In our modern era those caught in captivity demand that we not only allow them to do what they want to do. They go much further. “Pay for it!” There is a call that it is their right to sell their soul to the devil. Some politicians agree and are elected with the expressed ambition to legalize all sin and increase taxes to pay for it.
You ask who would do such a thing? Nobody is using that in their commercials, so Rich how can you say such a thing. Just look at one area of common captivity, addiction. Several years ago, addiction was branded a disease. Why did that happen? While there are some similarities to disease, the model falls short in that nobody loves their cancer or heart disease, but they LOVE their addiction. But if it is not a disease then we cannot charge insurance and other government programs to care for these individuals. Not only that but over my more than two decades of working with those in addiction I have only met one person who overcame their addiction using a thirty-day program. Yet, what does the government support? Thirty-day programs! These programs are funded by heads in beds and not by real outcomes. Who is still sober 6 months later? A year later? Five years later? What if funding was tied in with very real outcomes where men and women are free from addiction and restored to society? My guess is that nobody would offer thirty-day programs and there would be a more concerted effort to actually help folks get free.
In our current system now created by the Poverty Industrial Complex, there are additional costs. When we legalize drugs, we will ultimately have to pay for a wide array of social services for these folks. This includes unemployment, housing, food stamps and all medical care. The system will trap these individuals in a prison of dependency that sucks the life out of these men and women. Hopelessness zaps their strength and over time they have nothing to do but be a nuisance to society.
These men and women are not sick. They are lonely, bored and purposeless. After helping them discover that they have an identity as a mighty person we must help direct that energy and those talents toward a life of benefit for our community. This does take time and the poverty fighter will get push back not only from agencies that profit from people staying sick, but from those that believe that they have no value. Setting captives free is dangerous work.
Many years ago now I was working alongside a human trafficking group and they were preparing for a raid to rescue a young lady. I found a place to hide her out for a week or so while they located a safe house for her. They successfully pulled off the raid and called to let me know she was on the way. Less than twenty minutes after giving my final approval two of my kids had broken arms. These broken arms were not directly connected to the rescue in a physical sense. However, the enemy of our souls does not want people set free. My kids paid a price for my willingness to fight. Our real enemy is not the powers that we can see in our nation, let us not forget that the devil hates us and those that we long to set free.
