GOOD GOVERNMENT

“The powers that be are ordained of God”, writes St. Paul. That means God conceives of government as a necessary thing for humanity. Why is it necessary? The simple answer is that built into humanity is a terrible tendency for people to hurt each other. Government in the purpose of God is there to prevent that happening. However, there are powers that seek to frustrate that purpose, and all too frequently we see bad government as well as good government, bad government which is self-seeking, fear inspiring and ruthless. When that happens the hurt becomes multiplied.

What makes for good government? Essentially there are two sides to that question, each seemingly opposite to the other. On the one hand good government seeks to release people into freedom. It seeks to provide space and opportunity where people may fulfil their lives. On the other hand government is there to restrain people. People are to be restrained when they pursue what is evil and unjust. In Paul’s words, government “bears the sword”, in order to bring restraint, and to do so forcibly if necessary. These two different sides of government, release and restraint, are not really opposed, however, but belong together since people can never be truly free if evil is not restrained.

Good government cannot operate properly, therefore, without a clear outline of what is evil and to be restrained and what genuinely belongs to human freedom and is to be promoted. That outline is provided by Law. So, in the case of ancient Israel, fundamental to the exercise of good government was the Law God gave at Sinai. It was essentially a “moral” law, a law of behaviour. It was a law of moral restraints designed to secure genuine freedom. At the heart of all good government there must always be this “moral” law. Good government cannot opt out of “moral” law. If it tries to do so it ceases to be effective as true government. There can be no hazy, “please yourself” moral law. There are many areas where choice is legitimate but moral law is not one of them.

The obligation laid on good government is first and foremost to make sure the nation is educated in the precept and practice of its moral law. It is then obliged to restrain behaviour which does not conform to its law and is harmful.

When government becomes confused about moral law it is in danger of becoming bad government. The modern secular government is confused. One of those areas of confusion has to do with sexual behaviour. It has effectively abandoned any kind of restraint. It has encouraged the notion that sex is a private and personal matter for each person to do as they please; permissiveness is a freedom! This is maintained not withstanding the obvious hurt and harm that results. In this way moral law has become personal moral permissiveness. Sex education bears the stamp of this confusion, and is actually an education for permissiveness – it deals with the how but never the why and the when of sex; restraint and self-control are notions not to be mentioned. There is no control over the exploitation of sex in the culture of the times. It contrasts very sharply with the law as we have known it for many generations, “do not commit adultery; do not commit fornication”.

Government is equally confused about coveting and stealing when it comes to the world of finance and business. When coveting and sharp practice becomes institutionalised in our financial structures it is time for government to restrain.Good government is obligated to do so. The opposition against such restraint is of course extremely strong and among the influential and powerful people who benefit. But government needs to be stronger. Over the last two or three decades it has actually acceded to the removal of carefully built laws of restraint on the indulgence of financial greed, so that regulation is virtually non existent. All this has been done under the specious cloak of reformed and liberal economic theory, in the same way that sexual permissiveness has been allowed under the cover of specious theories of what really belongs to human freedom. More to the point here, the confusion over sexual morals has actually been caused in no small measure by the failure to restrain the world of money making from making full use of sex in its quest for profit and riches.


Pray for good government.




Bob




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