REV DAVID FAREY: What's the point of laws that can't be enforced?

With the limited resources in this age of austerity so many standards have to go by the board, and it is impossible for all the laws to be enforced.

It made me wonder what is the point of having laws which cannot be enforced?

The statute books are full of many rules and regulations which gather dust and fail to have any effect, some justifiably so.

I believe Oliver Cromwell’s laws about banning Christmas for instance are still in force!

But there are many laws which have a good solid purpose which when not kept lead to a deterioration in the quality of life.

Take litter for instance.

Dropping litter is illegal, but it is incomprehensible to imagine a police officer waiting to pounce on some young or not so young idiots chucking their McD’s packaging out of the car window in some rural lane at midnight one Saturday night!

There is a fundamental break down in society when people drop all kinds of litter and seem to have no concept of just how wrong and counterproductive it is.

Self discipline and self regulation is by far the most effective way in which laws can have effect, qualities that seem distinctly lacking in society.

There are of course many laws other than litter that are crucial for the quality of life.

Every wrong doing, both of earthly and celestial kind are known by God though and every one will be accountable at some point.

It is a bit like the joke about the burglar sneering with contempt at the parrot saying, “Jesus is watching you!”, until he turns round to be confronted by the Rottweiler with the name tag “Jesus”!

It’s only when it’s too late that we can realise our error.

We all need to realise our errors now before it’s too late!