Unless wanted, God vacates our lives

5th May 2014   ·   0 Comments

By Fr. Jerome LeDoux
Contributing Columnist

In their frenzied zeal to expel God from our schools and public places, misguided interpreters of our Constitution’s decree on Chur­ch and State have succeeded in driving God from their personal thinking, speaking and way of living their own lives. Shallow and clueless, their thoughts propagate disturbing, divisive words and troubled actions.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Jan Jurden showed how she fits that description when she sent wealthy DuPont fortune heir Robert H. Richards IV to treatment rather than prison, claiming that he would “not fare well” in prison after being convicted of raping his three-year-old daughter. Right! Inmates are known to kill child molesters.

However, that consideration was no reason to slap Richards on the wrist and put him only on treatment for his depraved mind. Why did Judge Jurden approve that type of sentence after expressing concern over the lack of jail time? It is the kind of harebrained decision one makes who has no Compass, no Sanction and no Anchor that we call God.

First of all, most state statutes are woefully soft on rapists in general and child molesters in particular. Rape victims often get little respect and sometimes abuse from the authorities who should be shielding and guarding them. We should be ashamed that we are barely more moral than countries that promote abuse and honor-killing of victims.

Child molester John W. Eastridge was another beneficiary of misguided clemency in May, 2013, even though he had raped two small girls. Their grandmother told how he had traumatized them, in particular the six-year-old. “You took (her) innocence, trust and love and turned it into nightmare, fear and hatred,” she told the Genesee County Court.

Then she broke down as Judge Robert C. Noonan gave Eastridge a six-month local jail term and placed him on probation for 10 years. Noonan explained that he based his sentence on recommendations from Genesee County Probation Department and Oatka Valley Associates that provide treatment and counseling. They said Eastridge had a low chance of being a repeat offender, would not have access to children and would be under close surveillance with random searches.

So, which party received the lion’s share of mercy? Which party was catered to with regard to convenience, complete healing, security and peace in everyday life? The social games and experiments of social scientists do not help victims, but only predators.

Social experiments often backfire since experimenters put safety and security of the innocent on the back burner. For instance, al­though ankle monitors work fairly well, they failed in the case of transients Franc Cano, 27, and Steven Gordon, 45, who were charged recently with four felony counts each of special circumstances murder and rape of women with histories of prostitution, with more charges likely to come.

Unfortunately, such shameful, painful cases can be recounted almost endlessly, as in the enigmatic cases of pedophile priests who were directly responsible for the safety, protection and spiritual care of small and adolescent boys. Luke 12:48 warns, “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” Thank God, this ugliness has mostly been remedied.

As if we needed to be reminded explicitly of what happens to us when we go out of our way to expel God from our lives, the atheistic Freedom From Religion Foundation hung this sign in April, 2014, NOBODY DIED FOR OUR “SINS” JESUS CHRIST IS A MYTH.

Of course, the First Amend-ment to the U.S. Constitution gives the Founda-tion the right of assembly and freedom of speech, no matter how offensive to others. But isn’t it strange that some atheists cannot bear being silent, but have to be public and militant? Can it be that, unbeknown to themselves, they are fighting against Someone special?

At times, authorities charged with taking care of students are con­centrating on the literal text of law instead. Bullied beyond measure and refused help by his school, South Fayette High School in Mc­Donald, Pennsylvania, Christian Stanfield was convicted of wiretapping when he took his iPad and recorded an audio of the bullying.

Christian’s mother was in shock to hear how bad the audio was. Are blind school and other authorities driven by the poison of strict legalism or simply by the dread vacuum of detachment from God when they make such stupid and inhumane decisions?

As for us, are we any better than those authorities who shunt God whom they try to replace with laws, rules, policies and social experiments? Are we any different from those folks who are deists, closet atheists or practical atheists living as if God either does not exist or is not a factor in our lives? It is deadly for us to throw up unwelcome signs through airheaded thoughts, words and actions, causing God to vacate our personal lives.

This article originally published in the May 5, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.