1 Samuel 2 relates the story of Eli, the well-meaning high priest whose only flaw (apparently) was his refusal to discipline his sons. These sons, described as worthless men, utilized their position to abuse the people and indulge their lusts with impunity. Eli's dereliction of duty brought his otherwise noble career in service to God's house to an ignominious end.
There are, of course, important differences between Eli and Joe Biden. Joe Biden is not a religious leader (though he is a practicing Roman Catholic), nor would I consider his record to be otherwise spotless. However, similarly to Eli, Biden's pardoning of his own worthless son, Hunter, will prove to be his legacy. His long (and I mean loooong) career in politics will likely be overshadowed, even in the eyes of those who previously respected him, by this one shameless act. By pardoning his son despite promising not to, Biden has yet again demonstrated that some people are, in fact, above the law.
I generally don't consider myself a prescient political commentator, but four years ago I shared what I thought was many Americans' primary motivation for supporting Donald Trump, namely, the average Joe (pun fully intended) was deeply resentful of America's unofficial aristocracy. As the nation watched Hunter embroil the Bidens in scandal, Americans showed that they had simply had enough of people getting away with crimes just because they happened to have the right last name. Still, Biden went on to win the election (allegedly--but we don't have time for that).
Similarly, in 2016, while Hillary Clinton was dealing with her own set of scandals, I confidently wrote that nothing would ever come of it (I am happy to note that my comments about Trump at that time have proven to be mostly untrue). She, too, is an insider. She, too, is above the law because of her last name. She, too, is part of our unofficial aristocracy.
The point here is not that I was right. After all, it takes no particular genius to acknowledge the obvious. The point is simply that, the more things change, the more they stay the same; or, as Ecclesiastes puts it, there is nothing new under the sun. Here we are, in the 21st Century, firmly implanted in the Age of Technology, two and a half centuries after the American War for Independence, and politicians are still corrupt. Our public servants are still enriching themselves and their families off the backs of their constituents. The powerful elites are still above the law.
In other words, of course Joe Biden pardoned his son! Is anyone really surprised? I don't know that much about civics and politics, but I know a little bit about human nature. As long as human beings have the opportunity to abuse others, they will. As long as the promise of power and fortune is held out, people will step over others to attain it. As long as the world, the flesh, and the devil exist, good men will fall and bad men will revel.
As long as Congress can exempt itself from laws, they will.
Some people have this false notion of Progress. They idealistically place their trust in words like Democracy and Accountability, but, here were are. Eli lived about 3000 years before Joe Biden, but their sins are the same. Human nature, apart from the regenerative grace of God, is still the same.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
So, too, our hope remains the same. As unreliable as men are, so much more reliable is our God! Men will fail us, but our Father never will. Our Father loves us and provides for us. Our Father will even chasten us. Our Father has pardoned us, but He has done so through the punishment of His own innocent Son.
Comments
Post a Comment