Today wraps up the discussion about the stewardship we have for relationships, and relating those to current events. Last time we applied our natural rights to procreate and assemble. Today we’ll use the natural rights to communicate and receive justice.[1] These wrap up what it means to be a people which then leads to governance. This last item touches on leadership, the next article’s focus.
Our natural rights matter more today than before. They keep us from going astray, especially in an immoral society. As noted in Today’s Four Horsemen, current events describe the last days beginning. Timothy describes society’s transformation to man’s values during the last days.
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. 2 Tim. 3:1-5
Being a People
The rights to procreate and assemble cover stewardship for relationships with respect to family and being a people. With the right to procreate comes the duty to provide. But as mentioned last time this only begins with family. This duty extends to our neighbors, community, and those we meet.
Stewardship includes not only material items, but the spiritual as well. In this regard, parents are responsible for educating their children. Education is necessary because man is not born with the knowledge he needs to succeed. We acquire this knowledge only through our own effort—by both knowing and doing. By this process we learn to discern good from evil. The basis for all stewardship is love. The means matter as we are to do good.[2] Man needs someone greater than himself to direct him to that end. That means is God.
Why does this matter? Because being a people requires a single set of mutually agreed upon rights and shared commitment to the common good. Those must include the natural rights we’ve received from God as they are to form society’s basis. Without these, there is no people. Being successful requires unity of purpose, trust, faith, charity, justice, and freedom. These come only when a people turns to God—individually and as a society.
Communication and Assembly—Why They Matter
Our natural rights to assemble and communicate are intended to hold us together as a people. They help us stay grounded in morality (good), keep a unity of purpose, and worship God. Compare this to the left’s talk over the last week. They want a new normal based on transformation—turning over our natural rights to others who say they can guide us better than we can do ourselves. Leftist politicians and media pedal such trash today.[3] They’re hoping you’ll just accept what they have to say. But they know nothing of truth. It’s hard to see when you’ve gone so far into darkness there is no longer any light.
The rights of assembly and communication are complementary. Assembly provides the opportunity to teach, encourage others through our actions (to do), and sustain fellowship and worship to God—morality’s source. Communication provides opportunities to encourage others by our words (to know), speak truth, and serve others.[4] With these rights come the responsibility to do good in love and service to others.[5]
Today’s Events
We can look at the left’s words alone, but those don’t really matter. They are only the means to an end, and for them the means do not matter. The left’s words have no value as they are empty. So let’s consider some of their actions. New York’s governor arrogantly declared in early March there was nothing to worry about with the virus; that New York’s healthcare system could handle whatever came about. A few weeks later he was demanding help as they were afraid of running out of space and ventilators. Deaths began to skyrocket in part because he ordered covid-19 cases be housed in retirement communities—after admitting those communities were among the most vulnerable to the virus.
Temporary hospitals were built with federal assistance and ventilators produced by businesses at his request—many of which were never needed nor used. But that’s the way it is when man uses his own values and someone else’s money. Now some states have the nerve to ask for a ‘bailout’ for their incompetence. Their actions can be summed up as, ‘Just give me what I want when I want it.’ It’s becomes all about self-interest.
Michigan’s governor has virtually locked down her state. She doesn’t complain on calls with federal officials coordinating resources with each state’s needs, but then does so openly after the calls are finished. Not voicing her concerns to those who can help is both dishonest and irresponsible. Not having concerns but using her position to create division is an abuse of power. So which is it? Regardless, such a person lacking in virtue is not fit to lead at all.
Locally
We can also look at Virginia’s governor who refuses to begin reopening the state based on differing conditions. As of this past weekend almost 50% of Virginia’s confirmed virus cases were in just three counties and two cities in northern Virginia. Another 10% were in the counties of Henrico, Chesterfield, and the city of Richmond. Of course more will be diagnosed with the virus as testing is ramped up. Because the number of cases has been underreported, and the number of deaths overreported.
The left is using current events as the means to an end. Many of those who’ve had the virus never even knew it. While quite contagious, it also appears quite fragile—unless you have an underlying health condition.
But not all governors have behaved like those just noted. Eight states rejected issuing stay at home orders. These include; Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.[6] They left it to the people and local governments to decide what is in their best interest, and stepped up to assist where needed like the meat packing plant in South Dakota. Additionally, President Trump did not extend outbreak guidelines, and rejected the CDC’s plan for reopening America. They sought to preserve liberty while at the same time serve to help keep the public safe.
Power and Service
Many states suspended religious services and arbitrarily shut down businesses. All in the name of safety. Man using his own values in determining what is essential. All businesses are essential; especially to those who own them, those who work for them, and other companies who in turn rely on them for their business. It’s all linked together. To arbitrarily pick winners and losers is the height of elitism—the very opposite of the rights we have and the stewardship we are to exercise. It is time to recognize these unjust actions for what they are.
Only recently has Virginia’s governor agreed to reopen churches. A right which no government has any power to infringe upon. There is no such thing as partial power. They either have the power to so something or they do not. But the governor’s not changed his mind because it is the right thing to do. Instead, he faces a lawsuit he would likely lose and a potential federal investigation. A person given to craven injustice who does not know what it means to serve.
Getting It Back
We know we live in an immoral society by the presence of; abortion, same sex marriage, gender denial, intolerance expressed when rejecting immorality, legislatures exempting themselves from laws they write, and some governors using a crisis as cover for preempting our rights. These represent vices rather than virtues. This brings us to governance, specifically leadership, which is where we’ll pick up again.
In closing, civil disobedience has a special place in America’s founding and history. Refusing to submit to a king’s immoral actions, slavery, women’s suffrage, civil rights have all been achieved by people standing and deciding to follow God’s principles—Biblical principles—rather than man’s. If we wish to remove immorality from society, we must do so again. But it will only come about when we focus again on God.
Footnotes:
[1] For about the Biblical basis for these natural rights can be found in Wolf, Dan, A Handbook of Natural Rights, Living Rightly Publications, 2018.
[2] Examples include Jeremiah 22:13, 1 Timothy 5:8, and 1 John 3:17-8.
[3] For a recent example, see the New York Times, We the People, in Order to Defeat the Coronavirus, May 1, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/01/opinion/coronavirus-civil-liberties.html, accessed May, 2020.
[4] See Psalm 37:30-2, Matthew 12:37, and Ephesians 4:15.
[5] See Hebrews 6:10-2 and 1 Peter 4:8-10.
[6] Los Angeles Times, These eight states haven’t issued stay-at-home orders to fight the coronavirus outbreak, April 22, 2020. https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-04-22/states-without-coronavirus-stay-at-home-order, accessed May, 2020.
