Court rulings vs. common sense.

“An Austrian court has recently fined a citizen for yodeling while mowing his lawn, according to a report in The Kronen Zeitung newspaper. The citizen, 63-year-old Helmut G., was told by the court that his yodeling offended his next-door Muslim neighbors, who accused him of trying to mock and imitate the call of the Muezzin [person who calls Muslims to prayer].”

The judge ruled that the man may have been trying to offend his neighbors who were in the middle of prayer, and fined him 800 euros. The man stated that he was in a good mood, so he yodeled a few tunes—something his countrymen and women have done for hundreds of years (IsraelNationalNews.com, December 15, 2010).

In Western “Christian” nations that purportedly believe in individual liberty, justice and common sense, these qualities appear to be increasingly uncommon! However, for students of the Bible, this is not surprising.  The Apostle Paul wrote, “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God…” (1 Corinthians 3:19), and that educated people, “Professing themselves to be wise… became fools” (Romans 1:22).  The prophet Isaiah foretold that at the end of the age, when nations would turn away from God, “the wisdom of their wise men shall perish” (Isaiah 29:14).  This is becoming more common today!