SPEED DETECTORS AND OTHER TESTS OF INTEGRITY

It's no wonder so many people look at the police as the enemy. Parents tell their kids to be good and they themselves break the laws. They use radar detectors to break the law, so they won't have to pay the court fine or jeopardize their license after they have done so. I don't know what they tell their kids when they say the means justifies the end, but you'd better believe the kid that gets caught breaking one of their parent's laws will be in for a real chewing or worse. Parents be warned - kids too, will find ways of hiding the truth from you just as you do to various government agencies, whether we're talking radar or taxes.

Kids hear their parents say, concerning coffee, I need that morning cup of jump-start to get me awake or keep me awake on the job. When the kids try coffee and the resident drug (caffeine) doesn't do anything for them they feel justified in using something with a little more, POW!

Speeding and anti-drug laws are there for our protection. Devices that are made to nullify or side step those laws should be illegal. The fact that a court of law says it's okay to use a radar detector doesn't mean it's morally correct to do so. Take abortion. Most people are personally against the killing of unborn babies even though many of them are pro-choice because they feel it is a personal decision, and the Supreme Court of this Nation says that murdering unborn babies is legal. It may be legal, but is it moral?

The Escort radar warning company, has run ads that say citizens have a right to run radar and quotes Judge Joseph Ryan, of the Superior Court, District of Columbia, as saying: "If government seeks to use clandestine and furtive methods to monitor citizens actions, it can ill afford to complain should the citizen insist on a method to effect his right to know he is under such surveillance." Number one, the judge is under the mistaken idea that a citizen has the Constitutional right to break the law if it doesn't suit his fancy. Number two; he does not understand the principles of running good radar. Number three; a bad or dishonest radar operator could still give you a ticket even if you are 5 to 10 MPH under the speed limit, whether or not there is interference or a larger object behind you.

The hypocrisy of the radar detector user becomes evident at this point because the officer is somehow required to obey the radar instruction manual and the law, (to tell the truth in court) so the user can have a chance of escaping the judgment that he deserves because he broke the speed laws. How does that citizen dare think that he or she deserves good, honest government when they themselves aren't honest in the first place? How does that citizen dare think they are even qualified to vote for someone more honest than themselves, and then demand that the public servant and whomever they hire be good and honest people?

These perversions of law and common sense are nothing less than INTEGRITY checks. Sinful and wicked people will seek any means possible to live life on their own terms and are willing to pay a great deal of money to do so.

Something the radar advertisements don't tell you is the number of deaths that radar detectors are responsible for every year. Everybody knows that accidents only happen to the other guy, therefore the speed laws only apply to them - that's not only flawed thinking, it's the height of pride and self indulgence. Based on this knowledge of human nature (seated in pride and self indulgence) the radar detector company armed with their marketing analysis cares less whether you live or die - all they want is your money. Whether you're talking radar detectors or state sponsored lottery, there is always someone standing by to take advantage of the "human" condition.

The really sad part about high speed accidents where part or all of the family is wiped out, is the "why me God," aftermath. It seems that God always gets the blame for tragedies that "we the people" are responsible for. It's kind of like the college student that is given a radar detector for Christmas (the same Christ that exhorts us to be honest in all things) so they can hurry to and from school on various breaks to be with the loving parents. When that child winds up slaughtered on a highway or even worse kills some innocent person, because they were in a hurry to get home, the parents need to blame themselves rather than God.

In the March/April '93 issue of "Home and Away," the AAA of Iowa released answers to an Iowa Public Policy/Legislative survey they had previously taken. Several of the questions they asked were related to radar. One of the questions was: Are you in favor of ban on all radar detector use? 70% were opposed and 30% were in favor. Another question asked if you favor or opposed the use of radar detectors in commercial vehicles. 52% were opposed and 48% were in favor. The same question aimed at private vehicles was 48% opposed and 52% in favor. Concerning the question of police taking photos of speeders and sending them a ticket through the mail, 65% were opposed and 35% were in favor.

These numbers are quite scary to me. It really shows the mentality of the, "don't do as I do, do as I tell you," crowd. It also says, as I mentioned earlier, that "accidents don't happen to me they happen to the other guy."

The whole question of the 55-MPH speed limit has to come into play. Was it of God or was it of man. As I recall, it came about as a result of the so-called fuel shortage in the 70’s. It seems a little funny to me how we had just finished the Vietnam War (where we were using millions of gallons of all types of fuel each day and/or week) and all of a sudden we had a shortage that would cause a need for such conservation methods.

It seems quite possible to me that the oil companies got used to the high profits they received in the 10 years of the war, and when they lost that income, got panic stricken and did what they could to boost the income once again.

Was it their greed or was it an oppression sent on man by the hand of God via the oil companies? Wherever it came from, the knee-jerk (or even lobbied) reaction was to slow traffic down so we could conserve fuel, which was nothing but a cover up for artificially boosting the fuel prices.

When Eisenhower was getting out of office he warned about the power of the industrial military complex. Who is the industrial military complex? Where did they come from? Is it a group with a headquarters, board of governors, with monthly meetings? Where do they get their power? Who gives them authority to get us involved in military actions, whereby they so greatly profit and the people so greatly suffer?

It is all part of the invisible strings from God to “the affairs of men.” All things are working together for the blessing or the cursing of mankind; depending on our relationship to Him.

The industrial military complex may only be a name put on that (part of the) group that deals with the military. It’s not all industrial; it’s also political and religious. The industrial is made up of different parts, such as the part that includes radar detectors that may or may not be tied to companies that supply items to the military. They get involved with the political; via lobbies.

I have a hard time believing that John Kennedy got us involved in Vietnam because he was so concerned about the plight of those people. The military would want to get involved for obvious reasons and the religious would want to get involved if they had a large group of people being oppressed by ungodly forces.

All of us who believe in God and think that what we do on this earth matters to Him, have to ask the question - who inspired the invention and use of the radar detector, God or the devil? If it was the devil, we already have the answer - rebellion. If it was God, you should fear and tremble because it truly is a test of integrity and/or the further intrusion of government into our lives.

We have an obligation before God, to obey the laws of the land, even the ones that seem trivial. We get the government we deserve and the laws of ungodly government are still to be adhered to, unless they go against God's laws, such as abortion, which of course is a different type of law in that it is optional, not mandatory.

Radar detectors are just one more instrument to measure man's spiritual and moral integrity.

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