Reinstalling the Guardrails

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world,^[a] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

(ESV)

On a trip to Yellowstone Park back in 2001, My family and I traveled through an area of the park known as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  The scenery was beautiful, at least that is what my family told me for while they were admiring the scenery, I as making sure the car stayed on the road that was missing an important item, guardrails.  This experience taught me the role of guardrails on the highway, the role of preventing cars from going off the edge to their destruction.  However, guardrails play a role in our lives too for they prevent us from immoral behavior sending our reputation off the edge into oblivion. 

I am sure most of those reading this post are tiring of the constant drone in media of sexual harassment.  Granted sexual harassment is a serious crime calling for severe punishment for anyone found guilty of it but as we are seeing in the case of Judge Moore, it can be a political tool used to affect the result of an upcoming election.  Whether Judge Moore is guilty or not is immaterial for what matters at this point is that the determination of guilt or innocence will not occur prior to the election on December 12, 2017.  (1)  Therefore, it is the voters and not a court of law that will decide whether Judge Moore’s fitness to serve as Alabama’s next Senator, a stance taken by both the White House and the Alabama GOP.  (2) (3)

Now it appears sexual harassment and sexual predators in the U.S. Senate is nothing new.  (4) This preponderance of sexual harassment in the House and Senate has prompted resolutions requiring all House and Senate members to take part in training on sexual harassment.  And now we can put a face on a member of the Senate who has demonstrated a disregard for women by assaulting, not just harassing a woman on a military plane with a photo presented as evidence.  (5)  Hollywood and the entertainment industry are also full of cases of sexual harassment.  (6) 

Minus the guardrails of morality, those with fame, fortune, and power have nothing preventing them from engaging in these activities believing their fame and power give immunity from penalty for these crimes.  Politicians threatened by someone running for office can bring allegations just before an election accusing a candidate they disagree with of sexual harassment knowing that there is insufficient time for due process in a court of law leaving voters to decide only based on unsubstantiated reports in media.  Those already in office believe they live above the laws they pass and enforce and freely take part in harassing activities that would result in termination of employment and jail time for anyone else.  Hollywood producers with the power to decide who works and who does not in Hollywood abuse their power by forcing women to engage in sexually deviant behavior just to work, a hiring practice illegal in any other profession. 

It is time to reinstall the guardrails of morality in our society by,

1)      Not allowing 38-year-old allegations suddenly appearing a month before an election determine a candidate’s fitness for office and instead look at the candidate’s accomplishments that amazingly are free of such allegations.

2)       Not simply requiring potential harassers to attend training when there are accusations of sexual harassment but instead investigate these allegations, terminating the perpetrators of the harassment

3)      Not funding movies or television programs produced, directed, or staring sexual harassers by watching them and instead give our entertainment money to movies and programs promoting morality and family values. 

Minus these moves to restore the missing guardrails of morality in our society, society is on the path of running off the edge of cultural oblivion.  While some reading this may view this opinion as old fashioned and crude, the victims of sexual harassment who have had their lives destroyed either by being victims of harassment or falsely accused of it would disagree.  The seriousness of the crime of sexual harassment requires not just the punishment of those found guilty of the crime but also measures to attach guardrails preventing the injury of more innocent victims. 

1. State, Alabama Secretary of. 2017 Election Information. sos.alabama.gov. [Online] Alabama Secretary of State. [Cited: November 19, 2017.] http://sos.alabama.gov/alabama-votes/voter/election-information/2017.

2. Staff, WBRC. Alabama GOP: We stand behind Roy Moore; Let voters decide. www.wbrc.com. [Online] WBRC Fox 6 News, November 16, 2017. [Cited: November 19, 2017.] http://www.wbrc.com/story/36863931/alabama-gop-we-stand-behind-roy-moore-let-voters-decide.

3. Berry, Gregory Korte and Deborah Barfield. White House on Roy Moore: 'The people of Alabama should decide' his fate. www.usatoday.com. [Online] USA Today, November 16, 2017. [Cited: November 19, 2017.] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/16/white-house-roy-moore-the-people-alabama-should-decide-his-fate/871569001/.

4. Rogers, Yamiche Alcondor and Katie. House and Senate are 'Among the Worst' for Harassment, Representative Says. www.nytimes.com. [Online] The New York Times, November 13, 2017. [Cited: November 19, 2017.] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/us/politics/sexual-harassment-congress-capitol-hill.html.

5. Culhane, Patty. US Senator Al Franken accused of sexual harassment. www.aljazeera.com. [Online] Al Jazeera, November 18, 2017. [Cited: November 19, 2017.] http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/senator-al-franken-accused-sexual-harassment-171118102454688.html.

6. Criss, Douglas. The (incomplete) list of powerful men accused of sexual harassment after Harvey Weinstein. www.cnn.com. [Online] CNN, November 1, 2017. [Cited: November 19, 2017.] http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/25/us/list-of-accused-after-weinstein-scandal-trnd/index.html.