Yet more Symptoms: Part 2

So, what should we do?

  When we overcriminalize, we suddenly have incarcerated masses to deal with, whether it be rehabilitating, feeding, housing, or having on parole. Someone must be paying for that. The answer? Taxpayers.

  Finally though, the incarcerated masses are released. It’s all better right? Not at all. Now, with such an untrustworthy background, there is little opportunity for them to find work. The formerly incarcerated will find it easiest to return to what they have done before.

  In short, our whole society is suffering in this issue, we must find a remedy. But what everyone else has done isn’t helping us get anywhere, so, again, what should we do?

   We need to realize the root of our problem is not overcriminalization. It is not the “tough on crime laws”. It is not the massive passage of more of those laws. It is not the passage of time, or the growing fear in our nation. It is not because of any of the plain or obvious surface reasons. It has everything to do with the problem with everything in our country and government. It is called morals.

We are not a moral or righteous people anymore.

  There was once a Book, claiming what is good and right, denouncing what is evil and immoral. Back in the pages of history, the United State of America was founded by men and women who saw that the moment we threw away that Book and the Author, our government and country start to crumble. Now, we are in that moment. This Union cannot function as it was established to, unless we are a body of people who stand with morals.

And that is how we fix this.

  It all comes from the heart. We have moved away from God and living as He has shown as good, and until we move back towards Him, in our hearts and behavior, there is no hope for our nation. Christians must infiltrate our society, culture, and government because we are the ones who see this crippling disease and know the One who can heal it. The Church is vital in changing our criminal justice system, just as it is vital to changing our society and government back to a nation of free men and women.

   We can certainly work to stop the vast amounts of new laws that are putting people in prison left and right. We can definitely push for our Congress to start repealing laws, which is something that they seem to have forgotten was allowed. We should clarify the lines between civil and criminal law and re-evaluate our laws to have them align with the definition. We should certainly do what we can to move our country away from this criminalization epidemic. Yet, we will not go anywhere until we address the fact that our hearts and beliefs must change. First in us, as Christians. Then, through us, and with God’s help, into all our nation, and all the world. If we run this direction, we will watch or country heal and grow great again, because we will finally acknowledge Who ultimately must have the authority in our government, criminal justice system, society and lives.

  When we return to the great Lawgiver, we will know and see true freedom again. Let us begin now. We must begin now. We are our country’s remaining hope.

Sources:
Population Reference Bureau; http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2012/us-incarceration.aspx

The Washington Post;
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/07/yes-u-s-locks-people-up-at-a-higher-rate-than-any-other-country/

The Sentencing Project; http://www.sentencingproject.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1987&id=107

The Wall Street Journal; http://www.wsj.com/articles/robert-rubin-and-nicholas-turner-the-steep-cost-of-americas-high-incarceration-rate-1419543410

The Heritage Foundation; http://www.heritage.org/research/factsheets/2011/04/overcriminalization-an-explosion-of-federal-criminal-law

Right on Crime; http://rightoncrime.com/category/priority-issues/overcriminalization/

Diffen; http://www.diffen.com/difference/Civil_Law_vs_Criminal_Law

CBSNews; http://www.cbsnews.com/news/once-a-criminal-always-a-criminal/

Yet more Symptoms: Part 1

What is wrong with our country? Why is it that, no matter where we try to divert our attention in our government, there is something more to discourage us? In our elections, in our legislature, in our legal system, it lays in whatever path we go towards. ~ This is a TeenPact assignment I wanted to share with you. The issues we see throughout our government are grave, however, it is far more essential for us to realize that the fault lies in us, the Church. We have failed to fight for and preserve our nation and fellow citizens as we aught. The failure lies in us.
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There used to be a process in our criminal justice system that went as follows:

  One person commits a misdemeanor; he accidently uses and destroys another person’s property, for example. The other person finds out about his destroyed property and demands payment for it. If taken to court, this is called a civil case. The arbitrator must give compensation for what damage he has caused because he has violated a civil law.

  Another person commits a misdemeanor; he knowingly harms another person and flees the scene, for example. If caught, the harmed person can bring this case to court, where the lawbreaker will receive a punishment for his actions. This is a criminal case and laws that make this a crime are named criminal laws.

  The lines may seem rather blurred when trying to see the true difference between these two law types, so here are the major clarifications. Violations of a civil law are instances of negligence, misuse, or misconduct. Violations of a criminal law are, rather, instances of large cases like murder, and also burglary, or assault. In other words, there are two ways justice is dealt out, either by punishment or by retribution. And one important factor to remember, is that criminal cases are the only ones that land someone in prison.

  Alright, so don’t we still have these two types of laws and cases? What is the problem? Why should I be concerned?

  Yes, but the trouble is, our country progressively sees only one type of person when a law is broken: the criminal. Our government has and continues moving to only one side of the spectrum. We are finding vast amounts of criminal laws, where morality, discretion, and, if necessary, civil laws once stood. What I am leading to, is that we have a terrible case of overcriminalization here in America.

  Hold on, now that’s a big word. What and why on earth are you trying to use that word? Simply because it means that we and our legislators have begun to view almost all instances of broken laws as prison worthy, and began legislating it as such. Overcriminalization is that increasing trend to putting more people behind bars than is necessary.

Really? That seems strange. Why would we start making more things a crime?

   Interestingly, most of the countries of the world began making more issues a crime in the past 40+ years. In the 1970’s there began a spike in incarcerations and laws nicknamed, getting “tough on crime” laws. They were a worldwide movement, mind you, but the US took it much further than everyone else. And, strangely, we have never gone back.

   We stand as 1/20 of the world population with 1/4 of the world inmates. No matter how many surveys are done, our country remains the greatest incarcerator on the face of this planet, and no one seems to deny it. “Though only 5 percent of the world’s population lives in the United States, it is home to 25 percent of the world’s prison population. … Not only does the current overpopulated, underfunded system hurt those incarcerated, it also digs deeper into the pockets of taxpaying Americans.” Sen. Rand Paul once said, while Hillary Clinton states, “It’s a stark fact that the United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, yet we have almost 25 percent of the world’s total prison population. The numbers today are much higher than they were 30, 40 years ago despite the fact that crime is at historic lows.”

   It’s obvious both Republicans and Democrats see there is a problem, but they don’t seem to know what to do about it. We still have the best criminal laws of all the nations in the world. Other countries incarceration rates are going up too, so is there really a problem?

   To begin with, let’s mention the thing that our whole government is so deeply concerned for: children, children in the United States. Did you know 1 in every 100 of them have a parent with a prison record, or currently in prison for that matter? But that’s not a big deal, right?

   Next, our Congress continues passing criminalizing laws at the rate of one per week. They have been doing it for decades. Everyone sees there is an issue, yet “...From 2000 through 2007, Congress enacted 452 new criminal offenses.” (Overcriminalization: An Explosion of Federal Criminal Law) We could do something to petition or protest against these law passages, but the truth is we don’t have the knowledge or time to gain all the knowledge we need to request a change.

   Strangely, the US sends all the convicted criminals to prison. Where other countries send their mentally unstable and drug offenders to institutions, our criminal justice system doesn’t do that. Does that protect us from more unknown dangers, or does it simply compound the overcriminalization issue?

The unemployment rates of former prisoners stands so great, the Labor Department does not even record them. So, returning to crime looks like the best way to survive for many ex-convicts. It’s only logical that they would return to the way they know, even though the whole process of punishment was meant to discourage and change their views on committing crimes.

  More than half of those formerly in incarcerated will return within a few years. Almost 80% will return to crime. It’s called recidivism. Think about that from a criminal’s point of view. It’s almost a guarantee that you will be back in prison before five years is up. So, why even try to change?

  Also, if these rates only continue to climb over the decades, it only seems logical to conclude that whatever measures are being taken now to rehabilitate, discourage, or stop these massive incarcerations has not been very effective at all. What needs to change? Why do we keep doing this?

   Here festers yet another wound to our civil government. Messy, controversial, powerful, even massive, our criminal justice system and the faults found in it are starting to look irreconcilable. Like the rest of our government, it looms as a black hole that most citizens of our country run from, or the most discouraged ones just sit and wait until it swallows them up. There are many things that we are immensely grateful for in our criminal justice system and the protection it provides for us, but honestly, when we look closely, it’s just as frightening and foreboding as the direction we feel all the rest of our government and country is heading.

So, what should we do?

My TeenPact Story...Or something like that...

I found this as I was preparing for my presentation the other day. Apparently I had written in the weeks following the 2015 TeenPact State Class and completely forgotten about it's existence. It's rather lengthy, but I had no idea how inspired I was by attending TeenPact.....Perhaps it will inspire someone else as well....

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   Did you know a chimpanzee once ran for the Presidential Primaries in New Hampshire? Did you know New Hampshire is the only state to have a Governor and Executive Council? Did you know the first battle in the American War for Independence was actually fought in Northern NH?.....Did you know New Hampshire established the first free government in the world?

   New Hampshire is one of the freest and most unique states in the US. Despite our small size, we have more Representatives in our State House than almost any other state. This means each of us have some of the best representation in the world. We have more freedom than some people even dream of having, but so few of us realize this. So few people of this generation understand the gift they have. And so many of this generation don't want to know or care either.

  That is just how a society crumbles. That is exactly how freedom is taken away. In fact, it isn't really taken at all. We are giving our freedom away. Or, probably a better analogy, we're throwing our freedom away. 

   To me that is a crushing thought. To realize that we are throwing away one of the greatest gifts we could ever have so we don't have to be inconvenienced. Do we really think so little of all the freedom we enjoy that we aren't willing to work hard to keep it?

  This past week I met, talked with, and listened to so many men and women who challenged me not to be that type of person. People like Rep. Dan Itse, Rep. Josh Moore, Secretary of State Bill Gardner, and Executive Councilman Dave Wheeler expressed to me and the other young people I was with the need in NH for young men and women to rise up and become involved in our government. While a group of TeenPact staffers encouraged us to learn more about our government and prepare to become the men and women our country needs. And I watch dozens of young people walk away inspired to be whatever God planned for them to be.

  The program that made it possible for me to meet and learn from these people is called TeenPact. I attend their four-day State Class for NH terrified about what I would be pushed from my comfort zone into doing. And I left, still terrified of the great job that I now realized loomed before me. But, you know what? I also left those inspiring days behind to become a much braver young citizen of the United States. 

   Over and over again, I used to get discouraged by the way I saw our towns, state, and country heading. Honestly, that discouragement makes it hard to hear or learn anything more about government, politics, etc. However, slowly, I realized though how accessible our state government is, how well represented we could be, how much freer we are than the rest of the world...Suddenly, that little seed of hope my mind was watered. It's just a seed - a tiny thing really in light of the great world we live in - but it was watered anyways. And it grew; I grew. God still has hope for this nation. So, I pray, He will continue instilling that hope in other hearts, like He did in mine.

Thoughts on Government...Part 1

A friend challenged me with these questions about myself and what I believe, so I decided to think through them here. After all, I've found talking to someone else is the best way to clarify what you have jumbled up in your heart and mind. And, in other words, my brain works better than my mouth.

***What is your stance on a Christian's role in government?***

   We live in a culture that wants to remain kids. Meaning, they want all of the privileges of freedom and liberty, just like children want all of the privileges of adults, but few of them are willing to shoulder the responsibilities of freedom and liberty. We need an army of men and women, not children, because those are the people mature enough to take responsibility for our culture, government, churches, and homes. God again and again calls us young men and women in His Word because that is what He desires us to be, that is what the world and Church need us to be, and that is what we must be. We must also be humble, knowing we are prone to be childish and that only the Lord can work in us the maturity to be adults in this world. We must not be naive, pleasure-loving, irresponsible children - God would never have us be so “humble” that we become these kind of people. We must show true humility and maturity by stooping to shoulder the great burden of responsibility in our government, church, and homes. God chose us out of this world to be salt and light, to preserve it. And how can we preserve it if we are either beating it down from the inside or sitting aside, ignoring it as it crumbles. Between those two options there is a balance of standing out, taking responsibility, and preserving our government and culture. And the only way to find that perfect balance is to look to the perfect God.

  Therefore, a Christian's role in government is to stand up and fight for that balance, to point others to God who has made a perfect balance. It's true, we must not force our religion on others. We must proclaim Christ, but this earthly government was not given for us to enforce our religion.

  Still we must also follow the pattern of the Founding Fathers who knew that to have a free and moral country we have to base our moral principles on the ones that Divine Providence has established. In essence, no free government can stand without holding on to morals-what is right and what is wrong-and the moment we begin removing God from our lives and government we begin losing our morals. And what is graver still is the thought that the only form of government that thrives on a lack of morals is a tyrannical one: an unjust, oppressive, arbitrary government. Does that sound anything like our government now?

  So there is, again, the fine line, perfect balance, narrow way we as Christians must walk in. We must preserve our government; it is our duty as Christians to be salt, to preserve. But it is also our duty to be light; we must fight the darkness that is so prevalent, especially in our government. We are soldiers of Christ's Kingdom! We are not allowed to give up! Unlike the rest of the world, our duty before God requires us to influence, work, and learn about our government, so long as we are able. Christians have to care about government!