The Parable of House Security and the Government Operative

One day while teaching, Josh was asked, ”Teacher, how do we balance security provided by the government with the threat of overreach by the government?”

Josh spoke thus:

House security was watching the approach of a government operative.

The government operative had come from the north.  It had become a regular occurrence for the government operative to approach from the north.  The government operative would turn into the street from the west and come south.

Often the government operative would stop at other houses on the street.  The government operative would walk up to the front doors of the houses on the street in what appeared to be a haphazard pattern.  House security suspected that the movements of the government operative were less random than the government operative seemed to take great pains to establish them to be.

House security was suspicious of the government operative’s purpose in approaching the houses the government operative chose to approach.  The government operative would sometimes leave an undeterminable article at one house, or would retrieve an equally undeterminable article from another house.  Were these articles food?  Were they bribes?  Were they monitoring devices?  Were they weaponry?

The government operative was in the street.  Traffic in this part of the town was light, and the government operative barely looked either right or left when crossing.  What confidence the government operative showed!  What power the government operative wielded!  What control the government operative exhibited!

House security had no freedom to saunter across the street.  House security, if seen, would have quickly been returned to the house.  House security was a prisoner of the house.  That house security was a willing resident of the house, that house security would never allow the house to be unprotected, that house security was a willing prisoner of the house, these did not alter the simple fact that house security was indeed a prisoner of the house.

The government operative had finished crossing the street and was nearly at the front door.  It was time to stop watching and to start protecting the house.  House security jumped up from house security’s hiding place.

“Mr. Jones!” the government operative called out as house security moved forward, “How many times have I told you I can’t deliver your mail if your dog isn’t restrained?”

House security smiled at the the government operative’s fear.  House security leapt.  House security’s collar pulled at house security’s throat.

“The dog’s on a leash,” Mr. Jones called out.

“He’s still too close,” the government operative grumbled, but the government operative put the letters in the front door’s mail slot anyway.