FLAGLESS

Pray for the King!

So far, most Christians are convinced that Christian Anarchists are in rebellion because they don’t support the king.  The thing that they neglect to realize is that I DO support the king.  I support the king stopping his murder of Muslims, babies, dissenters, and many more.  I support the king being reconciled to YHWH through the sacrifice of Jesus.  They say, “Don’t denounce the king, pray for the king!”  Allow me to point to the falseness of this dilemma and remind you that Paul was specifically telling Timothy to pray for the salvation of all peoples because YHWH wants all people to come to Himself through Jesus.  This commits a fallacy of what I call “Implied Exclusion.”  Praying for the king to be saved does not imply the exclusion of the prophetic work of denouncing corruption (or 3/4 of the Old Testament would be blank pages.)

So, allow me to politely note that I pray for the king constantly.  Here is a prayer I wrote that sums up what I usually say about the king:

‘Heavenly Father,

I thank you that you are the almighty sovereign King of the universe. I thank you that you control all events on earth. I thank you that you are holy and just and that, as a result, I can have confidence that all things that happen, happen for a good and loving purpose regardless of whatever pain and suffering result. In this specific prayer, I pray for the individuals of the Senate, House, and Presidency. I pray for all of those involved in the bloodied, corrupted, murderous State you have ordianed (without questioning your holiness, sovereignty, justice, goodness, or love with which I have such intimate acquaintance.) Father, I pray that they will be saved, reconciled to you by the blood of your Son Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and, in being saved, have their eyes opened to the mass murder that they commit and injustice that they perpetuate every day. I pray that they would see that coercive action via legislation or “representation” is against Christianity and amounts to little more than a desecration of the temple of God that are individual humans created in Your image. I do not pray that they would “do their jobs well” or “wisely” since praying to you that someone would commit murder “well” is an abomination. I pray that they would leave office, denounce coercion and idolatrous electoral politics, denounce murder through war, denounce applying coercive temporal solutions to the moral issues of other people, proclaim the wonders of YHWH, proclaim salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and serve the One True King, King Jesus.

Amen’

Ryan Day Thompson 

Has the American State Become Your Religion?

“You shall have no other gods before me.” (Ex. 20:3)

Before falsely using YHWH’s name, before the sabbath, before honor of father and mother, before murder, adultery, theft, or false witness or coveting, before all of these is this single command: “You shall have no other gods before me.”  It is unqualified.  Commentators have noted how the commands that follow this one command and every book that follows Exodus relate to it.  Jesus summed up the two tables and their Deuteronomical and Levitical reiterations well.  He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and…you shall love your neighbor as yourself,” (Matt. 22:37-38).  Throughout the Old and New Testaments the command is clear.  When a king of Israel set up idols to Baal?  He got sick and died or got killed in battle.  When the Israelites themselves served Baal?  The whole nation experienced strife and suffering.  Israel was eventually conquered and destroyed for their idolatry.  When Ananias and Sapphira worshiped their stuff rather than their creator?  They died.  Moses made it clear.  The prophets made it clear.  The Psalmists made it clear.  Job made it clear.  Jesus made it clear.  Paul made it clear.  There is no God but YHWH.  You cannot serve YHWH and serve another god.

Whenever the followers of YHWH have ceased following Him, be it the church or Israel (if you choose to make that distinction,) and followed gods and systems who disdained human life, indulged in human sacrifice, and called for general immorality, the followers of YHWH have proven themselves not followers at all but, rather, idolaters who fall into many immoral pursuits.  The writer of Hebrews said it well, “For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief,” (Heb. 3:16-19).  This is one of those rare texts that connects disobedience closely with unbelief.  Those people who called themselves follower of YHWH?  They were no followers at all, they were unbelievers and they proved it with their actions of unfaithfulness to YHWH.

Imagine a god who calls for you to sacrifice your children!  Imagine a god who calls for you to slaughter humans on his altar!  Imagine a god who calls you to steal from your neighbor!  Imagine a god who demands that you devote yourself to it and no other.  “Baal!” you say.  “Moloch!” you say.  Why, yes, those gods did demand human sacrifice, theft, and pure devotion.  They are gods of aggression.  They are gods whose image we surely do not bear.  They are not YHWH.  They are not the true God.  If you worship them you worship nothing and show yourself to be an unbeliever.

However, I am not talking about Baal or Moloch per se.  I speak of the modern Baal.

Hear me out.

When you pay your taxes, the state takes that money and uses it to kill women and children both here and abroad in the protection of their own interests.  When you put on a uniform and wield a weapon on behalf of the state to kill, you kill the son of another father and mother and a creature created in the image of God.  When you vote, you perpetuate a system of democracy that is rooted in injustice (imagine using a majority of 51% to screw 49% out of their inherent right to something!)  When you take millions of dollars from the state you swear your devotion to it for life.  When you campaign for Rick Perry, or Ron Paul, or Michelle Bachmann, or Mitt Romney, or Barack Obama, or any human, you say, “This, I worship!”  “The state?” you say?  “HOW DARE YOU!?”

I am tracking a deeply disturbing trend: many Christians maddeningly refuse to hear “Christarchists” out when they decry the state’s protection of itself in war.  Many Christians virtually stop their ears and gnash their teeth before they will hear us out when we decry the use of your taxes for abortion and the killing of the Muslim (while they somehow still “oppose” abortion and murder.)  Many Christians refuse to hear us out when we decry the perpetuation of a system rooted in the injustice of the many oppressing the few.  Many Christians refuse to hear us out when we question the validity of an institution that calls them to murder, steal, and inflict poverty wherever they go.

It is as if we were decrying the worship of YHWH!  It is almost as if we used the very name of YHWH in vain!  I, personally, have been sworn at, accused of being “inconsistent” with my worldview, and told that I am a disgrace to to the concept of freedom.

Why?  Because I have chosen to live consistently with the Sermon on the Mount?  Because I have attempted to live as consistently as possible with the system of non-aggression that the Bible predominantly espouses?  Because I have expressed disdain for a Church that largely refuses to do its work and feed the poor?  Because I have called for Voluntary consent to all taxes and systems of government (imagine a world in which we may voluntarily decide where we want our money and efforts to go!  Is that not freedom?!)  Because I have asked you to actually do what you say you’re doing and read Thomas Jefferson’s hatred of centralized government and banking?  Because I have dared to point out that we in Evangelicalism and many Reformed circles are treating the Constitution as if it were God breathed?

Christians, the American state is the modern Baal!  The voting booth is the modern “high place!”  Politicians are the modern Asherim, the Constitution a modern Golden Calf, partisan politics the modern Marduk.  As Moloch asked the Israelites to sacrifice their children on his altars, the state demands that we fund its murder of children.  As Asher demanded immorality on her altars, the state demands at the point of a gun that we fund every immorality which we supposedly oppose.  As Nebuchadnezzar built a giant image of himself and demanded Daniel worship it, the state presents politicians of all colors who build an image of themselves through various media and demand that we worship them with our vote and consent (and, subsequently, our money, time, and lives.)

I am seriously uncomfortable in my church now.  Why?  Every time I look at my pastor (who preaches amazing, Biblical, Christ-centered sermons) I see the American flag directly behind him.  That’s right, the symbol of the modern Baal, proudly displayed for all to see and hear that we condone the murder of children, that we love war, that we adore theft!  That flag speaks so loudly I cannot hear my pastor anymore.  We may as well have a Pentagram on the wall!  Let us display the Asherim!  Let us build a high place!  Let us mold a golden calf and dance around it!  Let us bow down and worship Tiamat!  If we’re going to go this far we may as well “go the whole hog!”

Christians, the American state is dangerously close to being our religion if it is not already.  It is becoming hard to distinguish between the two for me.  Do we serve Baal, or do we serve YHWH?  Choose, and choose quickly, because this state is about to demand your total and complete worship.

If we bow down, we prove our unbelief.   YHWH and YHWH alone is God.  If we dance around this golden calf, we prove that we do not ultimately believe that Christ is the one and all-sufficient King. 

Do we serve YHWH, or do we serve Herman Cain?  Do we serve YHWH or do we serve the Republican party?  Do we serve YHWH, or do we serve the American state?  Has the American state become our religion?

We worship in vain before blocks of wood and dead pillars of stone wrought by the hands of men if we continue to serve America, the modern Baal.

There is no King but Christ!  Let us serve the King!

Ryan Day Thompson, Contributor
The Flagless Cooperative

Logic and the foundation of the non-aggression axiom (Part 1c - Conclusion)

(This blog begins to pose questions about the role of a Christian – if any – in civil government. I will further develop these questions in a later blog. For now I will only begin to bring in some superficial concerns)

“Our love to God is measured by our everyday fellowship with others and the love it displays.” - Andrew Murray

“If individuals live only seventy years, then a state, or a nation, or a civilization, which may last for a thousand years, is more important than an individual. But if Christianity is true, then the individual is not only more important, but incomparably more important, for he is everlasting and the life of a state or civilization, compared with his, is only a moment.” – C.S. Lewis

Part 1c

The God of Holy Scripture is the ultimate omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent judge needed for justice to exist (see part 1b); the One whom Kant determined must exist in order for the idea of justice to have meaning. Some might want to debate if the Christian God is the correct standard and this does make for an interesting discussion. Yet for the sake of space it will have to be addressed in a different blog. For now I will continue by working under the knowledge that the character of the God revealed through the Bible makes Him a logical basis for ultimate moral standards such as the non-aggression axiom.

As Christians we have a foundation for believing there is a supreme moral law and that an unchanging Holy God shared this standard to His people. Communicating through Moses, the ultimate moral law was passed down in the form of the Ten Commandments (Exodus, Chapter 20). Coercive governments (aka, modern idea of the state) violate not only non-aggression principle, but more importantly – for the believer – they violate God’s commandments as well. But, how is this so? Precisely how does the modern state break or abuse the commandments of God? The last 6 of the commandments speak specifically as to how we are to treat our fellow man – all of whom were created by and in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27, Job 33:4, Psalm 119:73, Psalm 139:13-16: Isaiah 44:2, et al). Let’s take a closer look at two of the commandments: numbers 6 and 8.

Commandment 8 states: “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15) However it must be acknowledged that through both taxation and inflation the government of the United States steals from its citizenry. Through fear and coercion a portion of all earned/spent monies are pilfered by the civil government. Some will argue that as citizens we are bound to provide funds to our civil government, therefore it is not stealing. But are we, those who did not assent to the words contained in the constitution of the United States, bound to obey such demands? As Lysander Spooner eloquently stated, “If, then, those who established the Constitution, had no power to bind … their posterity, the question arises, whether their posterity have bound themselves?” Others might suggest that Christians are bound to support the civil government. Christian, ask yourself this: if the civil government is behaving immorally by violating the commandments of God – such as using coerced tax dollars in order to initiate force against innocents, or to commit acts of mass murder,– are you justified in actively participating in it?

Stating, “Thou shall not kill,” the 6th commandment is a prohibition against unwarranted killing (Exodus 20:13). Nevertheless, all civil governments have historically participated in wars which were not supportable under the theory of just self-defense. The question the Christian needs to consider is how actively participating in the state makes him culpable for those unjust acts of aggression. Does involvement in the coercive state make one culpable for the moral crimes perpetrated by it? In his classic work, “The Instititues,” John Calvin asserts that while restrictions are pointed out in the commandments, positive action is also required. The believer should not only stand against murder, but do all they can to protect life. Ask yourself if this can be done while turning a blind eye to the actions carried out by an imperialistic state.

Furthermore, in the New Testament Christ taught us that He came to fulfill the Law, not to destroy it. As recorded in Matthew 22:37, “Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’” Also, in Romans 13:8, Christians are told to, “to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” Force, violence, and emotional manipulation are not actions of a loving people – are not actions of the Christian. Additionally, Christ has told us that His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Christian, we are citizens of the kingdom of Christ and are strangers in this world (Genesis 23:3-4), here to be His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) – bringing Him glory. Consider if enthusiastically endorsing a compulsory (and violent) government can accomplish this. Moreover, help your older children not only ask themselves these questions, but logically come to conclusions. They should understand what God requires of His covenant people.

Allowing our kids to question our beliefs – both political and religious – can be a frightening thing. Yet, embrace it! The internal struggle between “what ought to be” and “what is,” is a great springboard for the discussion about the philosophy of ethics. Learn alongside of them. Pick up a book on introductory logic and work it with them. Harness their natural curiousity and give them the tools they need to become a thinking people. Show them that the natural should’s and ought’s written in their conscience have a base in the ultimate standards of God’s Law.

Recommended book lists for parents and children

Introductory Logic http://www.amazon.com/Introductory-Logic-James-B-Nance/dp/1591280338/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316809337&sr=1-1)
Intermediate Logic http://www.amazon.com/Intermediate-Logic-James-B-Nance/dp/1591280354/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316809380&sr=1-1
Material Logic http://www.amazon.com/Material-Logic-Traditional-Approach-Thinking/dp/1930953577/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316809531&sr=1-1
Gordon Clark’s books http://www.amazon.com/Gordon-Haddon-Clark/e/B001K7XOAK/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1316809472&sr=1-1
Cornelius Van Til’s books http://www.amazon.com/Cornelius-Van-Til/e/B001JS7F00/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1316809446&sr=1-1
Mere Christianity http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652888/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316809301&sr=8-1
Greg Bahnsen’s books http://www.amazon.com/Greg-L.-Bahnsen/e/B001KCWMKI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1316809420&sr=1-2
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