It seems these days it is routine to hear of governmental agencies breaking the law to enforce the law. Their justification for doing so is to make us safer but as one ATF agent stated: Number of convictions is all that counts for some agencies. They must justify their existence and they will employ questionable means to obtain them. [1] I also remember listening to a C-Span segment a couple of years ago. C-Span was interviewing two Regan appointees and they essentially admitted that having access to those in power was more important than the truth. They admitted they would modify what they wrote or said to conform to what those in power believed. Unfortunately this is true in more than just our political circles; it is true in business, academia, and every other organization.
Now everyone agrees that God will judge us for our personal actions. The question is: Will God judge us for our official actions? Will God judge politicians for the actions they take while in office? Will God punish them if they start an unjust war? Will God judge a businessperson who takes advantage of his/her employees or customers or is that just business? Will God judge the Catholic officials who ignored evidence of priests abusing children? Will God judge a college president who does not promote someone solely because of their ethnicity or religious beliefs even if they are the most qualified?
Is there a difference between our personal actions and our official actions or do we create such artificial boundaries so we can justify doing what we want?
_________________________
[1] Janie B. Cheaney, “Agencies gone rogue”, World, January 25, 2014, p. 18.
