“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)
Everyone does what seems right to him or her—that sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? No one else restricting your freedom, and doing whatever you want. Developing your full potential. Enjoying unlimited autonomy. That’s quite an appealing idea.
Yet the situation described in this Bible verse turns out to be far from ideal. The book of Judges tells of moral decay, social chaos, murders, and civil war. At the end of the book, the author makes a direct link between these problems and the fact that everyone did what was right in their own eyes.
Apparently, opinions about “what was right” were quite divided. God’s commandments fell into disuse, and with them the moral compass disappeared. People no longer committed themselves to a common good, but each pursued their own desires — even when it harmed others. After all, there was no one to restrain them. In practice, the law of the strongest prevailed. Thus, unbounded autonomy led to all kinds of injustice.
The Bible presents the period of the Judges as a warning example: That is not the direction we should be heading!
Can you give specific examples from your own life where autonomy works well, but also situations where it doesn’t work? Can you think of solutions that would prevent autonomy from leading to chaos and injustice?