“Twisting the Truth” was the title of a well-written editorial by Suzanne Floyd of Aubrey. (Her letter appeared in the Denton Record-Chronicle on January 17, 1999.) During the recent holidays “four teenage girls were killed as a result of a wreck where a driver swerved into their lane and hit them head-on” (18A).
The only survivor, the driver who caused the accident, smelled of alcohol and had a blood alcohol level above the legal limit. His lawyer, however, said that he was not drunk and that the test would have to be investigated (whose defense tactics does this evasiveness sound like?).
The writer then observes (correctly):
We now live in a society where lawyers can question the word “is,” and can show us that there is a one in a quarter-million chance someone other than O.J. murdered two innocent people. Is this how we want to live? Where truth becomes relative? A hair-splitting game that lawyers play? Where winning is defined as saving one’s own neck, and avoiding responsibility for one’s own actions? Even if it means lying outright, or twisting the facts, and innocent victims and the simple truth matter not at all? There will continue to be consequences in our society if we allow this madness to go on. Four of them were buried in Parker County (18A).
Suzanne Floyd has pinpointed precisely what is wrong in our society. People do not want to be responsible for their actions. Never mind the four dead victims, whose lives have been tragically terminated. Let’s show compassion on the living. Undoubtedly, “the driver has suffered enough already.” “Punishing him won’t bring those girls back.” [Add other cliches here.] Let him do community service and get on with his life.
Truth does not matter to most people any more; they are much too busy either getting in shape by involvement in sports or losing their shape by renting videos and snacking their way to poor health. Americans are mostly prosperous with lots of time to kill and money to spend; so why bother about little things such as injustice? Such occurred during the time of Amos. Zion was condemned for their laziness and their total devotion to pleasure (Amos 6:1-7). No one cared that the rights of others were trampled upon. “But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24).
Justice in this nation has suffered great losses in the closing period of the twentieth century with many bad precedents being set for the next generation. Instead of trying in court the perpetrator, it has now become fashionable to accuse the prosecutor, the police, or the objective evidence. Defense attorneys specialize in obscuring the facts in an effort to plant un-“reasonable doubt” in the minds of jurors.
The legal system has become a game. Convicted killers can frequently run through three sets of appeals and tie up the court system from 10 to 17 years before finally being put to death for heinous crimes. Innocence or guilt often fall by the wayside. A judge must decide which evidence to suppress, which seems like a defeatist attitude. (If it’s evidence, why would anyone want to suppress it?)
“Oh, but he confessed to sodomizing, torturing, and murdering a young boy before he was Mirandized.” Do such technicalities make someone less guilty? What an outstanding idea! Let’s let the murderer go free because of a mix-up in procedure. If we’re lucky, maybe the next time he tortures to death someone’s seven-year-old boy, we’ll be fortunate enough not to stub our toes on what’s written in the fine print. Such is ludicrous. If we know beyond any doubt that an individual is guilty of a crime, it makes no sense to release such a person into society. Justice must be more than a game lawyers, judges, and Congressman play.
According to a news story in the January 10th Denton Record-Chronicle, an eight-year-old boy was the state’s key witness in a murder case. The defendant’s lawyer insisted on having certain information about the child. The state objected, but the judge turned over the boy’s address to the defendant’s attorney. Shortly thereafter the boy and his mother were found shot to death!
Now why did the defense attorney need that information? Was he required to have it according to the law? Or did the judge just hand it over to him because he thought the defendant might want to send him a birthday card? It won’t be of any help to the second-grader who was slain, but we can hope that the judge has a problem sleeping at night. Unless the murders of the mother and child are just an incredible coincidence, the judge knows he is responsible for their deaths (regardless of what the law says).
The defense attorney said he never gave that information to his client and that his client is monitored with a security bracelet. He did not say why he needed the information that the judge gave him or if his client had any friends who are also thugs (9A). If this attorney is not investigated meticulously, there is something rotten in Bridgeport.
While lawyers and judges play their games, they often seem oblivious to the pain and loss to the families of the victims. Truth matters to them. Justice matters to them. They do not understand all the nifty little legal ploys that the system offers. If the evidence is overwhelming, they do not fathom why it must be suppressed in order to let a guilty person go free; they just want and expect a conviction. A good dose of common sense might help our justice system.
We will pray that justice prevails in the case Suzanne Floyd brought to the public’s attention, but there are no guarantees. The families of victims often suffer twice–once when the original crime is committed, and again when the criminal goes unpunished. It would help if society could once again care about truth.
And wouldn’t it be wonderful if people would once more care about religious truth? The Bible teaches that the Word of God is Truth (John 17:17) and that if we study it and continue in it, we can know it (John 8:31-32). But most people are so intimidated by cries of “Judgmentalism!” that they have been reduced to saying, “Whatever.”
“What’s that? You had a vision last night that Jesus called you to be an apostle? That’s nice. Whatever.” “You say that you just discovered that Jesus was not a human being but was really made out of wood because He said, ‘I am the door’? Whatever.” Silly? True. But the first one has already happened, and the second one is no sillier than saying that the fruit of the vine really is Jesus’ blood because He said, “This is my blood.”
And how much stranger are these doctrines than the one that says the world came to an end in A.D. 70 or that nothing of what Jesus taught is part of the New Testament? Without any New Testament authorization whatsoever, there are those who teach that the Sabbath day must be kept. Some are claiming that there is “another testament of Jesus Christ.” And in the midst of all this mass of confusion and contradiction, most people, instead of investigating these matters to discern Truth, are just saying, “Whatever. Believe whatever you want. It doesn’t matter what you believe, so long as you are sincere.” The implications of all these comments are: 1) Doctrine doesn’t matter, 2) Religion doesn’t matter, and 3) Truth doesn’t matter.
Years ago religious debates accomplished great good. Many of the listeners judged between the arguments which both sides advanced, and numbers of people were frequently converted. Now, however, debates are relatively few, and then they are sparsely attended. Material prosperity may have dulled our spiritual senses just as it has our judicial senses.
Unfortunately, it usually takes hardship or a judgment of God to get people back on track. Because the Israelites would not listen to the prophets inspired of God, He raised up a nation to destroy them and lead them into captivity. It was a hard and bitter lesson to learn, but material things blind us to reality. Sometimes, the only way to see straight again is to have the distractions removed.
It seems unlikely that our comfort could be seriously disrupted. Probably, that is exactly what most nations thought before God brought about their downfall. There is a solution, however. CARE! Americans must realize that some things are more important than determining which wine goes with which meat and whether or not one can wear a Gucci (or is it Sushi?) original. What one believes (Truth or error) has eternal consequences.
Having already stressed the importance of society’s need for truth, one would think the following announcement would generate enthusiasm.
1999 CENTER FORUM TOPIC
The individual topics related to the theme are greatly needed in today’s world. They are: “The Case for Truth,” “The Case for Christ,” “The Case for Scripture,” “The Case for Evangelism,” and “The Case for Theology.” This could be an effective program and have a great impact–except for one tiny flaw. The Center for Christian Education is sponsoring it, and they are tied to the ACLU (Abilene Christian Liberal University).
In fact, “The Case for Scripture” will be presented by Dr. John Mark Hicks, the Harding Graduate Professor of Doctrine who a few years ago defended Rubel Shelly in the Open Forum at Freed-Hardeman University.
Dr. Philip Slate, the ACLU’s Missions Department Chairman, will be handling the topic of evangelism. For Abilene to be involved in an effort to defend the Truth is outrageous and an insult to all faithful soldiers of the cross. It is somewhat akin to asking the big bad wolf to conduct a seminar on “Ways to Arrive at Grandma’s House Safely” and charging $30 for it, to boot.
Several professors from the ACLU are on written record as being opposed to the Truth. Carroll Osburn, for example, has informed us that we should fellowship those who worship falsely by adding instruments of music. He also says we should fellowship those who teach and believe premillennial doctrine. And if various denominations are not organized Scripturally, that too should not be a barrier to fellowship. Finally, the purpose for a person’s baptism should not be a deterrent to fellowshipping others. If they believe they are already saved and that baptism is just a ceremony, or “an outward sign of inward grace,” why, that’s no problem.
In other words, Truth does not matter as it relates to salvation, acceptable worship, correct doctrine, or church structure. Pray tell, when would Truth matter? The Scriptures are forceful with respect to “another gospel” (Gal. 1:8-9). They are compelling with respect to worship (John 4:23-24). There are one or two condemnations of false doctrine (2 Tim. 4:1-5). The corruption of church hierarchy was the chief contributing factor to the church’s entrance into apostasy. Yet these Scriptural issues do not matter to Abilene “Christian.”
It is an absolute travesty to have this institution’s involvement in anything to dealing with Truth or the integrity of the Scriptures. At this rate, perhaps next year the “Center” will host a seminar on fulfilled prophecies and assign Andre Resner Isaiah 7:14.