 |
|
|
I strongly believe the current unrest in Israel is the prefect setup for an the antichrist to come in the rescue the situation. In the past decade dozens of world leaders have all failed to end the fighting. It seems the stage is now set for the Beast to come and work his magic.
-- Raptureready.com
|
|
| |
News: Government for the Good of the People: Ten Questions about Freedom, Virtue, and the Role of Government
Posted on Tuesday, September 18 @ 09:01:18 PDT by Mickey Denen |
|
Today's political debates are often muddied by misconceptions of the role of government and its responsibility to American citizens. What are the limits of good government? How can the virtues necessary for freedom flourish? Sustaining ordered liberty depends on good answers to these questions.
1. What should government do?
Government plays an indispensable role in a healthy community, but this does not mean that everything a community needs to be healthy is government's responsibility. Government expresses society's understanding of justice and enacts judgment in light of that understanding. Government's task is to articulate the rights and duties of citizens and protect them from threats. This is very different from the belief that government should create rights or exercise people's duties for them through programs that replace individual and community initiatives.
2. Does morality have anything to do with government?
The government, acting on behalf of the people, declares certain actions to be just and unjust. This is a moral distinction between right and wrong. Whenever government debates whether or not certain actions and institutions are lawful, it takes moral considerations into account. Put another way, by formulating and upholding laws, government encourages and expresses a society's fundamental moral principles.
3. What should limit government's authority?
"If angels were to govern men," wrote James Madison, "neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary." But even if political authorities were angels, there would still be limits on what government should and should not do.
In this sense, government power is inherently limited by the role of other social institutions, such as families, religious congregations, schools, and businesses. The rightful authority of these institutions helps to check the authority of the state.
Government's formal authority is restrained by its primary purpose (see question #1). Government is supposed to protect the ability of individuals and social institutions to exercise legitimate authority within their own particular areas of influence without unjust interference from other institutions. If the government is supposed to protect this freedom for citizens, its power to intrude must be subject to clearly defined limits. Such limits are defined in the United States Constitution and individual state constitutions.
Click here to read the entire article
|
| |
|
^^Go to Top -  E-mail to Friend -  Print -  View PDF -  Subscribe -  Comments RSS
Re: All Authority And Jurisdiction In Heaven... And On Earth! (Score: 1)
 by chrisliv on Tuesday, September 18 @ 23:07:11 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | Gee,
Nobody seems to want to comment on this one, so I'll chime in some more.
Personally, I think the article and the Heritage Foundation is just a front that provides a platform for asserting statist assumptions.
The article talks obliquely about minimizing State influence, but gives no direction at all. I mean, although it is still within the realm of statism, a serious article might suggest that the period during the Article of Confederation is superior the creation of a 14th government as an overaching Central Power.
Honestly, if the early Americans who rebelled against their so-called king, George III, and participated in the Boston Tea Party over nothing more than a tarriff (indirect tax) on imported British tea were alive today, they would all be branded "terrorists" and "enemy combatants and transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Nimrod was the "the mighty hunter" in the antediluvian World. Of course, the Bible wasn't talking about being Nimrod being a deer hunter. Nimrod was the first head of State. And we know what God thought of Nimrod's ambitions on the Plains of Shinar.
Christ exposed the obvious about the State, too, and commanded his followers not to participate in it, which is why early Christians were persecuted:
"The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so among you..." Luke 22:25 & 26
Yes, the State is a shake-down as it murders, coerces, and "exercises" lordship that God never ordained it to. And the State is also a scam that many believe and foolishly "call" a benefactor.
As Preterists, we know that Christ's fully-established Kingdom is here now, for all who believe.
Isn't it interesting that His Kingdom is almost the only one that people are not coerced into (except for those nasty Roman Catholic Inquisitors about a 900 years ago, in southern Spain, who compelled Jews and Muslims to convert under penalty of death or expulsion).
So, since Christ's Kingdom is voluntary, a test for legitimacy of every secular or religious State should also be it's voluntary participation, or not. Or, as Herbert Spencer has mentioned, the Right to Ignore the State should be upheld by everyone.
As Preterists, we know that the ancient promise in Genesis about Shiloh, who was to come, has been fulfilled. And that some of our Lord's very last words during his public, earthly ministry at his so-called Great Commission, claimed all Heavenly and Earthly authority for Himself, leaving no bestowed authority for Caesar or the State, as far as Christians are concerned:
”And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, ‘All authority is given unto Me in Heaven and in Earth.’” Matthew 28:18
We know the word “authority” there is from the Greek, exousia {ex-oo-see'-ah}, meaning: power, authority, right, liberty, jurisdiction, strength.
Therefore, the State is a usurper against Shiloh, the Rightful Ruler over the whole Earth (Gen. 49:10).
Peace to you all,
C. Livingstone |
[ To reply to this, please login or register ]
Re: Government for the Good of the People: Ten Questions about Freedom, Virtue, and t (Score: 1)
by chrisliv on Tuesday, September 18 @ 16:37:34 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | Well,
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." ~ William Pitt
Peace to you all,
C. Livingstone |
[ To reply to this, please login or register ]
- by tom-g on Wednesday, September 19 @ 13:00:06 PDT
- by chrisliv on Wednesday, September 19 @ 18:42:13 PDT
- by Windpressor on Thursday, September 20 @ 01:39:20 PDT
- by chrisliv on Thursday, September 20 @ 11:47:26 PDT
| 
|
