Dana Kelly, in his column, December 14, 2012, in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette rightfully pointed out that it wasn’t the fault of the gun that Jovan Belcher used to kill his girl friend, Kasandra Perkins. He wrote that it was the irresponsible behavior that preceded the killing that was the problem. Indeed, that behavior led to the murder. But none of the pundits mentioned the behavior that preceded the crime. Do not place the blame where it belongs; it might cause some anguish on the make excuses crowd.

Responsibility for behavior is disappearing fast from society, but passing the buck for not behaving began over 6,000 years ago. When God confronted Adam and Eve in the Garden after they ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, the following took place. God asked Adam some questions and the Bible tells us the answer. And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. (Genesis 3:12) Actually you are at fault God, you gave that woman to me and she gave me the fruit. If you hadn’t of given me that woman, I wouldn’t have eaten.  Then in verse 13 we read, And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. That nasty old serpent made me do it. Never mind that Adam had told her not to eat that fruit and that she believed a lie, she isn’t at fault according to her.

That is the way the world is operating today. It’s everyone else who is guilty of my behavior. The Blamer in Chief sitting in the White House blames George W. Bush for all the problems he has dealing with the conditions. It is the Bush tax cuts that are causing the economic devastation; the wealthy aren’t paying enough taxes to cover the irresponsible spending; Republicans are intransigent and won’t allow taxes to rise on the richest of taxpayers; conservatives and believers in God are trying to stifle progress by demanding that the Constitution and morals be followed as once was done in the republic.

Let’s be honest and place the blame where it belongs. It is the voters who have placed the sluggards in positions of responsibility; the ones so placed who refuse to accept the responsibility for the mess they have created. And yet, the voters and others continue to use same excuses to blame anyone but themselves for the behavior of the irresponsible office holders.

Flip Wilson of the old Laugh-In-Show said the devil made him do it. Just like Flip, the devil is blamed for all the irresponsible behavior. A very convenient scapegoat to avoid being responsible. Actually, the devil/Satan doesn’t make anyone do anything since Jesus began his destruction at the cross and finished it in AD 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed. Whether you believe that or not remains up to you, but the truth is that each individual decides how to behave and is entirely responsible for his or her actions.

An oddity exists in our laws that defy the biblical principle of being responsible for illegal acts or any other act. Confession is the rule of the scriptures, but our legal system allows the suspect to do everything possible to avoid accepting guilt for misdeeds of all kinds. In the main, the legal system encourages the suspect to make excuses for irresponsible behavior. It didn’t work for Adam and Eve and it should not work that way now.

Our society would be much improved if we began requiring responsible behavior from everyone, beginning with childhood. Excuses and blaming others have helped lead us to this point in history. It isn’t those of the past or the devil who have caused the diminishing of society. Who is responsible? It is the face that is seen in the mirror each day and that is each and every one of us.

© 12-13-2012 DEC