Righteous Airs by Miles Justus
“[…] [P]olice also need to be greatly limited in being the primary agency that ‘enforces’ government regulations of activities such as front-yard gardening and unlicensed lemonade sales. For centuries, alleged nuisances such as these were handled not by police citations and regulatory management, but through the civil law.
If a front yard garden is truly a nuisance to neighbors, let those neighbors pursue the matter in civil court and prove they have endured damages as a result of the neighbor’s gardening. If a temporary lemonade stand is truly damaging to the community, let the neighbors sue little girls in civil court. We’ll then quickly find out just how much of a priority it really is for the community to stop the sale of unlicensed lemonade. Sending the police to enforce every little law against every little thing that mildly annoys us takes resources away from real crime with real costs in terms of property and human lives.
After all, as Michael Giuliano has shown, the initiation of legal action by government agencies — rather than by the victim — is a modern innovation in the English-speaking world. Prior to this, police action was limited by the presence of an actual victim. Needless to say, during this period, lemonade stands — or their 18th-century equivalent —were not a priority for law enforcement officials or anyone else.” – Ryan McMaken,
In this article, McMaken accurately describes the motivation for law enforcement agencies to focus on enforcing non-violent and victimless regulations rather than pursuing the investigation of violent crimes and property crimes, in other words, crimes with actual victims. In the passage quoted above, he points out that many of “alleged nuisances” that fall under regulatory ordinances today, and are enforced by police agencies, were historically handled by civil courts in which a member of the community had prove that the nuisance in question had caused damages. McMaken points out that pursuing these nuisances as police actions, rather than in a civil court, benefits law enforcement agencies, district attorneys, and even judges because the sheer number of violations and cases allows them to maintain an appearance of being “tough on crime.” This helps them get re-elected and secure more funding either through the taxes or seized assets.
But does this system persist simply because most people are ignorant of the motivations and how it works? Or do the citizens themselves benefit somehow?
Unfortunately, America’s cultural Christianity is all too happy to perpetuate this system, and all too willing to perpetuate a faulty reading of Romans 13 in the process. Why is this so? Simply put, just as the state agencies are able to appear tough on crime by pursuing the prosecution of nuisances, the cultural Christian is able to maintain an air of righteousness by pointing to laws that they support, such as blue laws that prevent the sale of alcohol before noon on Sunday, or even so-called public order laws like speed limits and licensing regulations. They follow the rules, therefore they are righteous.
Anti-vice laws (such as prohibition of narcotics and prostitution) are supported with the general sentiment that a “Christian nation” should not “legalize sin.” No thought is given, of course, to find where in the Scriptures we are commanded to criminalize sin in the first place.
America’s cultural Christians are also rarely willing to question the vast maze of regulations and rules that have no bearing on personal righteousness. It is not immoral, or a sin, in and of itself to drive a vehicle without having a piece of plastic with your picture on it. It is not immoral, or a sin, in and of itself to braid, shampoo, dye, or cut hair without having gained permission from some other person first, let alone from a state agency. And even though these rules and regulations often prey upon and unduly burden the weak and the poor, nothing is done to change the situation. We are even willing to let the State interfere with both our fellow Christians and our heathen neighbors in their moral obligations to put food on their family’s table, and if any Christian dares question this, Romans 13 is thrown in their face as if it is some decree from on high that declares the State an infallible, divine being.
All of this plays into the lamentable mindset of many Christians in America, who are unwilling to question police officers when they kill other citizens. “Well, if he hadn’t broken the law, he’d still be alive,” is the general sentiment. American Christians are largely supportive of criminalizing sin, and allowing police officers to walk (or drive) the streets and act as judge, jury, and executioner of every drunk, pothead, prostitute, or unlicensed driver. They are able to claim righteousness, not just in the fact that they themselves have never been drunk or fornicated, but they can also claim righteousness in the fact that they are willing to support the use of force to prevent others from doing so as well.
Deep down, our sinful human nature wants to perpetuate the State’s role as the regulator of our behavior, because our sinful human nature is unwilling to handle nuisances, grievances, and sins in our brothers in the manner prescribed by our rightful King:
“But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” (Matthew [5:39]-41)
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (Matthew [18:15]-17)
“When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!” (1 Corinthians 6:1-7)
Granted, these verses mostly speak of handling disputes and wrongs inside the Church. However, if Jesus teaches not to resist the evil one, and if Christian brothers are not supposed to settle their disputes and wrongs before a secular court or heathens, where do we derive the authority to force upon others our understanding of righteousness and to use the state as a proxy? If we are not to use the secular law against our brother, we should neither use the secular law as a tool against the heathen.
One more verse applies: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1) Jesus continues, and explains that people who seek to have their righteousness and good works publicly praised have already received their reward, and will not receive one from the Father. This is the heart of the matter: America’s cultural Christianity has tied the idea of righteousness before God so very closely with the State in order to make our supposed righteousness visible to others. The State and the law has become a tool by which we prove to the world how righteous we are. If anyone runs afoul of the State, and dies in the process, well, they should have been righteous, too.
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Miles Justus is a contributor to AnarchoChristian.com
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