The Law Is An Ass - Update On Douglas

Back in February we wrote a post entitled: 'The Law is an Ass' in which we told you about the court case involving Michael, Joyce and his father Douglas. You may recall that the court agreed with Douglas' counsel and ordered that Michael & Joyce be evicted from Douglas' home. However, Michael & Joyce had no legal representation and were steam rollered throughout the whole process. Dean's point at the time was that: "Douglas would now be a very vulnerable man within the community due to his drinking" because Michael & Joyce had provided Douglas with a high degree of care which enabled him to live freely and healthily.

At the time, the ANC were particularly frustrating in their support of Douglas, seeing things from a purely legal perspective, ignoring the moral imperative of ensuring that Douglas was safe and cared for within his own home. Douglas was in no state to care for himself and the ANC knew this full well, but took the attitude that: "the community would have to take responsibility for him."

Needless to say that those that supported Douglas back then are no where to be seen today! Sadly, Douglas is seriously ill in hospital and is due to have both his legs amputated early next week. One leg was severely damaged by a fire in his house which he caused by trying to light his paraffin lamp whilst completely drunk. The burn is so bad that the bone is clearly visible and gangrene has set in. Douglas's other leg has gangrene as a direct consequence of his diabetes, he has never stuck to a healthy diet (despite Michael & Joyce's best efforts) and has continued to drink excessively at every opportunity and since March his welfare and general being has deteriorated dramatically.

This makes me (Dean) really angry as the moral imperative was clearly ignored in favour of the legal argument, which really does go to prove that the law is indeed an ass!

Thankfully however, Michael & Joyce have continued to offer Douglas as much support and care as they can and have risen above any small mindedness often exhibited in such circumstances and give freely of themselves to him.

Please pray that God would bless Michael & Joyce in their faithfulness of serving Douglas.