Castellammare di Stabia, Italy is raising the cultural standard for its residents. Today the town council approved a measure Mayor Luigi Bobbio proposed to do just that. From now on if the Italians here are caught speaking obscenities out loud, or dressing immodestly they will be fined. These laws are intended by the mayor to target “rowdy, unruly or simply badly behaved” citizens, and no doubt they will, but who is setting the standard and how will the people react?
http://www.best-yacht-charter.com/en/yacht-charter/sailorsparadies/regions/mediterranean-sea/tyrrhenian-sea/naples-castellammare-di-stabia/naples-castellammare-di-stabia.html
What we see in this story is a cultural issue that the government believes it can address by legislating public decency rules. Is this really a government concern though? Obviously the sexual harassment cases are a matter for law enforcement to deal with, but should the way people dress in public be a law enforcement issue? This attempt at forcing people to behave more modestly is not likely to have long term success, unless the people have a change in heart. If they way people are behaving in public is such a crisis that the Mayor has to create a town dress code then I don’t think that they are going to be very receptive to the stringent rules. God has written His word on our hearts, but sometimes we harden our hearts to him. Can a police officer really say how low a shirt can be, or how short a skirt may be? There is too great a discrepancy for this law to be fairly enforced. The Italians need to stop looking to the government to fix their social problems, and look into their own hearts. The only true unwavering moral compass is God. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
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