"The Devil Made Me Do It!

  Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Open up the jails! I have just seen the ultimate solution to tort reform and crowded jails.
  The other day the newspaper reported that a man killed eighteen people, yes eighteen. The man's defense was that he was a crack head, abused by his mother and raped by a social worker when he was a young boy. It wasn't his fault after all. The dealer, his mother and the social worker actually pulled the trigger.

  Like a flash of light, it came to me that we all can claim our problems are the result of the actions of people, who came before us. Following this logic to its ultimate conclusion, we discover we can all blame Adam and Eve for our problems. Cain killed Able because of his upbringing. So bulletin! we no longer need jails, courts, judges, and lawyers. The common and unbeatable defense is now: Adam and Eve made us do it!

  Of course Adam and Eve's only defense was "the devil made me do it." Somebody made me do it? A six foot burly drunk exclaims, "my wife makes me drink". Now she is five foot two, it takes real mental power to visualize her holding him down on the floor. And it takes even more to see her pouring the drink down his throat as he desperately attempts to struggle free.

  The same struggle surfaces while reflecting back on my youth. Three boys went into a small local store, owned by a little old  and kind lady. Two decided to steal a bottle of Nehi grape soda. The third chose to sneak back and pay her the ten cents. All three lived on the same street and came from similar families. Today we know, by popular demand and acceptance, that the two who snatched the sodas did so because of something negative in their background or families. What on earth caused the third boy to do a good act?
Today we aren't sure.

  Fifty some years ago, the little boy who paid the dime did so because he felt sorry for the little old lady. She worked so hard and was kind to all of them many times. From the time he first left the store his conscience wouldn't leave him alone. The other two seem to have no conscience. They got what they wanted and to heck with the old lady. They even made fun of the third boy for going back. In fact they resented him. They were concerned only for themselves, he was concerned for others.

Who made them that way? The two who stole the Nehi came from families with a father and mother, brothers and sisters, with their own homes and no real trauma in life. The third boy couldn't remember his real father, lived in basement home and was raped by a neighbor at age six. According to what is in the news these days this story is all wrong. This boy made a moral decision and took responsibility in the middle of an immoral setting, where the majority were acting irresponsibly.

Today he could have gone back and brutally attacked, raped and killed the old lady, before turning on his friends in rage and killing them under stress. A good lawyer and a sympathetic jury would easily see that his father, who abandoned him and his sister, the neighbor who traumatized him and the modest living quarters were more than enough to justify his actions. In fact they probably would award him millions from Nehi Beverages for making sodas that would entice young boys to steal.

  God holds each person responsible for there own actions. The devil cannot make anyone do anything. The only power anyone has over another is the power to influence. History is littered with persons, who have given up their lives rather than act irresponsible or immoral. Successful societies hold people responsible for their own actions.

  Physical and mental cowards shy away from accepting responsibility for their actions. They also allow and encourage others to make immoral and irresponsible decisions. "Real Men and Women" use their past only for understanding themselves and certain influences in their lives. However, "Real Men and Women" then hold themselves accountable to make moral and responsible decisions. They do not tolerate any less from others.

  Aren't you tired of this endless rhetoric that is nothing more than one big excuse for irresponsible behavior? I am! It is my cause to stand up against things irresponsible. I don't want to be buddies with my children, I want to be their father. I don't want to be well liked, I want to be respected for my principles. I am going to say, no to the man who hits a woman; to a child being disrespectful toward an adult; to thief the first time he steals; to a teenager crowding in line at the movies; to the church gossip killing the reputations of others; to sin; and to anyone tolerating immoral and irresponsible behavior.

  Many of you know the basic problem. In my Uncle Tom's words, some chose to do good and some chose to do bad. My grandmother would say some want to go to heaven others to hell. I say there are self centered people, who don't give a damn about anyone or anything, and there are God centered people, who care enough about others enough to act responsibly and morally. Let us call it what it is - Evil (period). And let's start when they are little boys.