Personal Freedom or Herd of Cattle?

My family and I were in the local mall today doing some last minute Christmas shopping. As we were walking and looking, I picked up our three year old and put him on my shoulders. We took a few steps when out of thin air appeared a mall cop, who quickly told me to get him down.


Apparently, it is too dangerous for me to walk around with my child on my shoulders, so it’s against mall policy. That’s right, it is against the rules to let a child ride on your shoulders. I have never heard of such a ridiculous statement. My wife just looked at me in awe. We were both dumb struck.


Now keep in mind that I was born in the mid-1970’s and such rules didn’t exist then. Which then again, neither did rules about wearing seat belts, spanking your kids, or praying in school, but I, along with millions of others, lived through it. We have come so far as a society since then.


We have allowed ourselves to be conditioned into submitting into whatever the “bell cow” tells us to do. We are people. We are Americans. We live in the Home of the Free…or so I thought.


I know some people are not as smart as others and need extra guidance, but we are an intelligent people. We have allowed the safety nuts to chase us into cattle chute just waiting to…well, I don’t know yet.


Some of these rules aren’t necessarily bad such as speed limits and age requirements for the military. Let’s get real with some of the others though. Children have ridden on shoulders for generations without tragedies. Seat belts should be a personal choice, except on kids. My Bible says that sparing the rod spoils the child, again, a personal choice. My Bible also tells me to pray, so I should decide if I want to participate or not.


I’m tired of being told what I can and can’t do when it doesn’t affect other people. No man should have the right to tell me how to live my life. It just seems that life was simpler when we didn’t have all the “safety” in it.


In closing, we need to look around and see just who we’re following. If you’re not following God’s Law, then you’re just another head in the herd waiting for slaughter. We are Americans living in America. In God we trust!