Recent Comments On Government

I recently responded to an article about the government's role and the best kind of government within a society. Here are some of those my comments.

America is not a democracy, we are a Constitutional Republic. Judeo-Christian principles based upon the natural law is the basis upon which the United States Constitution was founded, which is the supreme law of the land. The so-called separation of church & state which is spat about constantly states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." This was put in place to protect the church from the state, not vice versa.

A pure democracy does not work because it totally neglects those who are of the minority opinion and leads to totalitarianism or theocracy, i.e. Iran. Capitalism if left exclusively to market forces places value solely upon what the worker contributes to the company, and neglects the individual value and worth of each individual. Communism denies all freedom to individuals and creates mass terror, i.e. Nazi Germany. Socialism promotes the redistribution of wealth and does not respect an individual to better himself based upon his own individual efforts; all work and accomplishment is for the betterment of the state.

In a constitutional republic, citizens are not governed by the majority of the people but by the rule of law. Constitutional republics are a deliberate attempt to diminish the threat of mobocracy thereby protecting dissenting individuals and minority groups from the tyranny of the majority by placing checks on the power of the majority of the population.

There is no perfect form of government. Until Christ returns we will forever be arguing about what is the best way to rule and govern. However, no matter what form of government is adopted it must respect individual rights. The sum of the whole society is not greater than each individual member. The family is the basis upon which all societies are founded, therefore the familial unit must be respected and allowed to grow and flourish.

Check out The Acton Institute for info about Church teaching on economic policies and government’s role.