The Cruel Mercy of the State
by Rev. Charles H Roberts, D.Min.
E.J. Montini, in his March 13, 2016 column in the Arizona Republic newspaper reports the
impending closure of the Arizona Children’s Colony. Established by the state of
Arizona in 1952, it is located near Coolidge, AZ between Tucson and Phoenix.
The facility is now called Arizona Training Program. You can read the story
here.
At its height, it housed over 250 mentally and physically
disabled children and adults. Legislative action in 1979 determined to close the facility and move its residents to normal
society.
To that end, in the same year, a law was passed banning any
new residents to the facility, and those that remained would either end their
days there or, at some future time, be removed. And as Mr. Montini has well
chronicled, that future time is now.
Today there are around 86 residents, all mentally and
physically disabled, and many of them in their 50’s and 60’s. They have known
no other home.
In the article, various reasons are given by a representative
of the state as to why this action is being taken, none of which have well
satisfied many of the family and loved ones of the residents who are being
impacted by the decision.
Many suspect the real reason for the action is because the
state wants to sell the property for a profit.
Care for the sick, disabled and the dying by state
agencies is, relatively speaking, a recent occurrence. From ancient times the
less fortunate (and in this case, the less healthy) in society were ignored by
state governments.
Ancient Roman society, for all of its advances over barbaric
paganism was not a happy place if you become sick or born with a deformity.
Gary
Ferngren tells the story of how the rise of Christianity brought sweeping
changes to the ways that the most vulnerable in Roman society were treated.
Because the Christians believed that all human beings are
created in God’s image, and because of New Testament exhortations to care for
widows and orphans, and the example of The Good Samaritan, extensive networks
of charity and care were developed to address the needs of the less fortunate.
The foundation of those networks was solidly Biblical and
theological, and based on the belief that God, not the state, is sovereign.
God’s Law, not the laws of the state, was the ultimate basis for how ailing
human beings should be treated.
The decline of those theological commitments eventually lead
to the state taking over, if not usurping, the ministry of the church in those
areas.
According to Holy Scripture, Almighty God established three
foundational institutions in creation: the family, the church, and the state.
Each of those three are independent in their own spheres of authority but they share
the common bond of being submissive to the Law of God.
In societies where the state has tended to see itself as its
own ultimate authority, answerable to none else, least of all God’s Law in Holy
Scripture, tyranny and cruelty soon follow.
Only a return to the Biblical model will guarantee the best
interests of folks such as the residents of the Arizona Training Program.
Until families, churches, and state governments once more
embrace God’s word in Scripture the text of Proverbs 12:10 remains sadly
accurate: the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
copyright: Dr Charles H Roberts
