ONE LITTLE, TWO LITTLE, THREE LITTLE DOMINOES

Behold the domino. Make it three. Make it three little dominoes standing ramrod straight in in a neat, tight little row.

The first domino is a doctrine straight out of Scripture: man is born with and continues to be infected all his life by a sin nature, that is, a bent to sinning (Ps. 58:3; Eph. 2:3). When a person sins, he sins by choice and is therefore accountable for his sin. Wherever he is in life, he is there because of choices he made, good ones, better ones, best ones, and bad ones. Wherever he will spend eternity, he'll do so because of his choice to trust Christ or to trust his works. Accountability. Responsibility. Right on!

LEGISLATING MORALITY

As long as the first little domino remained in place, the second little domino, personal responsibility and accountability were in place, therefore, punishment was in place as the second little domino. Law and accountability to that law were there to hold the would-be criminal in check, thus legislating morality. 

Behold the falling domino. Men rejected the doctrine of original sin. This meant one thing: man, by his unaided logic and mind must put a substitute doctrine in its place in order to explain why men sin, do bad things, lie, steal, cheat, and hurt other men.

Behold the victim. Men came up with a substitute doctrine: men cheat, lie, steal, and commit crimes, not by choice, but because they're oppressed by other men, men higher up in the social structure. This suppression and repression mean that their acts aren't morally wrong, they're only reacting to what has been done to them; they are the helpless victims of the capitalists and the capitalist system which is holding them down.

So, they strike back the only way they can via criminality. How else can they wear the latest pair of Nikes, install the coolest hubcaps? They crave the Nikes and the hubcaps, but the system is holding them down, so the only way to get them was to take them from somebody else. They're entitled to do so. It's the system that's at fault. It's victimizing people.

THE WAY IT WAS

The way it was not so long ago, we knew that a person was where he was because of choices he made--he made the choice not to work. He lived off the enforced collection of money from others. He chose to use what money he had to buy and inject drugs into his veins and inhale them into his lungs. He chose to sell his soul for a buzz and for nanoseconds of pleasure and to let the taxes of others support him. He chose to cause the accelerated decay of his body and soul. Not so long ago, we looked at him and rightly said, "It's his fault." But that was then, this is now.

THE WAY IT IS

But the way it was is not the way it is. Today, we believe that he's where he is because of mysterious forces arrayed against him, forces too powerful for him to fight and overcome. It's those greedy capitalists (as if communists and socialists aren't greedy) and their system that are oppressing him.

Behold the second falling little domino. The first falling domino has now caused the fall of the second. Now there is no such thing as a criminal; that's the substitute doctrine. We redefine the criminal as a victim and with the fall of the second domino, since there are no criminals, there can be no punishment, so the third domino falls.

Behold the third domino. Since there are no criminals, so there are no jails. We've redefined thoser now in jail: they're political victims of the system; you don't punish victims, you let victims go free. So, abolish the jails.

FAR FETCHED

This sounds far fetched, something out of the Twilight Zone, right next to left field and off the wall. But it's not. This is the prevailing theory of the Millennials, right now, right as you're reading this.

The Millennials are those among us between ages 19 and 35. They've come through an educational pipeline which has taught them to think that way, a way starkly different than their grandparents. Those at the mid to outer limits of that age group are in the work force--they're lawyers, teachers, professors, journalists, celebrities, social workers, textbook writers, parents, and politicians in the prime of life and energy. They're redefining criminal behavior.

They're now writing the TV shows and making the movies. They're beating their drums 24 hours a day with their message. They're moving into the corridors of power. Some are already there or are at least aspiring to get there.

When a nation rejects the Bible, their foolish hearts are darkened to the point that they lose common sense.

Behold the fallen dominoes!

Darkness descends.