By Charles Gardner —
With our prisons overflowing, the UK government are set on easing the problem with lighter sentences. But this is not the way to deal with crime; it’s not even a sensible short-term measure.
I got talking on the bus home from the city centre with a man who had lived with his wife in our village for 60 years. He bemoaned the problem of law and order which had seriously worsened since closure of the local police station.
Drug-running was now rampant, as were burglaries and general mayhem. A shop near his home has CCTV evidence of robberies committed, but they don’t get investigated with the result that criminals are given a free pass to do their worst.
It’s the story throughout our nation and is the direct consequence of the sheer foolishness of those who say there is no God. For it is only in following his ways that peace and order will result. It’s surely not surprising that if you shut down a police station, you open the gates to miscreants. You are effectively saying no-one is watching, so go ahead and run wild.
Back in the ‘good old days’, even up to the 1960s and more recently, police in the UK were very visible, often seen ‘on the beat’ in town centres and housing estates to assure us of our safety from scoundrels and general anti-social behaviour. But no more.
They are now seen either behind the wheel of a powerful car, siren blaring, or buried under a mountain of bureaucratic paperwork – even if it is computerized.
But the root of the problem is at the top of the tree – those elected to govern and the civil servants carrying out their policies. For the lawmakers are now lawbreakers! A large percentage of them are declared atheists, having no fear of God, and have been progressively undoing laws that came down from heaven to guide and protect us 3,500 years ago.
I’m talking of the time our wonderful Creator met Moses on Mt Sinai and gave him the Ten Commandments which came to form the foundation of Judeo-Christian (Western) civilization.
“You shall have no other gods before me, remember the sabbath, honor your father and mother, you shall not murder, commit adultery, or steal…” were among the heaven-sent laws that have stood the test of time. But now it’s deemed acceptable to kill unborn babies, with frail elderly also in the firing line.
In our astonishing arrogance, we have decided we know better than God. Yet his truth still stands: “Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.” (Proverbs 29:18) Or as the Bible’s New Living Translation beautifully puts it: “When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is happy.”
Ever wondered why we are seeing so much misery and unhappiness along with a pandemic of mental health issues? God’s Word has the answer. Peace and happiness are found by following his ways.
As the prophet Nehemiah prayed to God in the fifth century BC (and it still applies today): “We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, laws and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.” (Nehemiah 1:7)
Police chiefs are now warning us of a ‘soft justice crimewave’ on the back of lighter sentences designed to reduce pressure on our prisons. At the same time, we are witnessing a chaotic breakdown of the system with several cases of inmates being mistakenly released, one of whom had only just been admitted.
Commenting on the farce, Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “There’s never been a better time to be a criminal.”
We have become lawless because we have rebelled against our Maker. As the Bible says: “Only fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God’.” (Psalm 14:1)
