Zero Tolerance

I think zero tolerance policies are stupid. 

I need you to know that statement just cost me five push-ups. "Stupid", "boring" and "shut-up" are all profanities in our house. They are words that shut down people or situations so they get classified as profanities because they are words that take the sacred out of life (unlike "shit" and "ass" which make my brain happy and better able to engage a situation).

But, I'm going to take the push-ups because I can't think of a better word to describe the "zero tolerance" fad.  

My instinct tells me it is a relatively recent phenomena brought about by fear and a movement away from relationships. It tries to assert control by moving us towards efficiency and certainty. 

So I looked it up and realized there's a lot more written about this than I feel inclined to read, but I'm mostly right. The first major "zero tolerance policy" campaign showed up in the 1980s in the war on drugs and has rewarded us with 2.3 million people in the penal system (the island of Seychelles is the only place in the world with a higher incarceration rate). There's a ton of articles about what "zero policy" has meant for prisons and schools, but I need to make dinner so I didn't read them all.

I was mainly pondering it because of the most current immigration and sexual harassment kerfuffles. I might also have been threatening to make my own zero tolerance policy on 11 year old boy farts. 

Here's what I'm thinking in regards to farts and major national policies. 

I'm voting for  "~16% tolerance policy." 

I know it's not as catchy and it would take the work of engaging people and situations as unique, but there are times exceptions need to be made. 

Policies and laws give us structure and order, but they need to be balanced with relationships. I'm going to go ahead and follow Jesus' lead on this one. When a law kept him from loving someone, he erred on the side of compassion. It's popular to talk about Jesus dying for your sins, but we often miss the part that he was crucified for breaking Roman law. He threatened the Roman promise of peace and order (through fear and intimidation) with God's vision of community and forgiveness. 

So I will correct my original statement, even though I've already done my push-ups. 

I think zero tolerance policies are unfaithful. They keep us from the hard and messy work of loving and forgiving each other.