There is a reason that America is called the Great Experiment. It was founded at a time of great political and religious turmoil. The time of the 1500s-1800s was a time of revolts, secessions, and schisms. Countries, rulers, and churches were all coming and going. I’m welcomed to being fact checked, but as far as I know, every major western country had some kind of revolt/reformation during this time that changed its politics. Most of these were bloody affairs. Europe and the British Isles were not a place of peace or tranquility. People were caught in the middle of it all and wanted a way out. The colonies seemed to be the answer to the problem.
There was a new land of opportunity that was just a few short months journey across an ocean. It wasn’t even off the edge of the world, thank goodness. Everyone wanted a piece of this new land, so every major country sent envoys to claim part of it. England picked a large portion of it right in the middle and got things going. People died, so England sent some more. Eventually, established colonies were thriving in the name of England.
Parliament then decided to change the deal with the colonies, and the colonies didn’t like that very much. So, there was another divide. America won its independence, and a new country was formed. Political philosophy had blossomed into a strongly debated subject during these 300 years, and this greatly benefited the founders of America. They were men of history and religion. They could see how things were not working well around them. They decided it would be best to do something different.
The normal way of setting up countries and governing countries until this point was through men. Men were the vessels that moved and directed states. Whether it was through a monarchy or a democracy, the ruling class of the state could change anything that they wanted. America wanted to do something different. Instead of a man, they wanted a document. They did not want to have a king as the law. They wanted to have the law as king. The Constitution was born. All branches of the government are subject to it and are administers of it. It is the king. Each state also has a Constitution that comes under the federal Constitution. Each city can also have its own laws, but the laws cannot go against the state or federal Constitutions. Each man of government is subject to the Constitution.
This is radically different than most other types of governments. There are shadows of it in other countries like in the United Kingdom which also has its own Constitution. It just took the UK more time to get to the point that they are at. The US started this way by using the UK as an example.
So, what does all this mean for the individual citizen of America? What does it look like in real life to have a document as king? It gives real limitations to government. An example of this: in Washington state, a few weeks ago, a new law was put into place called HB1240. This law outlaws the sale of many popular semi-automatic firearms. There is a problem with this. The second amendment of the federal Constitution prohibits this and Article 1, section 24 of the state Constitution actually has more protection of firearms right than the federal Constitution. What this means is that HB1240 is not a valid law because it goes against both Constitutions.
Now, courts have always been slow. That is why it is in the Constitution to have quick court hearings. It was not uncommon for prisoners to rot in jail as they waited for their trial in old European countries. It is the courts job to make sure that laws are constitutional. If they are not constitutional, they cannot be enforced upon the people. The executive branches should not enforce them. When it comes to HB1240, all of the local police that I have heard from are not enforcing it and will not enforce it because it is unconstitutional. I have yet to hear from a state patrol officer if they will enforce it. It is their duty to not enforce it.
What about the citizen though? Should they follow an unconstitutional law? The short answer is no because it is not a law. The government itself says so. It is actually obeying the government to not follow unconstitutional laws. This is why it is the duty of a Christian American to defy laws that are unconstitutional. Because it is every citizens duty to uphold the constitution. We are obeying our government by not obeying these unjust laws. This is the system that our forefathers died for.
Now, what if a law passes that is constitutional, and we don’t like it? What about that? Like hypothetically, if a legislator went through the process of adding to the US Constitution an amendment that said that everyone had to paint their house yellow, what, biblically, should the Christians response be? There is no reason behind this law, yet 2/3 of the populace voted to have the laws of the country changed. Should an individual obey this law? The answer is yes. This is a law that was dutifully passes and changed the fabric of the country. The Constitution has been changed. It has been altered, in this case stupidly, but it is now supreme. It is to be obeyed.
Now, some people/Christians might say that it should not be obeyed because the law is arbitrary, or it is outside the bounds of government. The government is meant to protect the good and punish the bad, and anything outside of that is not legitimate government. This is often called sphere sovereignty. They would claim that sphere sovereignty is the way that God set up the world and is the only right way to rule the world. I do see the nuance that they see in scripture. I have a problem with it though, it again negates God’s sovereignty in all these matters. Fathers, husbands, and governors would all cease to be these things if they do not follow God’s laws. Yet in the case of fathers and husbands, it is clear in scripture that bad fathers and husbands are still to be obeyed in order to win them to Christ. If that is the case with them, why would it be different for governors? This is not logically consistent. I see sphere sovereignty as the way that things work best. It is the way that society should be set up. Yet it is not a divine law that gives men the right to defy any of these biblically ordained offices. I would say that no Christian should use sphere sovereignty as their reasoning for defiance. It should be used as the guidelines and principles on what to vote upon and how to live.
This is why, I believe, that America was set up the way that it was. It was to give good men a way to get out from under bad government. It is orchestrated so that it will self-correct. It is the duty of each citizen to protect this great country that we are in. This is done first through education and second through good men. Education first because good men must know. Good men second because we cannot stand idly by for our government to corrode under our watch. It is the duty of each generation to stand firm and protect what has been built. America is only one generation away from falling apart. It is always only one generation away. Do not let your generation be the one to lose this great country.
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