Government of law, not men
Welcome to "Last Month’s Independence Day", which is not about the establishment of democracy, but an assertion of well-ordered liberty. The American war for Independence was essentially a conservative revolution fought within the political and historical tradition of England. What we did was not without precedent, as the British parliament had long been wrangling with the king over prerogatives.
Our revolution is to be distinguished from the disastrous French Revolution that followed soon thereafter. The French, with their cries for liberty, equality, and fraternity, set the stage for the Russian revolution, as well as our own Woke Movement. The French Revolution was all about the overturning of traditions and institutions that were thought to be tyrannical, including the church. It was a revolution of ideas, but not those grounded in natural law or in the truth of our humanity.
Democracy itself is not the answer, for when unchecked, it is every bit as tyrannical as the rule of any despot, and certainly worse than an ordered monarchy. Democracy unchecked is simply the rule of men, not laws, so that one has no rights or guarantees if one's conduct is not in line with what the majority desires. So, most people wanted Jack Phillips to decorate that cake, and so he should! He must! The people have spoken! Ah, but what of the law?
What's most needed is a law that is in full accord with the deeper law. A majority that voted, for instance, for the killing of infants (in womb or out) or the snuffing out of the elderly, may well be democratic, but not liberty, only the license of the powerful. True Liberty is always wedded to underlying truth. This is why the founders understood that our constitutional republic would not stand apart from a citizenry worthy of its defense.
Say what you will about our founders, but they were men of courage and foresight. They set up for us a constitutional republic, engaged in a war for independence not madness, a movement that did not reflexively tear things down, as does the cynical Critical Theory of our day, but built upon that which had come before it. That is to say, it was a remarkably constructive revolution led by men who strove for ideals, while recognizing man's fallen nature, and therefore the need to keep power in check even, and perhaps especially, the power of the majority.
The Rev. Dr. Peter Scaer is chairman and professor of Exegetical Theology and director of the M.A. program at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.
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Be Equipped
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Be Encouraged
"‘Be as patient with others as you know God is with you. In so doing, you will be keeping your head in all circumstances’ (2 Timothy 4:5). You will find the resolve to remain calm and patient, even though ideologically you may become incensed. Theologically, you know what it means to be the object of perfect love. Let Christ be your role model." --Rev. Robert Fleischmann, Director of Christian Life Resource – A Life Quote from Lutherans For Life.
