by Pastor Paul Wolff
God's Heavenly Kingdom is not a democracy
God rules perfectly for the joy and benefit of all.
Several years ago in
a Bible Study at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Dearborn, Michigan, our
current senior Pastor, Joel Baseley, paraphrased Plato’s The
Republic when he said something like this: “The problem
with democracy is that a simple majority can approve whatever they
want. If one vote more than 50% agrees to approve something immoral,
then what is immoral becomes law, and the society deteriorates.”
Pastor Baseley’s
brilliant paraphrase is even more remarkable when you read The
Republic. Because
of the question-and-answer style of the prose, Plato is not easily
quotable. The first time I read through Book 8 on Democracy I did not
see where Pastor Baseley got his quote from. Only a closer reading
showed that it is accurate, though Plato’s
reasoning is subtle. Plato’s
character of Socrates looks at the strengths and weaknesses of
Democracy from many different points, and evaluates each one in
depth. Also, maybe it is just me, but I frequently
found it hard to follow.
Sometimes
the Socrates character would seem to ask
questions which would lead to obvious false answers, but it is
possible that he was just exploring the assumed truths of his day in
order to show them false.
Nevertheless,
in The Republic, in
the dialogue between Socrates
and Adeimantus (in Book 8),
Socrates also notes,
“see
how sensitive the citizens become; they chafe impatiently at the
least touch of authority and at length, as you know, they cease to
care even for the laws, written or unwritten; they will have no one
over them. … Such, my friend, I said, is the fair and glorious
beginning out of which springs tyranny.” Here
Plato shows that as long as the majority in a Democracy are willing
to elect
and submit
to good, wise
rulers then things will be fine and good, but once the majority
refuses to submit to the benevolent elected rulers then they will
elect tyrants to rule them. It might seem counter intuitive at first
for this to happen, but like all the great ancient philosophers,
Plato had a very good understanding of human nature, and his
conclusions still explain people’s behavior 2,500 years after he
wrote it. This is why modern people ought to read the ancient
classics (in addition to the Christian Holy Scriptures).
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Our national motto ought to be
a way of life for all people.
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There
are some (mostly Americans) who think that democracy
is the same as freedom, but that is not even close to being true. In
the rare cases where democracy
upholds freedom
it is because other societal influences help
make democracy work.
We saw the
failure of democracy when
U.S.
President George W. Bush conquered Iraq after the attacks of
September 11, 2001. President Bush was naïve to
think that democracy would solve all the problems of that predominantly Muslim country which had been ruled for decades by a tyrant. For anyone paying attention
it was clear from
the start that
democracy was never going to work there, and it would quickly devolve
into an Islamic hell (i.e.
hell for everyone, including
the followers of Islam),
which it did. One of the problems there was that Islam isn’t just a
religion, but it is also a system of government. Those who follow
Islam have already given up their freedom to their religious leaders,
and the
citizens will
not rule themselves wisely.
Americans have found
that a system of democracy in a predominantly Christian nation with
well educated and informed citizens is the best way to ensure freedom
and prosperity. But the problem with democracy is that it only takes
one vote more than fifty percent of the populace to turn freedom into
tyranny and slavery, and prosperity into poverty. Though in practice,
it may take far less. In the United States, it apparently may take as
few as five votes to take away our freedom. Five people out of three
hundred million, and we no longer live in a democracy, but a
tyrannical oligarchy. It only takes five people if those five are
Justices of the Supreme court, and their grab for power goes
unchecked.
Another
problem is when the government keeps secrets from the people about
things which they need to know. In a democracy, we, the
people, must have enough of the relevant information in order to make
wise decisions, and when we don’t have it, or have the wrong
information, then democracy is thwarted. Likewise, when the news
media keep vital information from the people, or gives them false
information, then the people cannot make informed decisions, so the
majority makes ill-informed decisions. This is why wise people are so
upset by “fake news”, which are news companies pushing propaganda
instead of news.
Another
of the major flaws of Democracy has to do with lawmaking. In a pure
Democracy a simple majority (one vote more than half the voters) can
determine what is legal and what is illegal. This would work fine if
a majority of the people have the good of all people in mind when
they make the laws. However, we live in a sinful world, and sinners
are naturally selfish. Selfish people tend to want what they think is
profitable for them, but is not necessarily fair for all people. When
such selfishness is codified in law this creates not only an
inequality in the society, but it creates an injustice. If someone
desires to make something immoral legal, then all they need to do is
convince a simple majority of the voters to vote for it, and it
becomes law.
There
is a funny scene in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie
(“At World’s End”). The pirates convene a court, and the rule
is a simple democracy, but with a stipulation that the pirates can
elect a king. The winner of the election doesn’t need a majority of
the votes, but whoever gets the most votes wins. It is explained that
the pirates have never elected a king because all the pirates
only vote for themselves. This is a major fault with
democracy. If people only ever vote for themselves and their
interests over the general good of the society as a whole, then they
will choose unwisely and make foolish decisions, and the society will
suffer. A society of pirates is dysfunctional at the best of times,
but when the whole society has a pirate mentality then that is bad
for all of us.
The residents of this house have filled their brains
with strange chemicals and aren’t thinking clearly.
Voting for yourself is selfish,
and leads to a society full of pirates.
This
“pirate mentality” illustrates the Biblical doctrine of Original
Sin. Original sin is the sin we all inherit from our parents
going all the way back to Adam and Eve. We sin because we are
corrupted by original sin. Though some Christians would deny it, it
is clearly taught in the Bible, and it is easily seen in society. No
one has to teach children how to be selfish, it comes naturally
because they have been corrupted from the time of their conception.
In Psalm 51:5, King David noted, “Behold, I was brought forth in
iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” This did not
distinguish David from anyone else on earth (except Jesus), but it is
common to us all. We see the result of original sin in the corruption
and violence of the people who lived before the great flood in the
days of Noah. In the early days (see Genesis 6), the people were
distinguished between the Sons of God (those faithful to God) and the
children of men (the unbelieving descendants of Cain), but gradually
even the believers were seduced to wickedness and unbelief. The
result of their unbelief was great violence upon the earth (Genesis
6:11). The people did what they wanted to do (see my August 2018
article, How to Avoid Going Your Own Way to Hell) which was
democratic in its way, but it resulted in violence and evil. Original
sin makes simple democracy end in tragedy sooner or later.
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Our inherited sin (Original Sin)
corrupts all our governments and all our
interactions with people.
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In
the Bible God does not prescribe any particular form of government
for all people. We are encouraged to submit to the worldly
authorities as much as we can, though, in case of conflict with God’s
law, “We must obey God rather than man.” (Acts 5:29). If we are
forming a government ourselves, then we can take some lessons from
how God organized Israelite society after the Exodus in the days of
Moses. We should be careful how we do this, however. Many of the laws
and ordinances of Ancient Israel were unique to them, and were
prophetically and typologically pointed to their fulfillment in
Christ, so that the Israelites (or those in Israel who still believed
God’s Word) would recognize the Messiah when He fulfilled them.
Once Jesus fulfilled the prophetic laws (such as becoming the One,
true, atonement sacrifice which paid for the sins of the world) then
those laws were no longer required to be practiced by believers.
When
God first gave the Ten Commandments to the people, He began by
saying, “I am the Lord
your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:2-3)
Here God was telling the people to obey Him first of all. There is no
democracy in this. We don’t get to choose what is right and what is
wrong. God created us and knows what is best for us. God’s Law is
right and best, and when our laws are in line with God’s Law then
they are good and right. If our laws contradict God’s Law, then it
doesn’t matter if the whole world elects to approve something
immoral, it is still wrong.
If
all the people and all the leaders put God first, above all else,
then we would have a truly good and just government, and a peaceful,
obedient, productive citizenry who govern themselves well. Citizens
who govern themselves well are well governed. However, citizens who
do not control themselves well require a much stronger government to
maintain peace and prosperity. Note also that when God gave His
commandments He reminded the people of His love for them. God is the
one who rescues His people from slavery and captivity. God’s
primacy in our lives, and in our governance isn’t just because He
is our creator and God (though that is sufficient), but that He cares
for us and rescues us from tyranny and oppression, along with sin and
death, too.
There
will always be inequality in society because people have different
abilities, capacities, talents, desires, and the like. If the law is
fair to all people, then people can prosper in a fair way according
to their abilities and desires, even if it is not all equal, and that
is enough to make people content. If the law unfairly favors some
people over others, then those who are favored will prosper out of
proportion with their abilities, and others will fail to prosper
while working much harder to make a living. This is always unjust,
and results in slavery, or serfdom, or oppression.
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If we live by God’s Law
then we can rule ourselves wisely first,
and we can likewise choose wise people to govern us.
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Sinners
like to imagine that if they were God they would make laws that only
benefited them and enslaved all other people. God’s law doesn’t
work like this. God is holy and just and righteous and loving, and
His law is good for all people. God does not need, nor does He
desire, to make us His slaves. It is true that there is much talk in
the Scriptures about serving God. For example, Psalm 2:11 says,
“Serve the Lord
with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” But because God
loves us and wants what is best for us, serving Him results in our
freedom from worldly oppression and enslavement. Psalm 37:28-29 says,
“For the Lord
loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved
forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The
righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.”
It seems counter intuitive to our sinful, selfish minds, but serving
God not only makes us free, but it results in our salvation from sin
and death. Although God made us to serve Him, He loves us as His
children, and it was out of that love that God became a man in Jesus
Christ and lived a humble life of service to God, the Father, and us,
in order to redeem us from our sins.
Sinners
often rebel against God’s law because they imagine that they would
be better off serving themselves than God. However, the sinful nature
is a wicked taskmaster, and the person who is his own master actually
enslaves himself to his base desires and is much worse off than the
person who serves God. It is a paradox, but the one who serves God is
free, while the one who serves himself is enslaved. Psalm 34:9-10
says, “Fear the Lord,
you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may
grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord
lack no good thing.”
In
the United States of America we have been fortunate that our founding
fathers were wise in creating the laws of our land to make them fair,
and instituting checks and balances on abuse of power so that they
would stay fair for a long time. This, combined with a basis of
Christian (or Christian influenced) rationalism which encouraged
strong education, made sure that the voting citizens made and kept
good laws which were generally fair.
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God’s Commandments do not bring us salvation,
but they are given to us for our good
and can lead us to lead peaceful lives with our neighbors.
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The
laws of the United States were never perfect, but it was our laws
that made the American people free enough to become the greatest
country on earth in the 20th century. It actually took a
great deal of effort, however, to get there. The practice of
indentured servitude in the 18th century colonial period
eventually became permanent slavery in some of the states, though not
all. In the states that permitted slavery the majority of voters
determined that it would be profitable if a minority of the
population would be a permanent slave class. In some sense, this
profited the slave owners greatly, and even some of the free men who
didn’t own slaves may have profited to a lesser degree. However,
when it came to the Civil War, the North won because it had prospered
much more than the South because all citizens were free. The Union
not only had greater wealth and manufacturing abilities, but it had a
population who cared enough for the concept of freedom and “justice
for all” that large numbers of their men were willing to volunteer
to fight and to die to bring freedom and equality to all people in
the Confederate states, not just a certain class of people. It is
also true that, after the war, poor Federal oversight allowed
Southern Democrats to keep some vestiges of oppression and slavery
alive for a full century after the Civil War in the “Jim Crow
laws”, but even then, the impoverished citizens were free to
migrate north and prosper in the boom times of the 20th
century.
The
last verse in the Biblical book of Judges says, “In those days
there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own
eyes.” In America we might be tempted to think that this is the
democratic ideal, but in truth this is democracy gone wrong. American
history shows that our forefathers rebelled against a tyrannical king
and set up a better government in place of King George III, and that
government included a form of democracy. However, the refrain in the
last four chapters of Judges that there was no king in Israel is not
a statement of what was right in Israel, but it is a condemning
statement. God was Israel’s king, but the people kept turning away
from God so that He sent their pagan neighbors to harass them and
steal their food and belongings until they repented and turned back
to Him as their true King. Also, everyone doing “what was right in
their own eyes” is not the democratic ideal, but it is anarchy.
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Doing “what is right in your own eyes”
is sure to bring calamity on yourself.
When we live righteous lives according to God’s law
then we can live at peace with others.
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In
the 19th and 20th centuries, when the U.S.A.
was prospering, they did not do “what was right in their own eyes”,
but they generally did what was right. When the evil of slavery
became too entrenched in the economy of the South, tens of thousands
of free white men from the North answered the call to take up arms
against their brothers in the South and fought and died to make all
men free. This was not doing “what was right in their own eyes”
because none of the men who were maimed or died in the American Civil
War wanted to lose their arms and legs or die. It was not profitable
to be permanently disabled or dead, but they did what was right
because it was the right thing to do in God’s sight. It was also
the right thing to do for their children and their descendants who
followed them. If Americans could enslave a whole class of people
just because of a particular shade of their skin, then they could
enslave other classes of people such as those of a different shade of
their skin (as some 21st century American racists are now
openly calling for!) or for any other reason.
The
Southern slave owners in 19th century America (and those
who secondarily benefited from the free labor of the slaves) only did
what was right in their own eyes. It is much more profitable to hire
a slave than to pay the man what his labor is truly worth, so that
seems right in the eyes of sinful people. It is not right in God’s
eyes, however, and we can see that, in a way, the American Civil War
was God’s punishment of the U.S.A. for allowing the evil of slavery
to endure for too long.
Even
worse than the evils of slavery is the evil of abortion which goes on
in the United States to this day (as I write this). God have mercy on
the United States when He calls our people to account for the evil of
abortion. Under slavery, it was neither common nor profitable for
slave owners to murder their slaves or their children. However, the
evil of abortion is that many Americans think they have the “right”
to murder their children so that they can use the money and resources
they should be using to raise their children for their own profit
instead. This was not enacted democratically, but by the illegal fiat
of seven tyrants on the Supreme Court. However in the 46 years since
that wicked decision, no democratically elected President, nor
Congress, nor subsequent Supreme Court, nor Constitutional Convention
has seen fit to right that wrong. As a result, our country is divided
as it has not been since before the Civil War. As the beginning of
God’s judgment, our country is being invaded by illegal aliens and
neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have the will to stop it
because they both have significant factions who want to enslave the
illegals, or otherwise take advantage of them. There are growing
signs elsewhere that the United States is headed towards another
Civil War, or worse. Though that may yet be far from a necessary
conclusion, we still seem to be heading on that path in 2019 as I
write this.
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In the days of Noah,
the people did what pleased them,
but this brought God's condemnation on them.
Noah submitted to God and was saved.
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When
sinners do “what is right in their own eyes” they are sure to
commit evil, wickedness, and sin. That is what the corruption of sin
does to our human nature. The result is anarchy, rather than
benevolence and prosperity. The genius of the American democracy for
the first 175-200 years or so of our nation was a great education
system based on Christian principles. The U.S. Constitution makes
allowances for people’s sinful nature by putting into place checks
and balances on all levels of the federal government. When that works
it does not let any one branch of government (neither the Judicial
branch, nor the Executive branch, nor the Legislative branch) act in
a tyrannical way over the other branches. When the Constitution does
not work (due to corruption or ignorance of those in power, or even
those citizens who participate in the democratic process) then evil
abounds and democracy cannot rescue the people from tyranny because
the power to do what is right has been taken out of the hands of good
people. Plato is quoted as writing, “Good people do not need laws
to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way
around the laws.” This is why we have checks and balances in our
constitution.
God
has certainly blessed the United States in the past 250 years. We
ought not to take that as an endorsement of democracy. God had His
own purpose for our nation, and if we continue to rebel against Him,
then He could easily turn His back on us and let us destroy ourselves
in civil war, or let a foreign power conquer us or otherwise take
control. If God sent the ancient Assyrians to conquer the 10 tribes
of Israel and the survivors were so dispersed and assimilated into
the peoples of where they were sent that they have disappeared as a
distinct people since ancient times, then God would have no problem
doing something similar to an unfaithful America. In that case
democracy will not be our salvation, but it could be our undoing.
There
is much good about the democratic system of society, but it is not in
itself the answer to all problems. It is much better at recognizing
basic human dignity and personal property than socialism or
communism. It is much more free than a monarchy or tyrannical
dictator. It is much safer and prosperous than anarchy. Democracy
gives people a chance to participate in their governance, and lets
them convince others of the rightness of their cause, but without
other controls in place, a democratic system can be turned into
tyranny when a majority of voters act in ignorance or malice, as
sinful people are likely to do.
I
should also note here that democracy is not equivalent to protesting.
Marching for a cause to inform voters about the rightness of your
cause can possibly aid democracy, but it is not necessary for
democracy. Just because people are marching in protest for something,
it doesn’t mean that their cause is worthy or right. Depending on
your cause, the informed voters may reject your cause as being
immoral, or otherwise not good for society. You can protest all you
want, but if your cause is wrong the voters are free to reject your
cause as immoral. That is democracy working as it ought.
The
scriptures are clear that believers always have to fight against evil
and for what is good, right, and proper. Often the fight begins
within ourselves against our own sinful nature. It is not natural for
sinful people to want to do good and work for the benefit of others.
It was not easy for Jesus to win our salvation either, yet He did it.
Though He is the almighty, eternal, creator of the universe, He had
to live a humble life and endure the scorn and hatred of His sinful
people, and let them nail Him to a cross and crucify Him until He
died. But, in doing so, Jesus paid the punishment for our sins, and
won for us life and salvation forever. Fortunately we didn’t get a
vote to say if we wanted that or not. Both Jew and Gentile sinners
turned against Jesus and had Him put to death, but God used that to
win our salvation so that Christ gives life and salvation as a free
gift to all who trust in Jesus to forgive them from their sins. God’s
vote is the only one that counts, but He has elected to save us from
our sin, rather than to punish us as we deserve. This is not a bad
deal at all. It is the best deal in the world. If people insist on
rejecting God’s gift of forgiveness in Christ, then He will let
them condemn themselves to torment in hell, but why would anyone do
that? It is much better to receive the gift of Jesus and all the
eternal blessings which go with it. Whatever we may suffer in this
wicked world is small and fleeting compared to the blessings of
eternal life in paradise with Jesus.
See
also my article on “The Problem with Socialism”
See
also my article on “The Problem with Sexual Politics”
You can read The Republic by Plato online at
http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html
The Chapter on democracy is here:
http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.9.viii.html
