COMMENT: You are right. Christ did say that but also added “go and sin no more”.
The Movie – Taken
REPLY: Yes. It is not defending what someone does, but it is giving them the opportunity to change assuming the conduct is even voluntary. If they do not change, that is on them. This would apply to a prostitute or a banker. In business, I have found that J.P Morgan was correct. He would not lend money to a dishonest person with all the collateral in the world, for he will still cheat you. Someone who twists things around in their mind to justify themselves taking another’s property, is still rotten to the core and all the money they gather cannot wipe the stench from their character.
You cannot regulate honesty, morals, or character. They either have it or they do not. Legalizing prostitution will
- (1) end abuse of runaways, and
- (2) end the kidnapping of girls who are then forced into the sex-trade.
The movie Taken illustrates the issue that 4 million people are abducted and 80% are females sold into the sex-trade. Sure, kidnapping is illegal – big deal. It does not stop the practice. In the Balkans, where marriages are often still arranged, men pretending to be willing husbands take girls for wives and then sell them into the sex-trade and go back for another. All the laws in Christendom will not stop prostitution be it voluntary or girls sold into sex-slavery. Regulate it and you will destroy the traffic industry just as ending prohibition ended the speak-easy. Then perhaps it will be reduced to at least voluntary rather than involuntary.
Nevertheless, it is a paradox. To end something, you have to legalize it. Make it ILLEGAL, and you fund the very industry based on the illegal premium. Legalize drugs and you will end the violence on the streets except for the real crazy people. Regulate the drugs to ensure people get help. Make something illegal, and many people will try it just to be fashionable. I have known potheads, as they were called, who spent $1,000 a month to stay high. All the laws you can invent will not prevent it, but legalize it and you will discover who is the addicted pothead just like an alcoholic.
So I do not defend what someone does, I am just not willing to judge them assuming what they do is even voluntary. Everyone deserves a chance, and some need a hand or at least guidance. Compassion is not a sin.
