Christian Collectivism

May 15, 2009


Darrin,

Thank you for the invitation last night to meet Assemblyman Joel Anderson. You had a nice crowd of people in your home. I am wondering if you had thought about the demands and expectations your friends and our Christian brothers had of Joel and especially the comments the two ladies made on our health care system? One of the ladies said that it is the government’s responsibility to provide police, fire and health care. Towards the end of the evening another lady strongly challenged Joel to address the lack of hospitals in East County. She then encouraged Joel to use his position to get state and federal aid.

Did you notice the contradiction between what I will assume are a group of Christian Conservatives and their philosophy of government?

What I heard last night didn’t surprise me. I used to have the same perspective and it is the reason I started the Liberty Discussion Group. There is a disconnect between what we preach and what we practice. When our actions don’t reconcile with our beliefs we can be seen as hypocrites. When we hold incompatible ideas simultaneously we become irrational. I am going to make a provocative statement to you and I will attempt to back it up. We are part of the problem that we are asking Joel to fix. We think it is the democrats or the people who didn’t attend the meeting who are the problem. I say the problem lies with you and me and our misunderstanding of how our faith should inform our politics.

When our founders signed the Declaration of Independence they posited a Creator and the unalienable rights of life, liberty and property. They recognized these rights as gifts from God. Because these gifts come from God we have the right to defend them, they are unalienable. That is, they cannot be taken way by another person or group of people by force. This then becomes the role of government to secure the life, liberty and property of its citizens at their consent. Nothing more, nothing less. Government’s jurisdiction is to be limited. Governments are made up of people, sinners, and as such must be constrained by a Constitution to protect the people from becoming its prey. This is why George Washington said,

“Government is not eloquent. It is not reason. It is force.
Like fire, it is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.”

Thomas Jefferson said,

“It is strangely absurd to suppose that a million human beings collected together are not under the same moral laws which bind each of them separately.”


But what did we hear from our sisters last night? Government’s role is MORE than that. Its role is to provide us with healthcare. Do we understand that governments are ineffective at providing what free markets can do naturally? Do we understand that our government has no money of its own? Do we understand that our government only has the money (property) that it forcibly takes from the people it is supposed to be protecting?
Do we understand that the promise healthcare to the folks in your living room imposes an obligation on you and me to provide it?

Darrin, governments operate at the “consent of the governed”. That is, they only have the authority that you and I have to delegate to them. Since I cannot come into your home and forcibly take your property (money) in order to give it to another (no matter how compassionate of a use I have for it) neither can the government. The government is nothing more than the collective organization of our individual rights. We have forgotten that and we have made it our master instead of our servant. We now tithe more to government than we do to Him. We are giving the government power for which it has not been authorized (Romans 13). There is much more to be discussed here and more effective free market solutions, but I will stop. Here is how I heard those ladies comments with my understanding of the founders and our faith;

“I am a follower of Jesus but I think His teachings are situational. For instance, if I want something and can get enough people to make a law to provide it, we can encroach on the unalienable rights of our neighbors and use government force to make them provide for our needs. If they are selfish, and refuse to submit to our laws and surrender some of their property (i.e. income) they go to jail”

That is collectivist.

There are only two types of governments, Individualistic and Collectivist. Individualistic governments posit a Creator and individuals derive their rights from Him. Governments of this form derive their authority from the Creator (Romans 13) and protect the unalienable rights of the people. Individualistic governments serve the people. People are free and have liberty to do whatever they wish until they encroach on the life, liberty and property of others. Our nation was founded as a Constitutional Republic.

All other governments are collectivist. They deny a Creator. Rights come from the group and individuals serve the group. With this form of government, Nazi’s can decide Jews are to be exterminated. Southern Whites, if they have 51% of the vote, can hang blacks. People who live in East County, if they have 51% of the vote can outlaw Christianity or raise a tax to pay for whatever they want. This system of governing is nothing more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what they will have for lunch. This is where we get socialism, fascism and democracy.

Our founders did not establish a democracy, they believed democracies were evil and resulted in mob rule (i.e. French Revolution). We do not have a Statue of Democracy or a Democracy Bell. The word “democracy” is not mentioned anywhere in our Declaration of Independence or Constitution. I understand it is not even mentioned in any of the Constitutions of the fifty states.

Darrin, we have a lot of work ahead. Not everyone will listen to a message such as this but there will be remnant. Isaiah had the unenviable task of delivering an unpopular message to a people who would not listen. We need to take our cue from him. I encourage you to pursue liberty and righteousness in the spirit of our faithful founders who studied war so their children could study the arts and sciences. If we don’t wake up soon, our children will grow up in a strange nation.

Eric Andersen