“Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” (Patrick Henry) With these famous words the citizens of the 13 American colonies galvanized behind the idea of seceding from the British Empire and launched the American Revolution to be free from the tyranny of a far off distant authority. What many people fail to realize is that Patrick Henry (a delegate to the constitutional convention) voted against ratification. For Henry, the constitution as written was a threat to countrymen’s natural rights (rights from God not from man). Henry, like his fellow Virginian, Thomas Jefferson believed the key to liberty was decentralized power and knew all too well the risks associated with the creation of this new federal government. He believed instead that people could live peacefully under the principles of self-government and when life, liberty, and property were threatened local government was adequate to defend the rights of citizens. Local governments were even capable of putting down revolts, as evidenced by the Shay's rebellion in Springfield, MA. For many years the federalists and the anti-federalists which later became the Democratic Republican Party, led by Jefferson, waged a fierce ideological battle over the form of government we would have. Even though Jefferson had a profound effect on our government for many years, his ideas ultimately died out with the final nails being driven in the proverbial coffin in 1913 during the Woodrow Wilson administration. Income taxes, the fed, popular election of senators, and entrance into WW1 all occured over a period of a few years and remain today the permanent strongholds of power for the leviathan state.
For many years during the first half of the 20th century Many Christians were absolutely opposed to the recent intrusions of the federal government into American’s lives and the permanent strengthening of the federal government as the final arbiter of every major issue the country faced. During this time period, many famous publications such as “Faith and Freedom” echoed the thoughts of Christian pastors and laity that were growing very concerned with the growing welfare and warfare state. So what happened in the latter half of the 20th century? New political alliances and movements began to form during the onset of the cold war. The famous conservative icon William F. Buckley who founded the publication National Review famously opined in 1952 “we have to accept Big Government for the duration – for neither an offensive nor a defensive war can be waged … except through the instrument of a totalitarian bureaucracy within our shores." The thought process and political philosophy changed and for the first time in our history both major political parties endorsed a big and powerful federal government in unison. To this day we often have Republicans arguing for big government to fight terrorism, rogue states, and even drugs. Many of them also want to impose the outcomes they want on social issues such as gun rights, gay marriage, and abortion from the federal level. The Democrats argue for the same totalitarian form of government except they want some of the federal mandates to produce different results than Republicans. Ultimately we have two big government parties fighting for the outcomes they want on every issue and neither even remotely interested in returning to the constitutionally prescribed system of federalism. When I was growing up I thought Christians had to vote for Republicans because they had the right stances on "moral issues". The problem with this philosophy is that good government allows freedom to make our own decisions on any issue, so long as it does not violate the life, liberty, or property of others. I would like everybody to make good choices but those are a matter of conscience not of the state.
Even though it might be counter-intuitive for some, the heart of the gospel message is liberty, pure and simple. All through the new-testament we have examples that God’s plan was for people to freely choose him and to “Live by the spirit and you won’t fulfill the lusts of the flesh” Gal. 5:16. If the New Testament could be defined by one central idea it would be lack of coercion. Everybody tried to make salvation an issue of following certain rules and regulations and Jesus blew that up by pointing out the condition of a person's heart. By advocating for self-government does this mean I endorse morally impure behavior? Not at all, I just think totalitarian authority made up of corrupt politicians is a far greater evil.
fides quaerens intellectum
No comments:
Post a Comment