The Heavy Yoke

Politicians think that if they produce more and more laws, rules and regulations, they can control crime, fanaticism, antisocial behaviour and excessive use of alcohol or drugs. They remind me of the religious leaders in the time of Christ who built thousands of rules and regulations on the basis of the laws of the Torah in order to keep the people under their control. Today, we need a different approach and strategy to combat all these problems. It is time to shift our focus. We need to start digging behind the social diseases to tackle the issues that cause problems instead of turning Parliament into a factory of laws.

People everywhere – in schools, streets and workplaces – reflect how they grew up and the situation in their homes. When homes in our society are broken then no law can stop the damage which can be inflicted on the young generation and the hurt they may cause to themselves and to their environment. Christ challenged the leaders in his time about this specific point. He accused them of burdening the people with extra unnecessary rules and laws in order to keep their heavy hand on their lives and minds.

We desperately need to put more resources, effort and time into looking after families instead of putting them under a painful siege of more rules and more restrictions. All these rules are supposedly made to keep the peace in society and to reduce violence, resentment and fear. Families are facing extremely serious situations, financially, culturally and religiously. Our communities are becoming increasingly diverse. Leaders think that the more they have a grip on other people’s lives and relationships, the more harmony they can create. This is completely false because harmony comes as a result of a high sense of responsibility and a mature understanding of citizenship. Civil law has its very important role to play but we must not use it as a ‘quick fix’ for problems which should be addressed on a human and social level. Obviously the more love we bring to our homes the less stealing, killing, raping, and knifing etc.. No-one who loves would do all of these horrible things. Laws, nevertheless, would never stop these things happening because the defect is in the mind and in the heart and what flows out of that can never be stopped by law.

Christ went beyond the letter of the law and challenged the leaders in their ways of applying it. He put the emphasis on building healthy and strong human relationships based on respect, understanding and most importantly love which, for Christ, was the ultimate value and the highest motivation. Before we jump into generating endless chains of laws, we’d better create some support systems which enable relationships in the communities to flourish and grow by laying the right foundation of healthy and strong families. The real debates in this country should be about how we can all do our bit to find more creative and effective solutions for the deep and complicated problems that hit families and homes and cause them to break. As Christians, we look to Christ to access God’s way of dealing with this subject. Jesus revealed to us the very heart of God when he kept bringing love to the heart of human relationships. Christ never understood love as a sentimental feeling but rather a power for change and a force for good. He lived what he preached and because of that his teachings are authentic. It is for us now to learn and to apply what he taught and to understand how he lived the values he preached and believed in.