Nena Arias | December 8, 2020
“Wherever law ends, tyranny begins”
(John Locke)
A few years back when I first read about the cycle of a democracy and the different stages it goes through, I was astonished to see that it goes from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back into bondage. (Attributed to a Scottish professor of the 18th century, Dr. Alexander Tyler)
I was astonished to recognize all those different stages in America’s history, and I must say I was quite impacted at that time to see that it ends back in bondage. I remember thinking, which was a couple of decades ago, this won’t happen to America any time soon, at least not for a long time. I certainly didn’t conceive that it would start to happen and manifest openly in my lifetime. But now that we are seeing so many oppressive events unfold, it is evident that America has fallen into bondage!
This shouldn’t surprise us because whenever humans trade the government of God for the government of man over them, we always have problems of oppression and dominance. The debate about the size and role of government has huge implications for the lives of individuals all over the world. Even Christians are divided in what scripture has to say about government. What are some considerations that can help us frame this debate and work towards a conclusion? The Bible sets out principles that can provide a foundation for the discussion.
First, government is established by God, but it is his government that we should observe and not invent our own. We have man’s oppressive government over us because we have rebelled and refused to have self-government and hold ourselves accountable to God.
Second, government’s role is supposed to be more focused on punishing evil and praising good behavior than on providing goods and services. But we have altered that order and now too many people expect government to solve all their problems. They have become dependent on government and therefore in bondage to the same.
Third, the Bible contains warnings about the increasing power of government, and we should have been vigilant about this all along to keep it in check. Our negligence has given us a monstrous government that is all up in our business. God in his Word warned us about the dangers of man’s government over us in the example of old Israel. Read 1 Samuel 8. Israel rejected God’s government and asked for a king “like all the other nations” (1 Samuel 8:4).
When we reject God’s government, we fall into the hands of oppressive human beings who are power hungry. It is unbelievable that we are we seeing these abusive governmental behaviors over us in America.
What do I mean by this and what is the evidence? More and more, America is resembling communist/Marxist countries that we have read about or seen in the movies of how people who are living under those ideologies are heavily oppressed.
The catalyst of oppression seems to be this pandemic called COVID 19. All of a sudden, political leaders like state Governors and city mayors have found new absolute powers to dictate to the citizenry of drastic measures they are required to take supposedly to protect them from further spreading this virus. But it has turned into living like they are the Gestapo, which was the German state secret police during the Nazi regime, organized in 1933 and it was notorious for its brutal methods of operations. Neighbors, family members and co-workers are now being told and expected to report anyone they know of that is violating the protocols that have been mandated by these politicians.
Since when did we sign over and surrender our life and the life of our children over to the government so they can dictate to us how to live? Why are the school boards and teachers acting as if we and our children belong to them? Why do they feel that our homes are now their domain?
For instance, The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families issued a fact sheet for teachers outlining when they should call DCF– the agency which can take your children and put them in foster care. It instructs teachers when to call Child Services when kids miss online class. In other words, teachers are serving as the state’s newest surveillance to pry into your home.
One mother has already had a DCF visit for leaving her 7-year-old boy with his teenage brother while she worked. They don’t take into consideration that bills have to be paid. An older sibling caring for a younger sibling used to be called babysitting. Now, apparently, it’s neglect.
In regard to government, we know the Scriptures say in Romans 13:1 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” And in 1 Peter 2:13-14 it says,
“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.”
All of this is fine and good when the authorities are not abusing their power. The question is, what happens when the authorities overstep their boundaries and oppress the people? This seems to be the side of authority we are looking at and there are obvious signs that point to dictatorship and tyranny.
John Locke, an English philosopher and physician, said in 1689, “wherever law ends, tyranny begins …when any member of the state exceeds his legal authority or in any way violates the law, he ceases to be a magistrate; and, acting without authority, may be opposed, as any other man, who by force invades the right of another.”
So when the Scriptures tell us to be subject to the governing authorities, it is contingent upon the established authorities not overstepping their boundaries of established law and begin to oppress the citizenry.