First class passengers were rich... pretending to be richer. Second class passengers were pretending to be first class passengers. Third class passengers, locked out of first and second class decks, were happy to be on Titanic's maiden voyage.... Many headed for a new life in America. Everybody was impressed with Titanic's luxury and safety. One of the builders had said, "God himself couldn't sink this ship." It was midnight, April 14, 1912, in the freezing North Atlantic. The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank at 2:20 am. Getting in a lifeboat, in those troubled, freezing seas, was unthinkable. Not getting on a lifeboat was certain death in 28-degree sea water miles deep and hundreds of miles from any rescue. There were only half enough lifeboats for the 3,327 passengers. Very few men, the lifeboat coxswains, and most women and children survived. But far more 3rd Class women passengers and their children did not survive. That was a major failure on the part of the owners, the Captain and crew. A few men begged, threatened lawsuits or pretended to be women, to get on a lifeboat. But if the crew let one such man on a lifeboat, it would set a president and they would have to let every man on, and that would have sunk the lifeboats and drown men, women, and children. So letting any man on, except coxswains, was a serious failure. All of this while the ship's band played "Nearer My God To Thee" and some passengers drank their last cocktail of the evening.
Laws, rules, standards, and boundaries must be set in a civilized society and everyone must obey them or soon nobody will, and lawless anarchy will reign.
There are some things a Christian just must not do unless there is literally no other choice, and then only if it is not sinful or harmful to others. If I were a Jewish citizen in Nazi Germany and the Gestapo hammered on my door, and I sent my wife and children out the back door to a hiding place, what would I do if the Nazi officer demanded where my family was?' I would lie. If they shot me and I didn't die, I would pretend to be dead, a deception. Yes, I know, you would tell them where your family was, and when they shot you, you would tell them you were still alive so they could correct their mistake. Which is the greater sin, to give your family up to the Nazi ovens or a Charles Manson, or not telling them the truth? I do not believe God would hold that against me or punish me for lying to the devil's advocates. David, writer of the Psalms, deceived an evil king. Before God made him King of Israel, he lied, by deception, to the evil King of Gath, in 1 Sam. 21:10-15. "And David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: Why then have ye brought him to me?Have I need of mad men....
"David therefore departed thence, and escaped...." 1 Sam. 22:1
David's pretending to be insane caused this vicious king to avoid him and have him kicked out of his kingdom. Released, David survived to become the King of Israel, fight many battles and write the Psalms.
Though there may be exceptions to most rules and laws, loosening up the importance of what is acceptable, rules and laws must be obeyed to maintain a peaceful society. Until that is, they have reached critical mass and obedience is no longer possible, and the stability and peace of that nation is dying. Then, I believe, the overthrow of that government must begin. But when a civilized nation acquiesces to an everything goes society, the rulers violate the laws with impunity, and even reward error and evil, ignominy and collapse will always follow. And it happens automatically unless that government is replaced by a better one. That is exactly what Constitutional Conservatives are trying to do in America today. All the candidates in the last election were flawed, but some less so than others. Some were at least adherents of our U.S. Constitution, the foundation of all our laws. The fact is that all of us are also flawed in some way or another. But some of us are basically law abiding and love our country more than a personal, greedy agenda or a political party. There is no such thing as a perfect candidate or perfect voter, but we must always make the most of what we have and choose our best options. Pray for our President, Congress and Supreme Court. RB
