When laws multiply to the point of insanity,
sane people become lawbreakers. I allowed my 15-year-old permit-only driver to drive alone (in the country for 2.4 miles). I burn
stuff that’s illegal to burn. I go 5-10
miles over the speed limit regularly. And so do you. And we consider ourselves law-abiding
citizens – which I very much want to be.
But these laws are driving us crazy!
Now I’ve discovered a law that takes
the cake – literally. As part of some
compromise over church potlucks, the Minnesota Department of Health has put a
regulation in place that makes it illegal for fundraising groups or non-church
groups to serve food in churches unless at least one server is certified and
trains the rest. This means that our 4-H
club members, youth group fund-raising soup lunch servers, and even I, at our
confirmation open house party for Andrew in the church basement, have been breaking the law. Granted, certification is relatively simple –
watch a video and complete some handouts – but the principle is still
ridiculous, especially when you realize that the 4-H club, which is NOT open to
the public or attempting to raise money, could serve food at any other location
in the state without consequence. However,
it is a community event in a church and therefore subject to the regulation.
This points out the problem with
these ever-increasing laws. They target
one group but invariably shoot another.
Minnesota has recently and rapidly
passed another law called “Jacob’s Law,” which requires either parent of a
child to notify the other parent if abuse of the child is discovered. It has exceptions and so forth, but does
anyone seriously believe that this won’t make someone, somewhere, a law-breaker
in the best interests of their child, because the exceptions don’t cover their
particular situation?
it simply is not true that every bad
thing should be “fixed” with a law – and in fact, it will NOT be fixed. The proliferation of laws simply makes
everyone take all the laws less seriously.
