1 out of 100 Americans...

When you hear the phrase, "1 out of 100 Americans," what do you expect to hear next? Well I heard a report today that used that figure and it didn't have anything to do with toothpaste, owning pets, getting on the Internet, or anything like that. The report I heard was, "1 out of 100 Americans are now in prison." I don't know where the figure came from--it was on a Sports Talk Radio Station, of all things--but let's assume for the sake of discussion that they reported it accurately. What does that say about our nation? The USA was known as a "Christian Nation" (whatever that means) at one time. We have prided ourselves on the principles of "truth, justice, and the American way." How could we have reached a point where 1% of our nation's population is behind bars?

I have a feeling it has a lot to do with our mindset toward autority. For many years now, children have been taught in many public school systems that they are the ultimate judge of their own morality. The concept of an absolute standard of right and wrong has been discarded from many people's thinking. What else can this kind of thinking lead to, but for millions of people to live their lives in disregard of the system of authority that is in place in this nation. In ancient Israel, there was a similar problem. "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). It is for this reason that many have called the period in Israel's history, which is chronicled in the book of Judges, "The Dark Ages of Israel." Over and over those people repeated a cycle of rebellion, oppression, and deliverance.

God has warned us about such thinking. Whenever human beings cast off that standard of authority that governs us all, they set themselves up for destruction. Divine wisdom declares: "There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death" (Proverbs 14:12). Human beings are incapable of establishing a moral system for themselves. Jeremiah said, "O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps" (Jeremiah 10:23).

It is a shame if it's true that 1 out of 100 Americans are now in prison. Let's face it, it is a shame that even 1 person is in prison. But until people realize the need to acknowledge that there is a standard of authority to govern us all, and that God is the One who has that authority, the problem will never be solved. Increasing prison populations is only one symptom of the real problem. People's attitudes and actions in daily life and interaction with their fellow man reveal that the problem is much larger. We need to turn people back to the divine standard of God's authority.