JUSTIFIABLE GOVERNMENT “We believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them, both in making laws and administering them, for the good and safety of society.” (Doctrine and Covenants 134:1) It is important to note that Section 134 of the Doctrine and Covenants is the official “opinion” (Preamble to the Section) of Church leaders in 1835 concerning laws of man and of earthly governments (more specifically, The United States of America). This verse of scripture cross-references important verses in the Old and New Testament and in other sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. These include: Jeremiah 27:4-11, John 19:11; Romans 13:1-4, Doctrine and Covenant 98:4-7 and 101:77. Lets start with Jeremiah 27:4-11 since the statement “We believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man” seems to be founded upon these verses: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his sons son, until the very time of his land come; and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon, for they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish. But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land and they shall till it and dwell therein.” Now we know why Lehi was rejected by the Jews and by his family (but so was Jeremiah). I am still not sure how Nephi ended up with the Levitical priesthood.. (Lehi was a descendant of Joseph who was a brother of Levi and son of Jacob. Nephi has the priesthood as he ordains Joseph and Jacob in 2 Ne. 5:26 as priests. It is no wonder Nephi had such hard time with the Lords command to politically assassinate Laban. Priesthood holders were to refrain from politics and focus solely on the Lords work.) Anyway, it is apparent that the House of Israel was to bring their necks under the yoke of Babylon instead of resisting invasion through war and insurgency. This begs several questions: Why would the Lord bring the Jews into bondage? Did God institute the Babylonian empire? Were the Babylonians a just and righteous people? How did the Jews serve Nebuchadnezzar exactly? INSTITUTED GOVERNMENT Nimrod was an apostate in the days of Abraham. As a hunter, he laid claim to vast stretches of land and was constantly in conflict with farmers and sheepherders. He followed after the order of Cain and erected a state (Tower of Babel). If in protecting the free exercise of Cains and Nimrods agency (John 19:11) it can be said “God instituted government for the benefit of man,” then so mote it be. Certainly, man does benefit from the crucifixion of Christ. Is government (more specifically the state) doing a just thing? Obviously not. Punishment for an offense is a natural consequence arising only out of fallen man. It is something to be overcome in the Christian. The Babylonian conquest of Israel was a direct consequence of their Jewish wickedness. How did the Jews offend the Babylonians? Was it Jewish anarchy? No. It was Jewish statism and imperialism under the kings that offended the Babylonians. In an attempt to engage in geopolitics (by siding with Egypt against Babylon) and to exploit the masses through prosboul, the Jews had corrupted themselves. The Lord would bring the Jews into bondage under those more wicked than themselves to teach them pacifism and to relieve them of a desire towards politics and materialism so that the Lords people could focus on worshiping God as they had covenanted to do. The Jews sought to make themselves high and the Lord brought them low. Jesus Christ also established a government called the church. It was noncoercive and voluntary. The leadership was self-employed. In 1 Nephi 14, the Lord reveals that there are only two churches in the world and one which is of the world. The great and abominable church persecutes the church of Christ. The church of Christ is not so much in conflict with the church of the devil as the church of the devil persecutes the church of Christ. The war proceeds with violence in one direction. The church of Christ utilizes redress, negotiation, adjustment and persuasion to protect itself and to call the church of the devil to repentance. If an institution is not the church of Christ, then it can only be part of the church of the devil. Where does that leave civil government? THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS The account of the Jews prior to their subjection to Babylonian rule runs parallel to the account of the early saints before their subjection to United States rule. In Doctrine and Covenants 101 we read of the early saints being persecuted and afflicted for their own transgressions. The saints with their new found faith had offended many of the gentiles with their much boasting and talk of conquering the land. The saints eventually struck out to create their own nation in the west through exodus. When great atrocities befell those who stayed, the Lord prevented their rescue. Many of the saints sought to defend violently those besieged, but the Lord turned them back and told them such was not the way of the Lord. Because the early saints refused to live a pacific lifestyle and insisted upon retaliation against and justice for their offenders, the Lord instructed the saints to bring their necks under the yoke of constitutional government. They would have no independent nation of their own. The haughtiness of the saints would be made low. They would not be free, rather subject to the law of the land which is constitutional (according to Elder Dallin H. Oaks, the Supreme Court is the final arbiter on what is constitutional): “And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me.” (Doctrine and Covenants 98:5) What part of the constitution maintains rights? The Bill of Rights, of course. It is the principles in the Bill of Rights that belong to all mankind. It is upon these principles that the saints desiring justice are to seek redress by an appeal to human law. Anything more or less than this in the participation of government by a saint cometh of evil. It is interesting that the Lord uses the term “justifiable” and not “just.” The two terms do not mean the same thing. The latter means “morally righteous/merciful/condonable” and the former means “legally permissible/sufferable/allowable.” This is consistent with the rest of Section 98 of the Doctrine and Covenants. A “just” response would be to forgive as many times as an offender repents and to indignantly estrange after no less than four times where an offender does not repent. An appeal to human law for redress is “justifiable,” but that does not mean it is necessarily “just.” The Lord has “suffered” that the Saints should be subjected by human laws (Doctrine and Covenants 101:77). Therefore, the saints are not to rebel against the powers that be, even though they be the enemies of the Lord (Doctrine and Covenants 58:22), but to serve the enemy in love and to seek redress by providing every exception in the laws of man for religious freedom to worship according to the laws of the covenants which the saints have made with the Lord. Today, the Saints find themselves in the same situation as the Jews under Babylonian rule and Christ under Roman rule (Article of Faith 12). There is no need for me to explain Romans 13 since I have already done so in another essay. To alleviate any confusion, it may be better to pay special attention to Romans 12. TO SERVE AND LOVE OUR ENEMIES The Lords enemies are the kingdoms of this world. He will subdue them, break them to pieces, in his own due time. Until then, the saints are subject to “the powers that be,” they being protected by the Lord in their free exercise of conscience (agency). The final questions to be answered are, “How did the Jews serve Nebuchadnezzar?” and “How did Christ love Caesar?” and “How are the Latter-Day Saints to love and serve Obama?” (Or a Hitler? Or a Stalin? Or a Mao Tse-tung? Or a Saddam Hussein?) Looking at the Topical Guide, synonyms for “serve” are “ministry” and “obey.” As “servants,” the Saints are “slaves” or “in bondage” to human law. Therefore, the Saints are called to observe the laws of the land and to minister to publicans (the establishment) and to sinners (common criminals) equally. Both are in need of repentance. I have shared numerous essays on how Christ acted as a public servant and we can look to the examples of Daniel, of Shadrach, of Meshach and of Abed-nego. None took up the sword for Nebuchadnezzar, but sought to keep themselves undefiled from the kings sins and idolatry. At first, they were successful in their negotiations for redress through the king and, with the help of the prince of the eunuchs, maintained their religious covenants. An exception was made for them. But then conspiracies arose against these men, specifically, and against the Jews, generally. A law was passed to worship a false idol. No exception was made for the Jews. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego refused (noncooperation). Daniel was thrown to the lions and the other three were thrown to the flames. The Lord preserves them. Unfortunately, preservation of the righteous (those who refuse to enforce or cooperate with human laws that conflict with their religious covenants and moral beliefs) does not always happen. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego must have had a mission yet to fulfill amongst the Babylonians. In Alma 14:8-11, Alma and Amulek are teaching the people to repent. They are condemning human law and the laws of the land. They call the powers that be to repent for their unjust laws. They are condemned for being socially irresponsible and all who believe in Alma and Amulek are thrown to the fires. Alma and Amulek are tempted to condemn the magistrates for their murders, but the Spirit constrains them. The Spirit tells them to let the wicked alone and to leave it in the hands of the Lord. The Spirit tells them the innocent are subject to the wicked and that the Lord fights the battle of the innocent by allowing the wicked to destroy the wicked. The Spirit tells them it is justifiable in the Lords wisdom for “the powers that be” should be suffered to prevail. They are allowed to prevail against wicked and innocent alike so that they may be judged according to their actions in the flesh. Another example is Abinadi who calls the magistrates to repentance for corrupting the people with their unjust laws and punishments. When the laws of the land or the punishments affixed to them became unjust, many righteous men, from Alma to Mormon, stepped down from government and refused to enforce them. Verse 2 of Section 134 of the Doctrine and Covenants is relevant here. Those who volunteer to make and administer (legislate and enforce) unjust laws and punishments will be held accountable before the Lord. Instead, these good men chose to minister unto the people, to promote the faith and build the church. Of one thing we can be certain, while Christ, Daniel and others observed human laws (“laws of the land”), they in nowise volunteered to enforce them. Instead, they sought only to maintain their religious rights and freedom to worship by negotiation exceptions in human laws. When they were conscripted to be stewards over others, they served their stewardships in righteousness, with tender love, mercy, charity and compassion. Conscription leaves the Saints unaccountable before the Lord and this brings us to something the First Presidency said in a 1945 letter to Congress about government jobs and military service. To uphold and support either, to volunteer for or even conscript to, according to the First Presidency, would be to subject membership “to encouragement in a belief that they can always live off the labors of others through the government or otherwise.” The belief that members should make a living through the political means should not be encouraged. So, exactly how should a Saint serve the enemies of the Lord? (1 Cor. 4:8-13 cf 6:1-12) Well, we serve when conscripted to do so and we officiate in our stewardships with fairness, mercy, compassion and love. We seek to decentralize government in order to strengthen communities. We seek redress of wrongs against the sovereignty of private institutions by negotiating exceptions in the law for them (after the tradition of the Bill of Rights). We vote for good and wise men despite their chances of winning. We observe the laws of the land, keep the commandments and grow the church. We take upon ourselves the burdens of those who are oppressed by the current unjust (albeit justifiable) system. The poor (under and unemployed), the imprisoned, the widows and orphans (of war), the homeless are every bit as much, as the Saints, victims at the hands of the wicked who rule. While they are more deserving of their chastisement, we are not entirely undeserving of our own. Still, the worlds ways are not the Lords way and those who follow in the Lords way will find peace and joy in the resurrection. Worry not that those who, being justified, follow after the worlds way secure for themselves peace and joy in this life at the expense of others. They have their reward and in the resurrection they will be brought low. I admit, I sold my birthright for a mess of pottage. I served on VBSS briefly, pushed around and shook down some Middle Eastern people just coming out of their showers and who were no threat to me or to others. I am repenting, I hope The Powers That Be will too.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 17:23:44 +0000
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