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Mall microcosm
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Cataclysmic developments on the horizon announce themselves in the smallest portents — the canary exiting the coal mine; the child’s marble that rolls off a table in “Titanic” before any passenger knows of his doom.
Still meditating on mall parking lots, I have become conscious of my habit of hunting down the closest spot available. I do not stoop to snatching “handicapped parking”— but not out of any compassion for the handicapped; it’s consequences of the law I have in mind.
If there were not a law, would I ever, on my own, think of leaving the best spaces for the infirm and elderly and young mothers with toddlers hanging on the arm? It’s a moot point; the law by its very existence creates a legal mindset, robbing the oxygen of any other motivation. It renders moral reckoning superfluous. Where laws multiply, the moral muscle goes flaccid.
Trace the dots from the microcosm of parking lot habits to the decline of Western Civilization.
“Every conflict is solved according to the letter of the law and this is considered to be the ultimate solution. If one is right from a legal point of view, nothing more is required. Nobody may mention that one could still not be entirely right, and urge self-restraint or a renunciation of these rights, call for sacrifice and selfless risk: this would simply sound absurd. Voluntary self-restraint is almost unheard of; everyone strives toward further expansion to the extreme limit of the legal frames.” (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)
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Off-key
If instilled with a sufficiently strong concept of right & wrong, and the duty to love & serve one’s neighbors, such things as getting people to take less desirable spaces of their own accord are entirely possible.
An undercover police officer in my town was pick-pocketed by a teen while on an unrelated stakeout. He did not give chase, but merely shot the teen in the back as he fled. It was determined that, since pickpocketing is a misdemeanor, and since no lives were in danger, he should not have used his weapon. He essentially killed the boy out of mere anger and surprise.
He was fired for violating department firearms rules. He was then charged with manslaughter, tried, and acquitted on a technicality.
He then had the audacity to demand his old job back, on the logic that since he had not been found criminally guilty, he must have done NOTHING WRONG AT ALL. Violating clear policies are apparently okay as long as you aren’t convicted of a crime.
John M - Did he get the job back? Or merely “demand” it and the matter is unresolved?
Violating clear policies is (or can be - depending on the severity of the conduct) a firing offense if the department handles its end of things correctly.
This is an astute observation. The police officer is hardly alone in this. I see this attitude all around me, in all spheres of life.
It also shows a prime distinction between Islam and Christianity. Jesus tells us not to harbour lust in our hearts and gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to do so. Islam tries to use strict laws to hide some of the objects of lust (Muslim women) yet allows the kidnapping and rape of others (Christian women and girls). Solzhenitsyn is sadly right, voluntary self-restraint is almost unheard of. Thank God he cares about our inner hearts and motivations.
Nice, meaningful blog. I think as populations grow and people are working harder and have less time, it is hard to take others in consideration…we all want what we want when we want it…and the other people around us are either obstacles or competition.
I think a lot of it has to do with your personality, and the role models you have had. I found out, from reading about personality types (I am an ISTJ), that I am the type that is particularly concerned with following rules. They don’t have to be rules that are enforced, let alone laws. If I know that there is something I am supposed to do, I feel a very strong obligation to do it.
A lot of that “I am supposed to do” sense comes from what my parents taught me, or other adults who played a significant role in my life. There are also rules that I had to follow at one time, that even when I went somewhere that didn’t have that rule, I tend to keep it anyway. For instance, I went to a strict Bible school that gave demerits for all sorts of infractions, one of which was walking on the grass. For years after that I avoided walking on the grass anywhere I went except my own yard, and it was actually difficult for me to make myself walk on the grass someplace else even when I knew it was OK.
Pauline - I’m the same way. The way I think of it is “Do what is right.” And, like you, a lot of that feeling comes from my upbringing.
However, I’m not sure my brother thinks the same way.
I’m sure my Christian faith has refined & deepened my resolve to do the right thing.
KRM, you’re probably off this thread now, but he did NOT get his job back.