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In November 2020, the voters of Oregon, by a 58% majority, passed the most liberal drug law in the nation, decriminalizing small amounts of hard drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl.
It was supposed to work something like this: If the police catch someone with hard drugs, they get a citation and a fine. They are also told that if he or she were to call a provided phone number and get assessed for addiction, the fine and citation would go away. Even if they didn’t seek treatment.
A rousing success? Not hardly, according to a February 2024 article by npr.com.
In fact, the drug and addiction situation in Oregon has gotten worse. So worse, that last month, Oregon’s Governor, Tina Kotek, vowed to sign a bill that re-criminalizes drugs. But much damage has been done and some will never recover from it. The Seattle Times calls the decriminalization program “a disaster.” One study determined that drug overdose deaths were up significantly.
In 2019, before the relaxed drug law was voted in, 280 people in Oregon died of a drug overdose. But in 2022, 956 residents of Oregon died of a drug overdose. So, decriminalizing hard drugs leads to even more problem? Well, duh! Who didn’t see that coming? Fifty-eight percent of Oregon voters and their elected officials, that’s who.
Sometimes people ask, “How stupid can people be?” And then some folks apparently take it as a personal challenge. The same mind set is seen in cities where people who commit crimes are no longer kept in jail and prosecuted. And crimes soar! Well, duh!
Then there are the cities with strict gun control because, you know, if guns are illegal then criminals can’t get them. There are over 400 million legal (note that: “legal”) guns in the United States. Yet in major urban cities with the strictest gun laws, the criminals have loads of guns while the average citizen is denied the ability to protect themselves, their families, and their homes. The result? Well, it’s obvious.
Sometimes people agree to stupid things because they have no ability to critically think, or they have been told by others how to think, or they have never learned to think about the consequences of actions. On that last part about consequences, there are three questions to ask:
1) What could be the consequences of this action?
2) What could be the unforeseen consequences of this action?
3) What could be the unintended consequences of this action?
As Courtland Gentery, in the “Gray Man” novels has said, “Hope is not a strategy.” While 58% of the voters of Oregon may have hoped the results would be good and while they may have had good intentions, as Abbot Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1163 AD) is reported to have said. “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” In any event, good intentions may make one feel better or morally superior, but the results really do matter.
The same type of mindset is true even in the church world. Tens of millions of dollars are spent on advertising, programs, flash, and gimmicks to draw people to church. Boards change pastors or hire fresh staff, or even build better buildings as a way of drawing people.
But studies have demonstrated that 85% of people who visit a church for the first time do so because someone in the church who they knew invited them to come. Eighty-five percent. So why are churches in America suffering from a loss of attendance? Just think about that for a minute. Got it? Well, duh!
As that great philosopher and philanthropist Forrest Gump once said, “Stupid is as stupid does.” The problem is that with such experiments like no prosecution, no bail, legalizing hard drugs, thinking that banning guns will end crime, and imagining that just hoping and praying will fill church pews is that real people who have real needs get left in the dirt, some wounded beyond repair.
When I was in high school, I ran the wrong assignment on a football play in practice. The result was not good. The coach pointed his finger at my forehead and poked me rather hard with it as he said, “Think!” Some folks could use a good poke in the forehead.
[David Epps is the Rector of the Cathedral of Christ the King (www.ctk.life). Worship services are on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. and on livestream at www.ctk.life. He is the bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-South (www.midsouthdiocese.life). He may be contacted at [email protected].]
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