Law, Control, Irony

  

I am an officer in The Salvation Army (a member of the clergy in our denomination) and in my current appointment we operate a thrift store.  As part of our operations we have a large box truck – formerly it was a Ryder  truck – that we use to pick up donations – and to use this truck we are obliged to adhere to a number of Department of Transportation regulations about who can drive it, how often it has to be inspected, and etc…  It’s a hassle.  But I understand the importance. 

A friend of mine – a fellow Salvation Army officer – and I were discussing some of these regulations the other day, and how cumbersome they are, and he made the comment, “they do it just to control us.  It’s all about control.  The government wants to control everything we do.”

I let it slide.  It’s a conversation we’ve had before. But I wanted to say that – No.  These safety regulations were not enacted by the Department of Transportation or the government in order to “control” us.  They were put into place in order to preserve public safety.  The regulations help ensure that trained and qualified drivers will be operating safe vehicles when on public roads.    But, as I said, I let it slide.  It’s a conversation we’ve had before, and it wasn’t worth an argument.

What I find humorous is that this same fellow believes quite firmly that the law codes of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament are still valid and are appropriate – and that they are there for our protection.  And that they are unquestionable. 

I cannot convince him of the irony of this.