I have been hearing about this program on the radio for the last week or so. It seems that Bill Day, a 73 year old lay chaplain for Saint Marks Episcopal Church, is in a heap of trouble. Mr. Day “could spend up to a year in jail for breaking a law that he considers immoral. Day hands out clean needles to drug addicts on some of the seediest streets in this south Texas city. He does it because he’s convinced that it reduces human suffering by curtailing the spread of HIV, a view that has been supported by medical research for more than a decade. However, Day’s actions are illegal in Texas.”
According to an article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Day’s supporters are livid. They do not understand why senior citizen activists are being treated like criminals. Hmm… that is a tough one. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they are breaking the law? Jill Rips the deputy executive director of the San Antonio AIDS Foundation, asks “Don’t police have something better to do?”
You know Mrs. Rips. You are right. I think the police DO have something better to do. How about we use the same logic applied to the needle exchange program and teach gang-bangers how to be come more accurate marksman? This way, with proper police instruction and supervision, gang-bangers will be better shots and will only kill each other instead of hitting so many innocent bystanders. Come to think of it, this new project could also have the side benefit of reducing the number of violent gang members in San Antonio.
Hey, if gang members are going to shoot at each other anyway, we might as well train them not to accidentally kill the innocent.
Terrific post, Keith. Thanks for the dose of logic!
I concur 100%! Great job, Keith!As to Bill Day’s actions, his heart is in the right place in wanting to help people and reduce the spread of a horrible disease. However, his logic is flawed in two areas:1. His actions assist in spreading an addiction that harms the very people he’s trying to “help,” which in turn increases the likelihood that they will share the very needles he’s providing. Of course, then, he becomes the catalyst for the very problem he’s trying to alleviate.2. His actions, being against the law, model illegal behavior, which is not only against the State of Texas and Biblical principles, it harms his witness to unbelievers.His heart is in the right place, but the heart can be deceptive! Jeremiah 17:9