,” they respond.

“Exactly,” I counter, “and why is stealing wrong?”

“Because the law says so,” they say with a confused look on their face.

“And where does the law get the idea that stealing is wrong?” I ask.

“Umm, the Bible?” they answer hesitantly.

“BINGO!” I shout so loud that the other customers can hear me.

You can change the location and even change the scenario, but the premise remains the same. You and I cannot steal a car, rob a bank, or fraudulently use someone else’s credit card because it is against the law to do so. And by declaring stealing to be unlawful, we as a society are legislating morality.

The same goes for assaulting someone… or lying about them in print… or killing them in cold blood. After all, the Bible commands that we shall not murder or bear false witness against our neighbor.

Virtually every law on the books is predicated on a singular premise: that immoral behavior is detrimental to society as a whole and therefore, must be legislated against and even punished. That doesn’t make the United States – or any government for that matter – a theocracy. It simply makes it manageable.

Without legislated morality, society quickly devolves into chaos, disorder, and anarchy. Don’t believe me? Just ask the folks in San Francisco or New York how safe they feel walking their streets at night. I am confident that they would love to see law and order restored… and muggers arrested, looters prosecuted, and addicts treated.

As James Madison once said, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” Well, guess what? Men aren’t angels and so, a limited government is desperately needed and so are laws based on the common good.