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The past few years have seen the burgeoning of a philosophy that threatens to utterly demote mankind to the level of brute beasts. For lack of a better term, I refer to it as the “no-fault” mentality. Simply put, it seeks to absolve everyone of any personal blame or guilt for anything. If carried to the ultimate, it will make the concepts of accountability and guilt for one’s own behavior forgotten relics of a bygone era.
The signs of this mentality are all about us. The “no-fault” insurance policy seems to be little less than an attempt to make the insured motorist pay not only for his own liability and damage coverage, but also for that of the driver who refuses to insure himself. By some sort of twisted logic, our courts and laws often seem to consider the offender to be the victim, more so than the ones he has victimized. (After all, the poor fellow who robs, rapes, or murders cannot be blamed—he is merely the unfortunate victim of his unwholesome environment.) The drunk/drug-crazed driver who kills with his car is not to blame. He was not himself—he was a “victim” of alcohol/drugs. Many states now have “no-fault” divorce laws. Since Sigmund Freud came along with his theories on the human psyche, sin has become less and less sinful. Men are not sinful, you see— only “sick” or “maladjusted.”
In an attempt to cloak the abomination of sodomy with respectability, it is called the “gay” movement. Almost every despicable and filthy form of behavior to which human beings can stoop has been awarded the benevolent shelter of “alternate-life- style.” Liberal theologians have done their part for years by saying that preachers should not preach against sin because it makes people feel guilty, which is unhealthy.
Are we approaching the time when no one will be held accountable or accept blame for anything anymore? Could it be that this infectious mentality is a major contributing factor to the vast numbers of young people who “play” with such deadly “toys” as alcohol, drugs, and sex? Have their parents taught them irresponsibility? Could this be the reason for the ever-increasing alarming rise in violent crime rates? Could it be that this philosophy is what has made it harder and harder to convert sinners, both in and out of the church? (After all, if one is only sick, he needs a doctor instead of the Gospel.)
Should the time come that all men deny their personal faults and consequent guilt, it will not relieve the personal accountability of anyone before the Judgment Seat of Christ (Acts 17:31; 2 Cor. 5:10).
[Note: I wrote this article for and it was published in The Lighthouse, weekly bulletin of Northpoint Church of Christ, Denton, TX, January 16, 2011, of which I was editor.]
Attribution: From thescripturecache.com; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.
