FLAGLESS

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 1 of this blog was far too long, so I have broken it up into two sections…I hope to have the rest up by the end of the week Home education has been a journey in our family where I have learned far more than I have taught. Although I received a public education that most would consider above average, I never really learned to question anything in a logical manner. After all how many of us were required to take a high school class in basic logic? I knew what I believed (or so I thought), but could not defend myself when questioned as to why I believed it. Upon deciding to educate our children at home, I met a group of women who introduced me to the Classical tradition of education. Adopting this philosophy has been challenging because we encourage our children to ask deep questions about why we do things, why things work, why things are fair, etc. Frankly at most times this is maddening, but there are few things I want more for my children than to have beliefs which are well reasoned. I have been continually asked questions as I’ve washed dishes, run errands, and most often when I am completely mentally exhausted! Finding that the questions will never cease has periodically been challenging as it might be for others who choose this method of education. But do not squash their curiosity. Instead harness it by teaching them to answer their questions logically. While educating our kids about the faith it became a natural progression to teach them about what we define as Christian anarchy. The two go hand in hand. Most libertarians and anarchists are familiar with the non-aggression principle. Concisely stated, the non-aggression principle is an ethical stance which states that the initiation of force against another is illegitimate. In other words, Tom ought not to take a piece of Billy’s gum without Billy’s consent. This includes not only the use of physical force, but the psychological force of manipulation. Over the years I have encountered many people of varied belief systems and I have discovered the majority of those who support the non-aggression principle do so without considering why – or if – this is a valid viewpoint. Usually they will go as far as saying it is an issue of, “leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone.” However from an educational standpoint, we can’t leave our kids at this place by allowing them to hold an unexamined belief. Most likely they will ask you hard questions about this stance and you must be prepared to help them think through the issue. Until they reach a reasoned answer about the origination of ethics their quest is not over. You see, words like “should” and “ought” make sense only if there is an absolute standard they appeal to.

Flagless: An Introductory Post

If you were to associate the name “Christian” with the name “Anarchist” in a public or private conversation you would receive looks of perplexity and general disdain.  Surely nothing that is “Anarchistic” has anything to do with Christianity?

Anarchism is a word that, sadly, scares everyone.  If you were to ask a room full of people what they believed Anarchism to be you would get a fairly uniform response regardless of the political diversity of said group of people: absolute chaos, homemade bombs, violent rebellion, and riots are most commonly associated with the word “Anarchism.”  This is rhetoric.  Pure, undiluted, rhetoric.  You are either lying or have been lied to about Anarchism.  Anarchism is a legitimate political philosophy of freedom of morality, belief, money, and trade that has long been overlooked because of state perpetuation of the lie that it is “absolute chaos.”

Furthermore, what has Christianity to do with Anarchism?  We believe that Christianity has much to do with this political philosophy of freedom.  Primarily, we believe that when Christ came to fulfill the Torah, set Himself up as eternal King, and save His people from their sins, he called all people to a heavenly kingdom and a heavenly law and not an earthly kingdom of coercion or an earthly arbitrary code of law.  Earthly kingdoms are the subject of general derision in the Old and New Testaments and the only kingdom that is truly lauded is the heavenly kingdom of Christ.  Thus, when a group of Christians proclaim that there is “no king but Christ,” they are making an essentially Anarchistic statement.

This is us. 

We love and affirm the work and compassionate ministry of Jesus.  We love and affirm the existence and working of the almighty, sovereign, ruling, reigning King of the universe (John 1:1-5; Heb. 1:1-3 ESV.)  We love and affirm the Christ who summed up the whole Law with love of neighbor and love for God (Matt. 22:34-40; Mk. 12:28-31; Lk. 10:25-28.)  We love and affirm that Christ took on human flesh (kenosis; Phil. 2:5-7) and bore the wrath of the one true and living God (propitiation; Rom. 3:24-25) on our behalf (substitution; Is. 53:5) to atone for the sin that mars the very core of our being (depravity; Rom. 3:23, 5:6-11) by making a positive declaration of righteousness for us possible through His sacrifice (justification; Rom. 3:24-26) so that we could be at peace with God (reconciliation; Rom 5:1-2) and spend eternity in the very presence of God giving praise to Him, treasuring Him, and enjoying Him (Col. 1:15-20; Phil. 2:9-11.)  We believe that Christ will one day return (though we may differ how, exactly, this works out) and will establish an eternal kingdom under his perfect, righteous, and just rule.  Whether this kingdom is a fulfilled present spiritual reality (covenantalism) or awaiting a future fulfillment (dispensationalism) we firmly believe that Christ alone is and will be the only true king of anything (Col. 1:15-20; Heb. 2:9.)

Therefore, we affirm that in the matter of earthly kingdoms, the Christian is to be, at least, disinterested and unattached, and, at most, actively involved in defending the image of God created in man (maintaining freedom of morality, belief, money, and trade through “peaceful resistant non-resistance.”)  Further, the Christian ought to be primarily proclaiming the beauties of the sovereign saving Christ and not any earthly form of government.  We do not believe in earthly governments and we do not believe that they work.  We do not believe that any governmental system in the last 2000 years has succeeded in establishing even a semblance of a just society.  We reject democracy, republicanism, and all coercive systems of government for their inherent corruption.  We believe that earthly states are immoral in their perpetuation of fraud, acts of theft, murder, gross injustice, and endless war.  We will not consent to this immoral institution though we may, if we feel that it does not flatly disobey God or violate conscience, submit to it to avoid prison or worse.

This blog intends to explore, through microblogging, smaller articles, larger essays, photos, art, music or whatever else may come our way, how the Christian may have a good soteriology, a solid Biblical theology and, yet, also be an Anarchist.  Feel free to follow along, to think, to ask questions, to criticize or applaud, and to generally join in our conversation.

Further, if you are a Christian with an Anarchist bent and you’re wondering, “Do other people like me exist?”  Yes.  We do.  You have found us.  You don’t have to be in what Peter Berger calls the “cognitive minority” anymore.

Resist Not Evil!  Proclaim the King!

Ryan Day Thompson, Contributor
Flagless: A Christian Anarchist Cooperative