A Call To All Governing Officials

Within the halls of government, local, state and federal there are those that profess the religion of Christ. Many of them hold to the authority of scripture and the basic doctrine of the Faith.  Yet, they fail to conduct their legislative and governing decisions according to Scripture. This is due in part to their allegiance to a Two Kingdom mentality which divorces Scripture from everything but personal faith.

Those who understand the problems behind such an idea must address it and call those in government to take a careful re-assessment of what they truly believe.

One way is to publicly state the obvious; that these officials have not acted Biblically. They must be exposed as hypocrites whether they are conscious of their hypocrisy or not they are to be taken to task.

The following is such a letter. We must challenge governing officials who claim to be Christians that to deny their faith in policy making, especially when it comes to taxation is unacceptable. The tree is always known by its fruit.

Non Christian thought, especially when it is exhibited within the institutions of government, law and public policy, assumes that the State cannot survive, nor thrive, except at the expense of the individual. Sadly, local government is not exempt from this assumption. In order to support a bloated government and its insatiable desire to spend beyond what the community can bear and what is Biblically acceptable, oppressive taxation becomes the norm, for both citizen and governing official.

When this happens property taxes soar along with licensing and regulation fees which are simply another method of taxation. We’ve just experienced this with the County’s desire to add an already high meals tax to our eating establishments. So instead of burdening the people with more property tax hikes, which they knew would cause serious blow-back, they targeted the restaurant industry along with its customers.

Collection time for Uncle Sam!

This Godless system of raising revenue via taxation every time more money is needed undermines the very reason for government, i.e. the citizens protection and prosperity by stimulating a societal model of liberty rather than slavery. Instead of stimulating the county’s economy taxes are constantly raised in one form or another as if there isn’t a solution beyond legalized plunder.

Whenever the principles of unjust taxation are forced upon a society it is tantamount to a declaration of war by the government against its own people. And although it is not a war waged by military might it is a war nevertheless waged in dollars enforced by the threat of military might.

What has become an added insult to the injury of the County’s taxation frenzy is that most, if not all, of those who sit in the County’s seat of supervisory power profess the Religion of Christianity. How can an individual profess one thing and act contrary to that same profession? Do we chalk it up to Ignorance? Arrogance? Indifference? Or the philosophical heresy of vicious self seeking Autonomy?

Perhaps these men and women in government are simply trying to be moderate in their approach to government. These seek to stay in the middle of the issues trying desperately to keep a balance between them in order to come to “right” conclusions. We call these people Centrists. And while that might seem a safe and noble position it isn’t.

Like these modern officials the Greek Philosopher Aristotle also thought he had the answer in centrism. His answer to these issues was the anti-Christian doctrine of the “Mean”, or what is known today as the “Middle of the Road Solution.” Aristotle’s “Mean” was a political solution based on some sort of moral consensus. Aristotle saw the centrist as the one who could bring about sobriety and practical solutions to the many ills of the culture by maintaining a middle of the road policy in governing.

The Middle of the Road man was the Virtuous man. He was neither left nor was he right. He was in the “Mean”. Supposedly this would insure that everyone was represented by a sober consensus. What Aristotle failed to understand is this position is a deviation from, and a denial of, any real moral standard since it assumes that to insure virtue and liberty one must merely keep a balance between two evils. He was wrong.

For the Christian magistrate, however, only the principles of government derived from God’s Holy word is acceptable. This is where all too many governing officials who claim to be Christian fail miserably. And this is where our governing officials have failed as well.

What is perhaps more egregious and frustrating than these officials implementing policy via the “Mean” is that their unbiblical actions are implemented with impunity right under our noses and under the oversight of their pastors many of whom haven’t the insight or spiritual fortitude to take these individuals to task for their unrighteous governing practices though ecclesiastic sanctions.

I encourage all pastors and citizens of their county to keep a close watch upon their local governing officials, especially those who have recently ascended to the office of County Supervisor and those who already hold that seat. They must be kept in check by limiting their addiction to OPM (other people’s money). It’s time that they begin to solve the county’s problems without caving to the default taxation solution.