The Return to Barbarism

Mrs. B___ lives in a lovely home in an elite neighborhood and prides herself on being a “good” liberal parent, insisting her teenagers bring home every sort of troubled classmate. When her house was burglarized clearly by youths who knew exactly what to take she felt no anger, only a sort of thrilled moral superiority. Rather than blame the thieves, she blamed “society,” insisting that we are all guilty and should make it up to “underprivileged youth,” vowing she would never prosecute. But to justify thieves is worse than the theft itself: the teenagers stole property, but she attacked the moral foundations of society by denying personal responsibility. This modern habit of blaming culture, parents, or “the system” is simply a revival of pagan barbarism the same mentality that once killed innocent people because a witch doctor claimed they caused someone’s illness. Scripture, by contrast, is crystal clear: every man is accountable for his own sin (Deut. 24:16; Jer. 31:30). Mrs. B imagines herself enlightened, but her thinking is as primitive as any tribesman with a bone through his nose.