“The doctrine of original sin is the only philosophy empirically validated by the centuries of recorded human history.” G.K. Chesterton
Do you think Casey Anthony was innocent or guilty of murdering her young daughter Caylee? Honestly, I don’t know if Casey is guilty of murdering her daughter. I was not there. However, I do know that her behavior, immediately following Caylee’s death, was quite peculiar for a mother who supposedly loved her daughter.
The Casey Anthony case got me thinking about one of the myths that define our times. The myth I am referring to is the goodness of man. People who believe in this myth rail against heaven with the presumptuous question: Why do bad things happen to good people?
In his book, “Chuck Colson Speaks”, he writes, “This myth deludes people into thinking that they are always victims, never villains; always deprived, never depraved. It dismisses responsibility as the teaching of a darker age. It can excuse any crime, because it can always blame something else—a sickness of society or a sickness of the mind.”
One writer called the modern age “the golden age of exoneration.” When guilt is dismissed as the illusion of narrow minds, then no one is accountable, even to his or her conscience.
A person whose conscience has become seared through immoral living no longer has the ability to discern what is right or wrong. With no internal moral compass to navigate them through their decision-making, they are left only to live for what feels best at the current moment. Even if this means dangerously neglecting your child, who has now become an inconvenience, to the lifestyle you want to live. Boy, this sure seems to describe Casey Anthony.
Our judicial system instructs those who serve as jurors that they must presume innocence before guilt. In fact, as we witnessed in the Casey Anthony trial, the evidence must prove guilt beyond a shadow of doubt. This presumption of innocence sure does give crafty lawyers a great deal of wiggle room to find loopholes in our judicial system. I guess this is how it has to be since imperfect people serve as jurors. However, I wonder if crime would be deterred if people were presumed guilty before innocent when on trial. Has our judicial system fallen victim to the myth of the goodness of man?
The Lord who is the ultimate Judge (Psalm 96:13, James 5:9) has never been fooled, and never will be fooled, by the myth of the goodness of man. Our God presumes guilt before innocence. His verdict is that we all have sinned and fallen short of His glory (Romans 3:23). Our debt of sin is too costly for us to pay. We are all guilty! That is the bad news.
The good news is that God our Judge is also God our Eternal Father who loves us. In His love, he sent his Son Jesus Christ as the perfect atoning sacrifice for our sins (John 3:16). Jesus paid the price we could never pay by giving His life for our righteousness, holiness, redemption and salvation (1 Corinthians 1:30). When we repent and put our faith in Jesus Christ, our sins our forgiven and we are given a new nature to live a righteous life as we receive the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11-17, Acts 2:38-39).
Have you repented of your sins, asked for forgiveness and put your faith in Jesus Christ? If not, you are still guilty in your sins. Don’t make the mistake of presuming you are innocent by trusting in your own goodness. We might be able to “get away with murder” in our judicial system, but our Lord the Judge is not fooled by the myth of the goodness of man.
Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness. Psalm 96:13
