There are two schools of thought when it comes to laws. The first – that laws are made to be broken, and the second – that laws were made by man, for man, and as such they must be obeyed. Law-abiding citizens is what the system is after, and it cannot be blamed for that. In a world of seven-odd billion people, what else can hold the masses in check?
Outlaws seem preferable to inlaws in today’s world. Inlaws bring friction, oftentimes, to life. There are too many of them. That is perhaps because marriage has outlived its purpose. This is not bad news. It is good news. It means that there is something valuable in the institution. It has survived itself. Its framework works for many and its infrastructure supports many happy families. This does not mean that marriage is the be-all and end-all, though. It depends on what you believe about unity.
Laws are needed if the world is to make anything worthwhile of its criminals. Everywhere has criminals. This is not out of balance. It gives the laws something to do. The thing about laws, is that the punishments meted out for lawlessness should not only be relevant to the crime committed, they should be serious enough to deter the criminal from ever reoffending. In the first instance, however, lawlessness must be properly defined. It is a broad term. Gayness, for instance, is not lawlessness. Neither is genetic manipulation nor poisoning the environment. It’s a strange world, this.
C.J. Birch
C.J. Birch 