Thursday, July 9, 2015

Is ending the War on Drugs the Christian thing to do?

"The New England Conference of United Methodist Churches voted in favor of a resolution on Saturday to call for an end to the Drug War using Christian principles, according to a release from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)."
The resolution states:
In the love of Christ, who came to save those who are lost and vulnerable, we urge the creation of a genuinely new system for the care and restoration of victims, offenders, criminal justice officials, and the community as a whole. Restorative justice grows out of biblical authority, which emphasizes a right relationship with God, self and community. When such relationships are violated or broken through crime, opportunities are created to make things right.”
They then go on to mention an extensive list of concerns and reasons to end prohibition, such as public health, violent trafficking, and countless innocent lives lost or thrown into overcrowded prisons.
Does this mean some sort of gay marriage accommodation is not far behind?

8 comments:

Chip Ahoy said...

Wow, what are you practicing curve balls or what? I would have never connected one to the other.

What I've seen online is liberals quoting Leviticus (I think) that they say Christians quote to support their position, and maybe they do, but I don't ever hear that. I just hear, "The babble sayes..." and fake-quote something simplistically similar.

Harkening to old testament writing. The collected wisdom of ages. When Moses was wandering around and god is in a cabinet inside a tent. An incredibly specific tent. With an outside tent-wall and another, that when you look at it from above, in your mind, and regard its shape you go, hey, that looks a bit like an Egyptian serekh, an early royal cartouche signifying the Horus name, yes it sure does, a facade of a sort of compound or roofless building when considered in three dimensions and not two. Here are a bunch of them.

Can ya see it? Can ya see it? Huh? Huh? Can ya see it?

A falcon sitting on the top of a wall protecting the place. That's what it's showing.

So there Moses is out there in the desert trying his best to form a culture, get together a force out of a rag-tag bunch of slaves. He had to lay down some rules that guarantee the survival of his wandering group that had to do with all sorts of things, how to worship, what not to do to each other, especially how to get on and how to comport and what to avoid eating, exactly those fast-rotting things from the sea, and things that eat their own poo.

If you see fish piled up on a table in Egyptian art that means they're having a party. Fish is unacceptable for offerings. Even though the painting may be labeled "offering" if it has fish then it can be no such thing. They'll consume it right then. A banquet.

Then, what, three thousand years happened and a whole new perspective on things is presented. This new presentation hasn't that much to say on the subject and that is odd considering the high number of well-known Roman sinful parks there were all over the place, so many entire cities were given over and considered by Jews to be avoided. So much of that and so little on the subject in the new testament. And then what, another two-thousand years elapsed and here we all are.

Amartel said...

Is licking donuts the wrong thing to do? I mean, they're right there, at lick level. It's not my fault if they're right there! I blame whoever put 'em there.

Ending the "war on drugs" is something that will end in more malleable victims and wards for the state and its corporate and other affiliates and more burden on other individuals so, in the year of our Lord 2015, the Christian Church is fine with that. In the great Christian Church tradition of not being overly Christian in finding common cause with worldly powers. Turn 'em into beggars 'cause they're easier to please.

edutcher said...

Drug abuse is evil. It does bad things to you and allowing it to happen is evil.

Try the Libertarian approach and see if it's any better. We had that once and it didn't work so well.

The other option is, if it's a war, fight it like one. I remember when all this started, somebody suggested hitting the coca fields with Agent Orange and the Lefties squealed, but that's the kind of thing you want to do if it's a war. Execute the heads of the cartels and their minions (and the politicians that take their graft).

Stateside pushers get life without parole; if you run a drug ring and somebody gets killed in the course of "takin' care o' biz'", a dance with Ol' Sparky.

Like Christianity, has it been tried and found wanting, or wanted, but never really tried?

PS Be interesting to see how much the Commies invested in hooking this country on drugs and all they expected to get out of it.

Like maybe a Commie President.

Amartel said...

This "war" on drugs demonstrates what happens when there is a lack of political will to do something. Kind of like with illegal immigration. The situation gets worse and worse until it's "unmanageable" and "out of control" and then the movement to "change course" starts to form. Then the movement to legalize gains steam. Then the government coopts the activity and not only legalizes it but also sets up an enormous bureaucracy to "manage" and "regulate" it. All paid for by you.

AllenS said...

It's hard to believe, but heroin is making a come back in a big, big way. Hard for me to believe, because it's such a destructive drug. Excuse me, but EVERYBODY SHOULD KNOW THAT. Should that war be ended also?

William said...

I just recently had an oral surgery procedure that went all FUBAR. I was in a fair amount of pain that was somewhat managed by taking OxyContin. I don't ordinarily listen too a lot a Miles Davis, but when you're on OxyContin his music is quite pleasant. So there's a plus for narcotic addiction. It helps you appreciate modern jazz......There must be some stimulant or drug that helps you enjoy rap music. More research needs to be done.

Leland said...

I'm more inclined to treat recreational drugs like alcohol. I think there would be a short rise in use, but after awhile it would subside, and major organized crime efforts would lose their market. Instead of spending money fighting drugs, we can get revenue taxing it. Alcohol and Tobacco use have gone down significantly.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I was in Cooperstown, NY on Sunday and a resident told me they have had 15 drug overdose deaths in the last year. The heroin habit has spread to our small towns that are down on their luck economically.

So, no we don't beed to end the war on drugs. Churches should stick to building up their attendance and fixing sinners.