THE CHEESEBURGER BILL

Do you agree that people should take responsibility for their own actions? I do! This morning I fixed Max eggs, bacon and toast. I let him eat it in my room so he could watch PBS kids. We are out of school today because of SNOW. A few minutes later I heard Elliott say, "Moms never gonna let you eat in here again." I walked back to my bedroom and there was egg, toast, jelly and bacon all over the floor. I asked Max, "what happened?" He said, "I didn't do anything, my plate just jumped off." Although it was a mistake, Max didn't want to take responsibility for the food being on the floor. I told him it was okay and asked him again what happened and he told me the same thing. Then we had a talk about lying.

In late June 2002, Caesar Barber and other children/teenagers filed lawsuits against McDonald's Corp. They claimed that they sold them food that made them obese. One of the teenagers, Ceaser Barber, claimed that they should be held accountable for "wrecking his life."

According to a January 2003 article in Capitalism Magazine, "The lawyer acting on behalf of these outsized teens is Samuel Hirsch. He says people are too dumb to know what's good for them and that McDonalds has an obligation to make known their food is unhealthy, just like they should have warned old Stella Liebeck it's not a good idea to get in a car and stick a cup of hot coffee between your legs while you're trying to get the lid off."

Because of such lawsuits, in 2004 and 2005 the "Cheeseburger Bill" was passed through congressmen by the House of Representatives. The bill, however, couldn't get past the Senate. Although the bill did not get past the senate, I think we all agree that people should take responsibility for their own actions. Right? We cannot keep blaming others for the choices we make.

These stories illustrate a spiritual rule for all of us - God expects people to take responsibility for their actions. Jesus says so in Luke 13:1-9.

In this Lenten season, we are invited to look carefully at ourselves. We are invited to repent and be honest with God! If we want to produce fruit in our lives, we must take responsibility for our actions!