Reign of Lawlessness
By Hal Lindsey
Mexico’s new socialist president has taken a novel approach to crime fighting. He calls it, “hugs not bullets.” To see how that strategy is working out, look at the story of Ovidio Guzmán. He is the son of the man once known as the world’s most powerful drug trafficker — “el Chapo.” In October, the young Guzman was captured by Mexican police. But the government of Mexico freed him when hundreds of crime syndicate henchmen began an assault on the country’s security forces.
Because of what happened that day, Mexico is a different place. Citizens long suspected that crime lords run their country. Now they know it. Newspaper man Ismael Bojórquez described the change. “Life goes on,” he wrote, “but not in the same way.”
President López Obrador sees it as a good thing. “This is no longer a war,” he said. “It is no longer about force, confrontation, annihilation, extermination, or killing in the heat of the moment. This is about thinking how to save lives and achieve peace and tranquility in the country using other methods.”
But in fact, this is not about saving lives. Just the opposite. It is about a government’s capitulation to the forces of evil. It is about the reign of lawlessness.
Jesus said that in the last days, “lawlessness will abound.” (Matthew 24:12)
In London a few days ago, a terrorist named Usman Khan stabbed five people, killing two. He had previously been convicted for his part in an al-Qaeda inspired terror plot back in 2012. He served five years and was then released from prison without going before a parole board as the law previously required. The Australian news service, News.com.au, reported, “Khan had been helped by ‘Learning Together’ after he was released from prison in December last year. And he was used as a poster boy by the program after he thanked them for helping him get a computer.”
The two people killed by Khan — Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25 — were volunteers with “Learning Together.” They were both outspoken advocates for more leniency in Britain’s criminal justice system. “Learning Together” is an initiative of the Cambridge University Institute of Criminology. The director of the institute, Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe, said that Jack Merritt advocated “for a politics of love.”
It sounds a lot like “hugs not bullets.” And that sounds nice until we remember that God instituted human government for the protection of rights, the protection of children and families — protection from lives of fear.
The United States is not immune from the growing lawlessness in the world. In Chicago, the county prosecutor announced three years ago that shoplifters would no longer be charged with a felony if they stole under a $1000 worth of merchandise, or if they were juveniles. Criminals are said to carry calculators into stores to make sure they are under the limit. That way they will be free to come back for more. According to CBS 2 in Chicago, “They grab what they want and then they take off.”
Alderman Brian Hopkins says, “We’re seeing store security guards being pepper sprayed, maced and physically attacked…. [Shoplifters] have no fear and they’re acting with impunity.”
The same thing has happened in California where the law changed 1 ½ years ago. Any theft below $950 can only be charged as a misdemeanor. The owner of a small hobby shop in Sacramento says the new law has made it hard for him and other small retailers to stay in business. “It’s just pretty much open season,” he said. “They’ll pick the $800 unit and just grab it and run out the door.”
Rachael Rollins serves as the District Attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts. The county includes Boston. She was elected promising not to prosecute certain crimes. They include theft of personal property under $250, disorderly conduct, trespassing, receiving stolen property, wanton or malicious destruction of property, drug possession, drug possession with intent to distribute, and resisting arrest. Think of the consequences of giving people a free pass on the things on that list.
Initially, lawlessness leads to anarchy. But it never stays there long. It quickly becomes the excuse for criminal control such as we see in Mexico, or for the formation of a police state. Either way, freedoms are quickly lost.
