Do humans need more regulation, or less? More laws, or fewer? More restrictions, or none at all? Is it the role of government — and religion, for that matter — to keep us “in line”?
I rarely do this here, but today I want to open this Monday’s Sunday School All Week session with the complete re-printing of the entire remarks of a class member…in this case, “Susan.” For she wrote something here over the weekend that I want to make sure every visitor to this blog reads…and if you don’t plow through all the contributions in the Comments Section that follows this blog (some days there are as many as 40), you could miss something like this…
Here is Susan’s observation:

An anti-abortion Republican in the white house for 8 years has not slowed abortions. It seems to me that its merely a selling point. While I am “pro-life” I do believe that prohibition has never stopped people from doing anything they want. If someone wants to abort, drink alcohol, smoke pot, do drugs, prostitute themselves, they will always find a way… except that it will introduce a whole new set of problems in society.
Holland has it right. The following is excerpted from “Collective conscience breeds Dutch tolerance” by David Morris:
Amsterdam Judge Ruter says, “You cannot solve social problems by making them taboo.” The Dutch don’t drive their human weaknesses underground. The minister of justice of Holland’s conservative govt says, “The aim is to prevent as much as possible a situation in which more harm is caused by criminal proceedings than by the activity itself.”
Legalization allows the govt more flexibility than criminalization. A prostitute undergoes regular health exams and measures are taken to prevent disease. One result is an astonishing low rate of AIDS infection: less than 1% as compared to America’s illegal but plentiful prostitute population at 30-40%. Allowing prisoners conjugal visits with loved ones reduces prison tension and curbs aggressive in-prison homosexuality.
Marijuana loses much of its attraction to young people because its no longer forbidden, making it into an unsensational item. In fact, the proportion of teenage users in Holland is a fraction of US use and crack is virtually non-existent. Also the violent druglords are taken out of the picture. Dutch schools teach sex education and birth control pills are cheap and available. Yet Dutch girls are no more sexually active than American girls. Holland’s teen-age pregnancy rate is 1/7th that of America’s. American teen-agers have 12 to 14 times more abortions than Dutch teens.
The Dutch treat prostitutes, drug addicts, teen-age pot smokers and the terminally ill with respect. Not surprisingly, respect breeds responsibility, not license. The heroin addict uses a clean needle. The prostitute does not transmit disease. The teen uses birth control.
The Dutch’s sense of mutual respect and collective responsibilty is deeply rooted. In the 1600s they were the most prosperous nation on earth. Riches bred a “collective conscience” that demanded generosity for the needy and tolerance for those with different relgions and different habits. Obligations to community, to society came first. The 300-year tradition continues. They know the most fertil breeding ground for irresponsible behavior is the slum. They offer the wold’s most comprehensive social support programs.
This prosperous country of 14 million has much to teach us, for tolerance has never been an American trait. We have a long history of demanding moral purity of our neighbors and eagerly locking them up if they transgress. We rely on force to solve our social problems, not wisdom.
Today America imprisons a larger portion of its citizens than any country except South Africa. The Dutch watch in amazement our descent into social anarchy. They cannot understand why a nation would willfully destroy itself to control its citizens’ personal behavior.

Wow. If that isn’t a striking statement on behalf of Libertarianism, I don’t know what is. Ron Paul could have written that. (And speaking of Ron Paul, I am now reading his new book, Revolution, and finding it utterly fascinating. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in current affairs — whether you agree with Paul or not. It is always good to know all sides of all the arguments about the events of the day, and this book lays out some discussion points with particular clarity and brilliance of brevity and crisp articulation.)
Soooo….do you agree with Susan? And if so, how about in the Kingdom of God? I mean, if less “government” and less regulation is what you feel works for human beings, to get them to take more responsibility for themselves, not less…would the same hold true for the larger matters of the soul? What is we had a God who regulates less (or not at all)? What is we had a “Dutch God”? Would we ever get in Dutch again…..?
(I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it.)
As you must surely know, Conversations with God speaks of a God who wants and requires nothing from humanity; who needs nothing and demands nothing. Most of the world does not embrace such a God, however, preferring a Deity of judgment, condemnation, and punishment. Violent and eternal punishment, at that…
If humanity ever changed its belief about all this, I suggest that the world would change over night. Gone would be the moral authority that we use to implement the death penalty, or to start and wage wars, or to hurt others in the name of “justice.”
The observations of Susan, above, blew through me like a blast of fresh autumn air. Yes, Americans are largely intolerant. I have been to The Netherlands several times. I have enjoyed every one of my visits there. And I see tolerance all over the place — and yes, much less crime, much less violence, and a much easier society in which to live.
I see the possibility of that kind of society creating itself under the leadership of Barack Obama. Tomorrow, a look at how Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain answered the same question on a recent television appearance with Rev. Rick Warren, courtesy of another class member. It should make for a continuingly interesting discussion.
In the meantime, our prayers today, yes?, for all of those people caught up in the disasterous floods in India (numbering in the millions), and, in the U.S., tropical storm Gustav. If you wish to offer prayers or positive meditations and thoughts in a wonderful place, you find such a place on the Internet at www.cwgChapel.com