Parents have probably heard something
similar from a child when a neighbour buys the latest toy for his little kids:
"can't we get one of those too?' An American writer once wrote to the
effect that if you let people do what they want, they end up imitating each
other. We see it in teenage fashions where peer pressure almost dictates a uniform.
Adults too fall to the same mistake when they do things because others do, or
because others have. Israel was governed by judges up to this point but now
they want a king, not because a king is good, or will bring unity, or lead them
better, or make them fear God, or make them better in progress, BUT because other nations have; want to be like everyone else.
Our
conscience at times requires some singularity of behaviour on our part. Everyone
knows how difficult that is when faced with a lot of contrary pressure from
friends and neighbours. Though theoretically most of us are free to think and
act as we ought to right, we are battered on the other side by a strong desire
to fit in, to not stand out. Ideally in our own lives we would allow what God
asks of us in our particular situations and with our specific capabilities to dictate
what we do. Instead of looking over our shoulder to see what the trends are, we
look within to know what God asks of us in the present moment of our life. Neither
singularity nor conformity is primary but what conscience tells us.
