At what point does a government lose its legitimacy? That's a question which is being asked by more and more people in the United States. It's a question that has troubled my mind. It can be answered in a number of ways.
If we look to America's founders and to the Declaration of Independence, we might answer that question by saying a government loses its legitimacy when it becomes a tyranny and takes away the rights of its people. The Declaration cites certain self-evident truths: "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Thus, we might judge, as did our forefathers, that our own government loses its legitimacy when it takes away these rights and kills the unborn and aged, regulates and taxes people at every level and often prevents people from pursuing their goals and dreams in life by undue taxes and regulations.
Certainly when a government violates the Constitution -- the document which gives a government its authority, defines its legitimate functions, limits its powers and protects the rights of the people -- it loses its legitimacy for it operates outside its legal authority. This, of course, creates questions about executive orders, legislating from the bench, collecting, spending and giving away tax dollars for purposes outside the authorized domain of government. And what about the rights of the unborn, the elderly and the disadvantaged? What about the rights of Christians to exercise their faith and not be imprisoned for so doing when government oversteps its bounds?
Biblically, governments are given authority by God to punish evil-doers and protect citizens against evil (cf. Romans 13:1ff.; 1 Timothy 2:1ff.; 1 Peter 2:13ff.). What happens when a government protects evildoers and punishes those who do good and refuse to take part in the evil? And, in America, we are defending the murder of millions of unborn children, we are defending those who violate the moral laws of the Bible, and we are taxing the people and using that money to support atrocities akin to those of Josef Mengele. It has come about in our land that we call "evil good, and good evil" and the "foundations are destroyed" (Isaiah 5:20; Psalm 11:3 NKJV).
And, so it would seem, our own government has lost much of its legitimacy. It has overstepped its Constitutional powers, it overtaxes its people, it defends and protects the murder of the unborn rather than defending life and punishing evildoers, it supports organizations like Planned Parenthood with tax dollars stolen from the American people, it has become the enemy of marriage, it jails those who refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses, it has taken away the rights of Christians to profess their faith openly in public places, and the list could go on longer than the list of abuses in the Declaration.
If we were playing baseball, three strikes is an out unless the runner manages to steal first. Our government has more than three strikes but has apparently managed to get on base and continue to play in spite of its failure to do its legitimate duty.
And what happens when a government loses its legitimacy? It loses the trust of the people, and with the loss of trust comes a loss of people's willingness to submit to a government's laws and regulations, and with a loss of willingness to submit comes a loss of government power. And, when a government begins to fear losing power, it becomes more tyrannical in its attempts to maintain control by force and coercion. And, perhaps, we are seeing this begin as our government eavesdrops on its own citizens to root out and imprison those it suspects of a propensity toward "domestic terrorism." Though more and more illegitimate, it is trying to be loved and accepted by making everyone dependent upon its continued existence.
So, what do we do? Is it time for a revolution? That may have worked in the 18th century but, to be honest with you, I can't see that it would do any good now and would most likely just replace a government which is going bad with one that is far worse. After all, we're in the mess we're in because we the people let it be so and continue to elect leaders who let it be so. Americans are largely dumbed down by government-controlled school systems which teach a political agenda rather than teaching students how to think for themselves and learn the truth.
What can we do? As citizens, we still have the right to vote and elect our leaders, and it's time we quit letting the media, businesses or government officials tells us who should and should not hold office. It's time to quit being lazy and actually take the time to find out the stance and record of each candidate and vote for those who stand up for what is right and take their Constitutional oath seriously. And it's definitely time to vote out those who oppose good, defend evil and speak their first lie in office when they swear on the Bible to uphold the Constitution.
And for Christians, the Bible is quite clear that we ought to submit to governing authorities where we can do so without disobedience to God's Word but that we must also disobey when the government commands us to do what God forbids or forbids us to do what God commands (cf. Acts 5:29). That might mean fines, loss of property or jail time. Some day sooner than we think, it might even mean a loss of life. But it's far better to honor and obey the King of kings than obey a ruler in rebellion against the King of kings who is about to be deposed by Him and judged!
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 09/09/2015