The US legal system is broken according to the biblical standard of
punishment of crime in society. McQuilkin states four principles that
punishments of crimes should focus on being rehabilitation, deterrence,
protection of the innocent, and to pay punitive damages.1He further
discusses the reality of the new main stream that circumstances and not
criminals are held more responsible then the individual. The authors bring
up multiple solutions to help fix a bloated and dying criminal justice
system that only seems to focus on locking people away for a short time
or very often allowing them to be on probation with no other recourse. If
those who violate the law can do so with little or no penalty then they will
likely continue to do so because it is their nature. People are not sinners
because they sin, but sin because they are sinners. In fact after the flood
God said that I “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually"
(Genesis 6:5 ESV). Paul also says that people “invent new ways of
sinning” (Romans 1:30 NLT). If someone did not respect the law in the first
place it is unlikely they will respect it after an arrest they will likely only
find a better way not to get caught. The break down of family values and
the traditional family unit was a major contributing factor to the fall of the
Roman Empire and because the country is not learning from the past of
others they could be destined to follow the same tragic path.
The authors have proposed several alternatives to imprisonment but all
fall dreadfully short of fixing the problem that now persist. The first one is
the deprivation of privileges such as driver’s license or right to vote.
Former felons have just gotten the right to vote back during the last
election but prior to that this type of punishment did nothing to drop the
crime rate. As for driving how can it be enforced when many drive now
with out license or insurance? They also mention corporal punishment
such as forced military service. This would I am afraid make the problem
worse because now the criminals would be better trained on how to carry
out their crimes because their character has remained the same. Thirdly,
they mention monetary payments but it they already have low morals
why would they simply not steal that money or come about it in some
other illegal fashion.2
Concerning the so called victimless crimes such recently (state)
legalized drugs or porn it is not reasonable to enforce such laws because
they are not enforceable and the general public deems them on justified.
However, as Christians we have an obligation to place ourselves under a
higher authority. Both drugs and porn will have devastating effects on the
mind and body in which God calls His home. A better justice system would
be to treat people as they are; broken and in need of a savior. Perhaps
forcing those that commit crimes to attend half way houses (of different
faiths to maintain separation of church and state) would help people heal
and teach values that they have missed at home. The Christian should
help rehabilitate people by doing ministries of reconciliation. It would also
serves as punishment since they do not desire to be there, and protect
the general population. As for deterrence it would help because they
would be going back with changed lives and impact those around them.
1. Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan,An Introduction to Biblical Ethics:
Walking in the Way of Wisdom,( Downers Grove, Il; IVP Academic, 2014),
432-435.
2. Ibid. 437.
