LAW & CHARITY Another application of the distinction between moral and legal jurisdiction has to do with love, or charity. Even though civil laws are generally restricted to the realm of actions or deeds (as opposed to thoughts), this does not necessarily mean that all actions or deeds fall within the civil jurisdiction. Some actions, such as charitable deeds, have been recognized as being exclusively governed by God. The quintessential statement of the law of love is to love your neighbor as yourself. However, love must come from the heart of a person freely. Once love or charity can be claimed as a legal right, earned or merited by the recipient, or coerced, it is no longer freely given. And, if it is no longer freely given, how can it be considered love? Hence, the historic understanding was that the duty to love ones neighbor is owed directly to God, and only indirectly to the recipient. For example, the gleaning laws of the Old Testament commended the Jews to be charitable to their neighbor, but no human sanctions were attached to a failure to do so. Similarly, no individual penalty was prescribed for failing to help a poor man in need, nor for failing to rescue a neighbors animal in distress. Insofar as the civil laws were concerned, even in theocratic Israel, these duties were merely moral, not legal (even though they were part of the divine law). There are a number of matters in which the common law likewise recognized that the law of love had exclusive jurisdiction. For example, the common law historically recognized no duty to rescue a person in distress unless a special relationship going beyond mere neighbor status had been established between the parties. Similarly, the common law held that an undelivered gift was not enforceable, since an unfulfilled promise to make a gift was bound only by the law of love and therefore legally unenforceable. State sponsored welfare is therefore immoral and unconstitutional. This function has been totally usurped by the federal and state governments.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 01:24:52 +0000
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