tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562679013841892176.post8671131476750563495..comments2023-08-09T16:35:08.277-07:00Comments on The Quill Pig Chronicles: Limited, Constitutional GovernmentHenryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10972137407110619204noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562679013841892176.post-15552995135609807562010-05-03T08:02:32.222-07:002010-05-03T08:02:32.222-07:00Hi, Andy,
Thanks as always for the comment. Sorry...Hi, Andy,<br /><br />Thanks as always for the comment. Sorry it has taken me so long to get to it.<br /><br />I'm not sure where I advocated rebellion. At this point I'm simply trying to get Christians to question the prevalent assumption that "some people are more equal than others" and so should be vested with legitimacy to do things the Bible nowhere calls us to do to our neighbors, like put them in cages or tax them to build schools.<br /><br />The change, as you say, would best be made through the electoral process, and I need to pray more that that is what happens. However, as long as people assume they need "a king such as other nations have," things will never really improve; the Eagles and the Cowboys will duke it out every season, but I'm calling people to Maui: who needs football?<br /><br />What's the saying? "The price for liberty is eternal vigilance"? Anarchy is government, yes, but the same way atheism is theology. As you say, no human system is perfect. Just as the Christian church has members who are not Christians, an anarchic society would contain those who would seek to do violence to their neighbors.<br /><br />I would suggest, however, that a free-market system of dispute resolution organizations would be more effective for fighting all sorts of crime than the current system. You can fire your insurance company, but you can't fire the police. But I'm suggesting that that's precisely what we need to do so the free market can provide protection and restitution the same way it supplies potato chips (and probably employ some former policemen to do the job).<br /><br />As you say, the problem is that people don't want to follow God's directions. When their rebellion leads to chaos, they naturally look to solve the problem with tyranny. The Christian church has fallen into that trap since at least Prohibitionist era. I'm trying to reverse that thinking.Henryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10972137407110619204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562679013841892176.post-46526003450236389892010-04-28T07:09:20.941-07:002010-04-28T07:09:20.941-07:00Several thoughts came to mind as I read your post....Several thoughts came to mind as I read your post.<br /><br />The first is that you seem to ignore the portions of Romans 13 which disagree with your thesis. Verse 2 says, "Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves."<br /><br />I may not like the government, or how it works, but that doesn't entitle me to rebel against it. That doesn't mean that I can't work within the system to elect those men or women who I think can guide the country back to a more limited form of itself.<br /><br />The second thought was Thomas Paine's quote, "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."<br /><br />No government is perfect because it is run by us people. Even the one government that God directly established, splintered within 120 years. But that was because man didn't follow God's directions, not that government in and of itself is evil.<br /><br />The final thought was along the lines of P.J. O'Rourke quote, "Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us."<br /><br />The problems you describe will continue, whether we live under a "Christian" government, an Islamic government, or a free-market government (or as you would call it, anarchy). Don't be deceived, anarchy would still be a form of government, and soon, people would find ways to do exactly what you suggested the evils of government bring us. The only difference is that more often than not, they'll be more apt to get away with the "crime."Andynoreply@blogger.com