OK, have any of you seen the recent news articles about O.J. Simpson? If so, you'll recognize where the title of this particular post comes from. It seems that all over the internet and the print news, the headlines have been popping up about how a judge has recently ordered the infamous former football player and accused criminal O.J. Simpson to stop spending money. For those of you who are not familiar with the recent Simpson-related scandal, O.J. was in the news not too long ago for promoting a book and a featured television movie that he wrote speaking about how he would have performed the criminal acts he had previously been accused of...had he actually committed them. When news of such a book hit the mainstream, the public outcry was instant. Many people thought that this was O.J.'s way of finally admitting what he had done since he can't actually be tried again owing to "double jeopardy". Apparently the judge involved in the fracas ordered that Simpson was not allowed to spend any of the money that he received in relation to the movie or the book.

So, I know that it is a little bit off the topic of our Christian finance blog, but can you imagine what life would be like if we actually had judges telling us when we could and could not spend our money? I don't know if it would be a blessing in disguise or absolute chaos. Sometimes, it seems like it would be a great idea. We wouldn't have the ability (although we would surely have the urge) to go out and spend ridiculous sums of money on things that we either a) don't need or b) can't really afford. Thinking more realistically though, having a judicial order that kept us away from the money that we have earned would be just "slightly" against our rights as Americans, right?

I'm not exactly one who really gets into legal things or really understand a lot of the legal mumbo jumbo and lawyerly happenings in the news, so I don't exactly see how this whole thing with O.J. Simpson is really working. I guess that anything is really possible these days, and I suppose that it's not unheard of that a judge orders someone's assets seized for one reason or another. But there it is, and I can admit it, I may understand a lot about business, finances, and Christianity, but I really don't get the judicial system that we find ourselves subject to in the United States. It's sad to admit, but the majority of what I know about the law, having never had to deal with any real legal proceedings myself, comes from watching shows like Law and Order, and the other various courtroom dramas that we seem to be able to find on our televisions at any hour of the day or night. I did try to help the situation years ago when I thought (due to pressure from my father) that I might "need" to be a lawyer. I did a mentoring project during my freshman year of high school where I shadowed a lawyer for several months. I knew within the first week though that I was not cut out to be involved in the legal profession.

So back to the idea of a judicial order on your ability to spend money? What do you think? Is it a blessing or a curse? Personally, I think that it's a little bit of both. It would help us out somedays and harm us other days. I think it would be a great idea for some of those people who have severe spending problems that are ending up harming their families and their lives in general. I hardly think though that any legislator would bring such an idea for a law to court...it just would never work.