For those who want to escape the rat race.
In Alabama, a judge entering upon the duties of the office must swear the following oath:
“I, _______, solemnly swear (or affirm as the case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Alabama, so long as I continue a citizen thereof; and that I will faithfully and honestly discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, to the best of my ability. So help me God.”
Oaths, lack of respect for them, and failure to understand their importance point toward our country’s problems and perhaps their solution. But first, who is the sovereign of this United States? I don’t mean in the absolute biblical sense; that’s clearly God. I mean in the publicly acknowledged by the people sense and as evidenced by our founding documents.
First question: Does God care? If He rules the world and if He cares about the world that He created, then yes is the obvious answer. He cares about the type of government you erect over your society. He showed that when He lead the Israelites out of Egypt and went about assisting Moses in setting up . . . what? Continue reading “Oaths 2 – Early American Oaths”
Jesus said, “Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” Matthew 5:33-7.
But this warning on how to speak the truth in your personal life, if taken to the extreme and applied to all contexts, even courtrooms and the covenantal contexts, of course, would deny oaths altogether. Jesus was speaking to the misuse of oaths, like “I swear on a stack of bibles that I’m telling you the truth!” Continue reading “Oaths 1 – A Discounted Power”
What does the judicial system have to do with liberty? Much in every way. A judicial system is a microcosm of the society. In the courtroom, parties are at odds, and a judge determines how to resolve the dispute. The judge does more than that. The judge determines punishment, exercising the power of the sword to take property, liberty, and even life from another human being. Therefore, the court can oppress the life of an individual human being, even if the society seeks freedom for its citizens. And how can a society be free if the governmental authorities seek to use the judicial system for its own purposes, to advance its power, to take authority from the individual or groups in society?
But how do you keep it within bounds? How do you keep it from overflowing Continue reading “The Judicial System & Liberty”
But the problem of free-for-all judicial independence versus biblical judicial independence is worse than the typical judge catering to his favored political masters and rendering “judicial independence” opposite to its original meaning. Today’s judicial independence is an out-of-control religious, philosophical, political, jurisprudential anarchy that, if continued, will result in the spiraling out of control of the American experiment in representative democracy. Why?
1. If every appointed or elected judge can interpret the law as he sees fit, then the law is as malleable as clay. Any objective can be reached, given enough time (as the secular evolutionists say of astrophysical, geological, and biological evolution), by the determined progressive jurists, so-called.
Continue reading “The Myth of Secular Judicial Independence – post 2”
Leviticus 18:1-5 describes two aspects to the covenant – the covenantal authority who commands singular loyalty to Himself and to the one law issued by that authority. God, the authority, demands singular obedience to Himself, which is the essence of covenant loyalty to a higher authority. He is the ultimate authority, beyond whom there is no appeal. Therefore, because He is One, His law is also one and not to be mixed and mingled with another’s law. It is not to be taken from nor added to. “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” Deuteronomy 4:2.
Continue reading “Covenant Aspects to Leviticus 18:1-5 & Deuteronomy 1:13-18”
“Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken [is] good [for us] to do. So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brethren, and judge righteously between [every] man and his brother, and the stranger [that is] with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; [but] ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment [is] God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring [it] unto me, and I will hear it. And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.” Deuteronomy 1:13-18.
Continue reading “Biblical Judicial System – Who Shall Issue the Law?”