Individual Rights + Limited Government Not Enough

“Unless a political order is clear about the identities and rights of the diverse institutions of society, most of which are not political,  then the mere combination of individual-rights protections and a procedurally limited government will not be sufficient to assure justice to a differentiated society.” — James Skillen, Recharging the American Experiment, p.29.

What Is the Greatest Harm Government Can Do?

“The government’s greatest harm may come less in the form of its annual cost to taxpayers and more in its destructive influence on civil society and its institutions, such as the family, church, neighborhoods, and other mediating structures that provide humankind meaningful and life-sustaining support.  A society that wishes to remain free and strong will protect these institutions from governmental overextension and politicization.” — Don Eberly, Restoring the Good Society, p.69

The State Is a Subsidiary of Society

“In a free society, the state must be a subsidiary of society.  The state must be society’s servant, not its master.  It is equally wrong for either religious believers or secularists to try to master society through the state.  The more realistic mission should be to minimize the expansive power and role of the government in society, working to restore the institutions of civil society….

This concept reaffirms a basic principle of America’s founding political philosophy that the central government should be limited, the state should not encroach on the functions of civil society, and all should strive to preserve civil society.  To the extent that we succeed, individuals are then free to regulate their own affairs.  To the extent that we fail, government takes on responsibilities for which it has neither competence nor authority.” — Don Eberly, Restoring the Good Society, p.68-69.

On the Importance of American Legitimacy

“The moral standing of America in the eyes of the rest of the world is an important determinant of how both America and American power will be perceived by the rest of the world.  An America committed to certain values and standards in its behavior will naturally be perceived to be less threatening.  An America that is perceived to be playing rough and ready with the rules will naturally be less welcomed.  The ‘legitimacy’ of American power is important.  The more legitimate it is perceived to be, the more easily it will be accepted.” — Kishore Mahbubani, Beyond the Age of Innocence, p.134.

Not an Empire

“This argument that America is already an empire is deeply flawed.  For an empire to exist, you need both rulers and the ruled.  The American political system is inherently incapable of running an empire.  No empire, not even the relatively benign British Empire, was established without a heavy degree of brutality at the point of colonizing.  Most people do not like to be ruled by others.  They have to be cowed into submission.  The recent painful American experience in Iraq only reinforces this point.  With all the military power in the world, America appears incapable of subjugating one medium-sized country in the Middle East because it is incapable of administering the kind of brutal suppression the British applied when they conquered Iraq in 1917.  All it takes is for one story of sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners to surface.  It becomes front-page news.  The American defense secretaryand American generals have to spend time defending the behavior of their soldiers and consequently further restrain them.  In the good old days of empire, the generals who found innovative ways of subduing the natives by depriving them of their dignity and pride would have been rewarded, not punished.  The term ‘benign empire’ is an oxymoron.  It will be immensely difficult for America to become a true empire.” — Kishore Mahbubani, Beyond the Age of Innocence, p.10.

Political Implications of Postmodernism, I

“(1) Social Constructivism.  Meaning, morality, and truth do not exist objectively; rather they are constructed by society.” — Gene Edward Veith, Postmodern Times, p.158.

When Should Christians Address the Government?

1.  “Christians speak when rulers command them or others to disobey God.”
2.  “Christians speak when rulers invite them to comment or give advice.”
3.  “Christians speak when rulers become arbitrary and exceed their constitutional restraints.”
4.  “Christians speak words of commendation when government action is worthy of support or praise.”
5.  “Christians speak when a government is grossly inconsistent or arbitrary in its application of rules and regulations.”
6.  “Christians speak when a government persistently ignores major societal problems and evils even when it has the means to address them.”
7.  “Christians speak when governments are unresponsive to the legitimate concerns of minorities and exploited individuals.”
8.  “Christians speak when governments, including courts, undermine human dignity and oppose fundamental God-ordained institutions such as traditional marriage and the family.”
9.  “Christians speak when governments affirm the killing of the most innocent and vulnerable human beings by abortion.”
– John Redekop, Politics Under God, pp.153

Securing the West

How should the West preserve itself in the face of declining power?  Samuel Huntington recommends that it is in the interest of the United States and European countries:
(1) ”to achieve greater political, economic, and military integration and to coordinate their polices so as to preclude states from other civilizations exploiting differences among them”  
(2) “to incorporate into the European Union and NATO the Western states of Central Europe that is, the Visegard countries, the Baltic republics, Slovenia, and Croatia”
(3) “to encourage the ‘Westernization’ of Latin America and, as far as possible, the close alignment of Latin American countries with the West”
(4) “to restrain the development of the conventional and unconventional military power of Islamic and Sinic countries”
(5) “to slow the drift of Japan away from the West and toward accomodation with China”
(6) “to accept Russia as the core state of Orthodoxy and a major regional power with legitimate interests in the security of its southern borders”
(7) “to maintain Western technological and military superiority over other civilizations”
(8 ) “and, most important, to recognize that Western intervention in the affairs of other civilizations is probably the single most dangerous source of instability and potential global conflict in a multicivilizational world.” — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, p.312.

What is Democracy?

In his book, The Spirit of Democracy, Larry Diamond takes on this question.  He says that democracy can be defined in two ways–one thin and the other thick.  The thin or minimal definition states that a democracy exists in a country when political decisions are made by means of regular, “free and fair” elections.  But if you want to go with the thick or maximal definition, a system is not a real democracy unless it has the following attributes:

(1) “Substantial individual freedom of belief, opinion, discussion, speech, publication, broadcast, assembly, demonstration, petition, and (why not)the Internet.”
(2) “Freedom of ethnic, religious, racial, and other minority groups (as well as historically excluded majorities) to practice their religion and culture and to participate equally in political and social life.”
(3) “The right of all adult citizens to vote and to run for office (if they meet certain minimum age and competency requirements).”
(4) “Genuine openness and competition in the electoral arena, enabling any group that adheres to constitutional principles to form a party and contest for office.”
(5) “Legal equality of all citizens under a rule of law, in which the laws are ‘clear, publicly known, universal, stable, and nonretroactive.’”
(6) “An independent judiciary to neutrally and consistently apply the law and protect individual and group rights.”
(7) “Thus, due process of law and freedom of individuals from torture, terror, and justified detention, exile, or interference in their personal lives–by the state or nonstate actors.”
(8 ) “Institutional checks on the power of elected officials, by an independent legislature, court system, and other autonomous agencies.”
(9) “Real pluralism in sources of information and forms of organization independent of the state; and thus, a vibrant ‘civil society.’”
(10) “Control over the military and state security apparatus by civilians who are ultimately accountable to the people through elections.”

In view of these ten points, Diamond says that we should aspire to a fuller manifestation of democracy.  When these ten factors exist, “we can call a system a liberal democracy.  To the extent that these are greatly diminished, democracy–if it exists at all–is illiberal.”  But if “there are regular, multiparty elections and other formal institutions of democracy like a national assembly, court system, constitution, and so on, but the people are not able to vote their leaders out of power because the system is, in effect, rigged, then the country has what I call pseudodemocracy” (p.23).

What Does God Require of Governments?

To answer this question, Anabaptist scholar John Redekop gives this 20-point list in his book Politics Under God (pp. 70-81) answer to the question.  Key Scripture passages that stand behind this list include Isaiah 10:1-2; Matthew 5-7, and Romans 13:1-7.
1.  A government has the God-given responsibility to rule.
2.  A government should uphold the general good.
3.  A government should see its role as a trust.
4.  People in government are required by God to practice integrity and honesty.
5.  A government should work hard to establish and maintain a free society.
6.  A government should respect, promote, and nurture human dignity.
7.  A good government has a social conscience and embraces a good measure of humanitarianism.
8.  A government should pay particular attention in its policies to the exploited and the marginalized.
9.  A government is required by God to establish and maintain law and order, to the best of its ability.
10.  An inherent function of government is to regulate the exercising of power by other institutions and organizations.
11.  A good government is committed to the pursuit of justice.
12.  A government should practice procedural fairness.
13.  A government should practice fiscal integrity.
14.  A government should implement fair trading laws.
15.  A government should strive for peace.
16.  A government should promote public morality.
17.  A good government realizes that it has responsibility for its physical environment.
18.  A good government is ready to listen to its critics.
19.  All governments should acknowledge that they are servants of God.
20.  All governments should acknowledge that they are accountable to God.