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There have been some good discussions going on about theonomy lately on Twitter, and all about the intertoobz. Theonomy is, “a hypothetical Christian form of government in which society is ruled by divine law.”
First let me tell you, you could totally trust me to run a Christian theocracy. Seriously, because the first thing I’d do is balance the power, create three branches of government, and set up a process for a redress of grievances. It would be heavily infused with all those Christian values like mercy, freedom, grace, and justice. Yep, my Christian theonomy looks a whole lot like America already does, but just for bragging rights here, slightly less flawed and a tiny bit more effective. Y’all should vote me Queen of the world. I’ll have everything ship shape in no time.
Conversely however, there are some people, some religionists on Twitter, actively promoting theonomy, people who make me go, Oh heck no! In fact, where’s my second amendment rights? I’m suddenly all about those! We need to form a militia, pronto, and build a big wall to keep those fools away from all that is good and decent. I wouldn’t put these lost souls in charge of a chicken coup, let alone people. They’re all gleefully trying to figure out who they get to stone first and excited about their Christian version of sharia law.
Also, they are really egocentric, boorish, and rude.
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Anyway, it occurs to me that socialism and theonomy both have a lot in common. On the surface they can sound great, the solution to all that ails us, a better way of doing things. And they would be, if everyone was like me! I kid you not, chuckling here, but that is not false humility speaking, that is years of being out in the wilderness learning at the Lord’s feet. I understand the nature of power very well and the truth of human nature, too. I could run a beautiful and benevolent theocracy or even a socialist utopian society……right up until somebody figured out how to behead me and seize all my power and authority.
That’s always the tricky part, trying to keep your head.
I talk to a lot of people just beguiled about socialism. It has a certain kind of appeal and I get that. Shouldn’t we have a more equitable system that fairly distributes the wealth and opportunity? Absolutely! The problem being, people. People are totally depraved. Some people are offended by the concept of total depravity, but I don’t mean it in terms of “you’re a bad person.” I mean it in terms of, people aren’t always so good and our theocracy or socialistic system can only be as good as the weakest link. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
So a good thought exercise is to basically just take your egocentric, boorish, and rude theocrats and imagine them in charge of your socialism. Keep in mind that what they’re doing right now on Twitter is fantasizing about who they get to stone to death first. Also, how to keep women and minorities in check, and how to make sure they get more power and authority than anyone else. I’m deadly serious, that’s what they do for fun and recreation, imagine themselves amassing power. It’s enough to give anyone nightmares.
It really doesn’t matter if you’ve got a socialist system or a theocracy, with those kind of lunkheads in charge, we’re all doomed. They are totally lacking self awareness, have no idea what sacrificial love is, and they are actually writing long screeds entitled, “the besetting sin of empathy.”
Those lunkheads are lunkheads indeed, but they are not an aberration.
Again, this is not satire, this is simply the truth, telling it as it is. Socialism is a secular kind of theocracy. Every. Single. Time. All through history! Each and every time it has been tried it has been a complete disaster. People who want socialism to work often have a good heart and absolutely no awareness of human nature, at all. Many, many people get caught up in this deception, but it is a total deception. Maybe if you can just imagine putting the worst religionist in charge of everything you can get some idea of the danger there. Most socialist systems actually ban religion, for rather chilling reasons. They are the “god,” and they can’t risk any competition, any threat to their power.
Socialism is a secular kind of theocracy but it’s still a, “theocracy.”
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What you might ask, do butterflies have to do with any of this? Well, Pastor Wilson, theocrat, wrote the usual boring, privileged, conservative diatribe against socialism, the one that always says, “Socialists are consumed by envy and falsely think God is stingy.” No, they don’t! They KNOW man is stingy. They KNOW the privileged pinch off the abundance of God, just to try keep it away from the people they have deemed unworthy.
They can and they do, every single day.
We are stingy with our love, stingy with our finances, stingy with our mercy, stingy with our faith, and exceedingly stingy with our power. We are a stiff necked, tight fisted, stingy people. We’re very noble and virtuous about it however, like when we donate that packet of expired sugar free vanilla pudding that’s been in our pantry for ten years, to the food bank. We think we’re just the butterfly’s boots when we make such a sacrifice.
I don’t envy the rich, the privileged, or the powerful, I really believe what the Bible says, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Why?? Because when our tight fisted, mean spirited, stingy little hearts are comfortable and privileged, we often grow so fat, so prideful, we can just dismiss the suffering of those around us as nothing more than other people’s sinful envy and our own twinges of empathy, just a besetting sin.
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See, there's this thing called biology... 
All folks like Bernie and AOC and even Warren have to do is open their mouths and I know that their brand of socialism is something out of a keystone cops for Marxists movie — absolute foolishness— two older rich folks and one young one who refuses to pay her dues— holding on to their money while spreading around yours and mine —for the good of the state don’t you know 🙄
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Ha! The “Keystone cops for Marxists” movie, good one.
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I agree about the total depravity, but I don’t think Norway and Sweden are absolute disasters.
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Ha! We’re all depraved, I tell ya. But people who really want to understand need to explore the myth of Nordic socialism. Those countries are fairly center right, economically free as in they practice capitalism, and their prosperity began long before their social welfare programs. People didn’t become prosperous and free because the government gave them benefits. There’s a huge difference between high taxation with social benefits and the government just controlling the means of production and distribution.
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I mainly mean, “socialism” is not that obvious or clearly-defined a term these days. People called the Affordable Care Act “socialism”. LOL. As for controlling the means of production and distribution … what I am mainly aware of is that someone does, and it is not me. That may be a good thing … anyone who saw my kitchen would probably think that.
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Exactly. Norway, in some ways, has greater free enterprise for businesses than the US (for instance, no Nordic country has minimum wage laws). That’s why their social programs work. But there is no socialist running for office in the US that’s willing to give businesses that much free reign. As the Prime Minister of Denmark told Bernie Sanders, “Stop calling us Socialists!”
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I love the story of the college professor who announced on the first day that his would be a socialist method of grading. After the first exam, he took all the grades, averaged them, and gave everyone the same grade (I’m guessing about a “C”). Predictably, the hard-working students decided it wasn’t worth studying hard and the lazy ones got lazier. By the end of the semester everyone had failed, but I’m guessing they had learned something valuable, after experiencing a first-hand example of the results of socialism when humans (Who knew?) are subject to human nature.
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Ha! Right?! I once organized a soccer game at the park with a bunch of kids. They were cranky, arguing, so being a good mom I said, “Listen, everybody’s a winner, we’re just going to enjoy the game, not even keep score!” They were instantly defeated, deflated, in total despair, like, “Why bother? What’s the point?” It was kind of amusing, but I realized that we people have a need to compete, to win, to experience a sense of accomplishment. We actually played for a bad of Cheetohs. That’s all it took to right the situation, just suggest that the winners would get the bag of Cheetohs. 🙂
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I don’t have to imagine what living under a hypothetical theonomy looks like. I’m pretty sure I’m living under one.
Our govt worships at the altar of social justice and Trudeau is our high priest, don’t ya know?
EVERYTHING is about social justice and giving greater voice to minority voices – which is actually bloody great! – except that by elevating the minority voice above the, uh, *majority* you’re actually creating a new system of oppression. And you’re certainly well outside the bounds of democracy.
Why does my government keep making decisions that are unpopular with the people? They’re going hard on some climate policies that are crippling us economically, and people are getting tired of it but when we push back, the govt just doubles down. They are about as unpopular as they have ever been as a government and its only a matter of time before the House of Commons brings a vote of no confidence, and we WILL have a change of government, make no mistake.
So why do they cling to their self destructive policies?
It’s their religion.
And it’s a cult.
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Exactly! Well said. I like what you said about elevating the minority voice being a great thing, unless you are elevating the minority opinion above the majority and enforcing mandates. That is oppression. A bit ironic, but the socialist notion of the “common good” applies here. You don’t forsake the common good in favor of a tiny minority of people.
I’m sure I’m biased, but I happen to be fond of America where we have a democratic republic. It’s deeply flawed sometimes, but it is a system of checks and balances, where we don’t have majority mob rule like in a genuine democracy. We are a republic which helps to assure the minority opinion still has a voice.
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Yeah, Canada is technically a dominion (though no longer part of The Dominion) of provinces and territories. Provinces have their own governments (like states do) but the federal govt has direct jurisdiction over the territories. The federal government plays a stronger role in the governing of our country than it does in yours. Personally, I think it’s a greasy way to govern. They are never content with just a *little* authority over our lives, these people want it ALL. Doesn’t matter which side of the aisle they’re on – the system of Canadian government itself is ripe for corruption, and I’m not sure there’s any way to fix that.
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I watched The Family on Netflix a few weeks ago. Disturbing the way ‘Christians’ seek power. Anyway, among all the things I learned (and I figure it was not exactly the fairest most balanced of reports, but enlightening for sure, even if a little deep into conspiracy theories….). Now I know where the National Prayer Breakfast comes from, what its all about. Makes sense to me. There is no way such an event is just benign.
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Ahh, I haven’t seen “the Family,” but I do know a tiny bit about it and some of the conspiracy theories.
Power can be very seductive. I remember a devotional, it must have been a typo or an error, but the inspirational quote of the day was Matthew 4:9, “All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me.” A bit funny because that is actually satan tempting Jesus with the kingdoms of the world, so probably not an idea we should embrace.
Power in the right hands, used wisely, can be a beautiful thing, though.
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What is theocracy/nomy?
Or which kind are we talking about?
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Ha! Actually that’s both the question, the problem, and the answer. I can pray, “thy kingdom come” thinking of Jesus at the head of the table. Anything with Jesus at the top is going to be glorious! But kingdoms run by men? Not always so good. 🙂
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In the Kingdom of God, the King has taken up a cross. His subjects have also, and they follow….
You don’t have to fear a man on a cross.
…unless you’re Rome… and maybe a few leading Jews.
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If absolute power corrupted absolutely, the God would be absolutely corrupt because he has absolute power. The reality is that power does not corrupt but allows us to express the corruption that already exists within us. Imagine that Hitler never gained political power but spent his life working for a company that was owned by a Jew. The hatred of Jews that led to the holocaust would still exist in him but would be hidden, perhaps even from him.
We may think that if we had power we would exercise it for good, and perhaps we would for a while, but little by little the corruption that exists within each of us would show itself and perhaps we would end up being as bad as or worse than Hitler was.
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That’s a good point, Clyde. The condition of our heart and our spiritual health is everything. We’ve seen a lot of famous people who have it all, wealth, talent, good looks, but they also have addictions, depression, suicide, all sorts of problems, and they self destruct.
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@Clyde
Think a bit more about that old quote.
You say: “The reality is that power does not corrupt but allows us to express the corruption that already exists within us.” That is true, but what happens when we are tempted by great power? We are tempted sin to protect and even increase that power.
Do we just sin once? No, and every time we sin the next sin becomes easier. Why? Because our conscience becomes less tender. That is why I chuckled when I saw this line: “First let me tell you, you could totally trust me to run a Christian theocracy.” Undoubtedly, IB offered up that line tongue in cheek. Still, if I were Pastor Doug Wilson, I would go into hiding if IB ever becomes Queen of the World.
What would save IB from temptation? Giving up power ASAP! Appealing to Jesus for help? Well, it is probably for the best that we are unlikely to know the answer. We have a difficult enough time with the power we give our presidents.
When the Hebrews lived under the rule of Judges (the Book of Judges), God chose their rulers. Were any those people so morally upright they did not suffer from the temptation to abuse their power? The Bible does not say, but it certainly gives us examples of those who abused their power.
God also chose Joseph to rule Egypt and King David to rule Israel. Were even those two beyond temptation? No.
As Madison observed, because men are not angels we need a government. At the same time, because men are not angels, we have to structure that government to keep the men who government from abusing the powers we give them.
We only have one good solution, Jesus. He is our King, and He is the only one fit for the job.
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LOL! Tom, I had some fun pondering Doug Wilson’s fate if I where queen of the world. Alas, I still think he does fairly well in that scenario. Much to my sorrow, of course. 🙂
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Well said, IB. It is true that socialism and theonomy can be two sides of the same totalitarian coin. I’m all for theocracy, as long as it’s not run by people. Especially, by those Christians who think we should have it! 🙂
People who want socialism and their brand of theocracy don’t know how to live in pluralistic culture where people don’t think the same as them.
And I totally agree, we have the best form of human-run government right now with our US Constitution. As much as people try to screw it up, the checks and balances keep us from descending into the abyss. Our founding forefathers were geniuses in this regard. They didn’t trust anybody! LOL!
As Churchill said, “Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…”
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Human nature is not a static concept- human nature depends on the material conditions of your environment. This is a flawed argument against socialism.
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Actually- I’m doubtful that many here can define socialism, really, or provide historical examples of proletarian movements that weren’t undermined by foreign influences.
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Socialism is tremendously dangerous. I am confounded at the allure it holds for young people.
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