The Thing About Not Helping Is Really That You Are Not Helping

Reading this article from the Boston Globe reminded me of something.

In 2005, when the number of homicides spiked to a 10-year high, 64 had been committed by Thanksgiving and 75 by the end of the year. The following year, there were 68 by the November holiday and 75 for the year. But in 2007, the number began to decline slightly with 63 homicides by Thanksgiving and 66 by year’s end.

Since then, the number of violent crimes - with the exception of rapes - has fallen steadily, a drop Davis said is in large part the result of a reinvestment in strategies that target gangs. Earlier this year, police attributed the rise in rapes to more reporting, rather than an actual increase in assaults. They also noted that the year before had seen far fewer rapes reported, which made the increase seem even more dramatic.

The government and it's employees often seem to think that government is the answer to people's (or society's) problems. And when they try something (such as passing a law, starting an "initiative," or finding other ways to spend taxpayer's money) and it does not work- they often think that more government will fix it. It doesn't, and so they cry different government (which usually just means more government) and they still seem to think that they can fix whatever ills they believe need fixing.

Rarely do they stop and think that something doesn't need fixing. Rarely do they admit that individual persons are responsible for themselves and their actions. Rarely do they admit that they do not have the power or ability to fix a problem (even though they would like to). They just keep doing what they are doing and expect different results.

In Boston, the police and the city act as though they can curb hate in a man's heart. Now I know they can't. You know they can't. And one would like to believe that they know they can't. But they fail to see that the problem which they are facing is not one of bodies- it is one of hatred in a man's heart. They would likely cry that something has to be done and they must be the ones to do it. The thing is, even if they need to do something- they need to realize that fighting the symptoms is not the way to cure a disease. It is not an issue of whether or not the police should respond to murders- of course they should! It is an issue of what works and what is appropriate for them to do in the first place. I am thankful that there have been less murders in Boston this year so far. However, the government is not likely to fix the problem- and if the problem is fixed- it will be highly unlikely that the government will have been the cure (though they will take as much credit as they possibly can, of course).

But why do I mention all this? What does this have to do with the war? What does this have to do with sanctification at all? Here is what I am thinking: what do I do (or what do you do) that does not work at all? What do I do that only gets at the symptoms and not the real cause? What things do I labour to change that I have no business changing- and that I could never change even if I wanted to? In short, how do I behave like the government? That is what I want to know. And that is what you should ask yourself.