Setting a Precedent part 1 of 2 We don’t tend to make decisions in a vacuum; that is to say, our knowledge and experiences guide our choices. In my government classes, we use the term precedent to explain how law-makers and the courts base many of their decisions on previous scenarios. When you think about it, there aren’t really a lot of brand-new issues, just new ways of looking at things. Take the recent hullaballoo in the news about government surveillance: Intercepting wireless transmittals is a relatively new concept, from a technology standpoint, but it relates way back to the Fourth Amendment concerning “unreasonable searches and seizures.” If you have siblings, or if you have more than one child of your own, then I would gamble that you have seen precedents up close in some very practical ways. Complaints like, “No fair, how come he always gets to?” means that somewhere along the way, a precedent was set that one child has certain privileges, and now another kid wants the same treatment. The statement that “we’ve always done it this way” is another form of precedent. We see many examples in the Bible, as well. There are several examples of precedent in the story of Moses as God reiterates over and over again how he wants his people to behave. Let’s look a little more closely at Joshua this week, though, because something very important takes place in Exodus 33:11, and it’s easy to miss if we don’t linger on it a bit.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 14:30:47 +0000
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