I’m surprised I got such a long post out this week. I spent Wednesday through Saturday at the fireworks stand.
The season is over until next year. Everything is boxed up and the returns get dropped off Sunday.
It might be the end of an era for us. Diana has stepped down as pastor of the church but worked the stands this year so as to not leave them short-staffed. She announced as we were packing up that this would probably be her last season. I don’t know what I’ll do. It’s a wild, hectic, and tiring couple of weeks, but it’s only a couple of weeks. On the other hand, I haven’t had a 4th of July free in probably fifteen years. We’ll see.
I’ll be spending Sunday in the pool.
The Decalogue
Yes, the atheist is talking about religion again.
I got involved in a discussion about the Ten Commandments on a friend’s FB page early this week. He’s a District Superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene, and I respect him for achieving that position in the denomination. I don’t always agree with his positions, but that should surprise no one who’s read my blog much in the last couple of years.
He posted,
It’s a tragic irony that so many Christians fight to keep the Ten Commandments on display in public buildings, yet ignore the call to display them in how they live.
God isn’t impressed by plaques on walls.
He’s looking for truth written on our hearts and displayed in our behavior.
I responded
It’s always bothered me that people are more interested in putting up the Ten Commandments than they are the Beatitudes.
Then elsewhere in the thread, we started talking about the general idea of posting the Decalogue in public. One person mentioned the Alabama case from several years ago and I commented that I didn’t think the Decalogue should be posted in courtrooms or schools. There’s nothing in the bible telling Christians to do so, and I suggested that their insistence on posting them in that way amounts to idol worship.
He quoted Deuteronomy 6:8-9 in response. I pointed out that there’s a difference between a person writing the commandments on the doors of their own home, and the government forcing schools to post them there. I also mentioned the instruction regarding praying in public, because I fell this falls under that guideline. No one responded to that comment. Then again, I didn’t really expect anyone to. Most evangelical Christians are pretty well set in their interpretation of God’s wishes.
Reading
I came across an interesting Oklahoma court case the other day.
Oklahoma is currently one of four states that require certain sex offenders (those classified as habitual or aggravated) to have DL or ID cards that label them as offenders. Several other states’ laws have been challenged or thrown out.
Several registered sex offenders are challenging that label, claiming a First Amendment violation, saying the label on their ID is essentially compelled speech. It’s a novel approach.
I support it.
I don’t see a need for the label, quite honestly. I’m not saying people shouldn’t be on the registry. But think of all the times you have to show ID to people. Why do they need to know you’re on the registry? If you need to know that about someone, like for employment or residency, it’s easy enough to find out. But does the waitress or bartender who’s checking your ID for booze need to know? The precinct judge when you vote? The TSA checker when you’re flying? The hotel clerk?
And what of the person checking that ID? Are they a sex abuse survivor being further traumatized by having an offender’s status literally thrust in their face?
I posted the story and my thoughts to /r/Oklahoma and was soundly excoriated for my position. Most commenters seemed to think that any punishment offenders receive is fair game because of the heinous nature of their offenses. I never suggested that sex offenders not be punished or that they not be placed on the registry. I absolutely approve of that, and of there being certain restrictions on where they can work.
On the other hand…
One of the goals of the justice system is supposed to be rehabilitation. We’re supposed to do what we can to help an offender of any kind become a productive member of society. The harder we make that step for formerly incarcerated people, the more likely they are to reoffend.
It’s the same with residence restrictions. Make it too hard for a sex offender to find someplace to live and they’ll roam from bridge to back alley to parking lot. That doesn’t help anyone. Not a popular opinion, of course, because sex offenders are usually seen as the lowest of criminals. Few people have any kind of sympathy for sex offenders.
It’s made harder in this case because the people involved are “habitual or aggravated” offenders. In Oklahoma, habitual means they’ve committed at least two registerable offenses since November 1997. Aggravated offenders are those convicted of child abuse, incest, forcible sodomy, rape by instrumentation, rape, or lewd acts or proposals to a child.
How can I defend people like this?
Several reasons.
I remember reading in a book an instruction that we were supposed to treat everyone as our neighbor, and to treat our neighbors as we’d want to be treated. The people in the example should have been mortal enemies. The wounded man would have sooner spat on the person helping him were the situation reversed.
There’s also a poem by a Lutheran pastor in World War II Germany; you’ve probably read it. “First they came for the socialists…” That poem points out that once the government has demonized one group of people, it’s easy enough to demonize another and another. And another. That’s a dangerous road to go down.
And I think laws like this foster a false sense of security. The only people that get the label here are those who have been caught and convicted. They’re not the dangerous ones. The real danger comes from people you think you can trust. The coach. The teacher. The clergy member. The family member. The ones society says are safe.
If this is really about making people safer, why are we stopping at sex offenders?
Sex offender label on driver’s license a constitutional violation, lawsuit claims
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