the road less travelled
Welcome to part two of this series looking at a Biblical theology of government and certain applications to our current cultural moment. For links to the other installments, see the list below.
In today’s episode, we are looking at the second principle regarding the limited authority of civil governments.
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Last week we began to work our way through the Westminster Confession of Faith. The first section is entitled Of Holy Scripture, and today we continue our journey through this section.
II. Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testament, which are these:
Read MoreProfessor John Gibson of the School of Accounting, Finance and Economics at Waikato University has released a couple of interesting posts on NZCPR (here and here) highlighting his research into the NZ lockdowns.
Below I’ve reproduced the three figures from his data, which can be found here.
The Spectator Australia has a great piece detailing the COVID stats there. I recommend you read it.
A couple of stats to whet your appetite.
Read the whole article. It is a fascinating read, and there is only commentary at the end. Most of the piece is just plain statistics.
Read MoreSome of you may be unaware of the nefarious attempts to destroy New Zealand democracy through a model of 50:50 cogovernance based on race. If you are unaware, you really need to check out Hobson’s Pledge, a group that has been maligned by the usual suspects as being racist for…..not being racist and wanting a true democracy where power is not based on one’s ethnic lineage.
Below I am republishing their latest email in full. I suggest getting on their newsletter list and supporting them.
The three waters are drinking water, wastewater and stormwater. The Three Waters Plan (that you may have seen advertisements for) is a tricky co-governance plan for central government to get control of our assets which are managed by our local councils. After more than 60 iwi-only meetings, the Government and tribal leaders have divided New Zealand into four massive, unwieldy zones. Each zone will take ownership and control of our water and water-related infrastructure.
Who will be in control?
Each zone will have a mega agency, managed 50:50 by tribal and council appointees on a 12-member board. For instance, the 20 local authorities in the South Island entity will have only six seats in total, despite contributing all infrastructure. One tribe there will have the other six seats. Those tribal representatives will, in effect, have a veto over what your community gets and pays as 75% of the board must agree on all decisions.
Is co-governance a fair structure?
Based on the performance of existing co-governance entities, no they’re not. The public representatives have nothing at stake, so choose an easy life, taking their pay while agreeing to whatever the tribal appointees demand. And demand they do, often in an intimidating way.
How does this affect you?
Each water agency will decide what services you get or not, how well pipes are maintained or not, how quickly repairs are done or not, and where new infrastructure will be built or not. Most importantly, they will decide how much you pay, whether you receive any benefit or not. Private landowners, businesses and farms will be vulnerable to tribal agendas and conflicts of interest.
Will the board be answerable to you?
No. Board members are not elected. There is no way to challenge them, to make them accountable, to avoid conflicts of interest, or to remedy poor decision-making or damage done.
Will councils be paid for assets we ratepayers funded?
No. The Government will borrow money to settle any Council debt on existing water infrastructure, but they won’t buy the asset. They’ll simply confiscate billions of dollars of value, paid for by generations of ratepayers. Councils will no longer have water infrastructure as an asset to use as security for borrowing. This will undermine council viability.
The Government claims improved water services. Is this credible?
No it’s not. Independent experts have reviewed government’s estimates of cost reductions and say the figures are “founded on unsound evidence and faulty analysis” (Castalia) and “should not be relied on to project actual expenditure, revenue and pricing outcomes” (Farrier).
Are councils in favour of Three Waters?
Councils have less than two weeks to decide. Many are saying “NO” to Three Waters, many are so far sitting on the fence, some are in favour. Cash-strapped councils are being pressured by financial inducements from central government to support the confiscation.
Do councils have to consult with their communities?
Councils are legally bound to consult ratepayers over major decisions on water. Unfortunately, the Government’s determination suggests they may pass special legislation to nullify this democratic requirement.
Why do some call this a silent ‘revolution’?
It fits. The Government’s Three Waters proposal involves the dismantling of our democracy, the denial of access by individuals to decision-makers, and the loss of accountability to affected communities.
YOU CAN HELP –
NOTE: Three Waters is part of the He Puapua plan to set up two governments for New Zealand, one by Maori for Maori, and the other, a fully bicultural government for everyone else. This system would be subject to a tribal monitoring committee.
On Sundays we have been highlighting old posts from the archives for the new readers who have recently joined us. Today we suggest you take a look at Whose Responsibility where we muse on the penchant governments have for controlling education.
“[The] church is more than the local building and congregation. The term is closer in meaning to the kingdom of God. It has reference to the called-out people of God in all their work together for the Lord.”1 This means that the structures of the church institution are never to be a limiting factor in extending the reign of God and pursuing the work of the kingdom – the work of ordained clergy and elders in their institutional role does not exhaust the calling of church, leaving the laity to merely ‘secular’ tasks. Neither is the church to become self-serving by becoming a wealth and power center for its own sake. The church is to be a servant institution that equips, empowers and sends out every Christian in terms of God’s glorious kingdom purposes.
Joseph Boot in The Mission of God
1. Rushdoony, Systematic Theology, vol 2, 670
I received an email from a reader a week or so ago and in one sentence he put his finger on a feeling that has been growing in my mind. He wrote, “In my lifetime there has never been a time where it feels like there are so many dark forces around us; it feels like we are in precursor stages to something much worse.” It certainly feels like we are on the edge of something. And when I say “something”, I do not mean pink cupcakes with chocolate sprinkles. More the kind of something that Gandalf refers to when sitting with Pippin on the walls of Minas Tirith and says, “It’s the deep breath before the plunge.” Ever since the fall of Adam, there has been constant warfare between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Sometimes it’s a Cold War and hostilities are not open, but every now and then open war breaks upon us, whether we would have it or not.
Perhaps those of us thinking like this are of a naturally pessimistic nature and we would think this about any time that we live in. Maybe history will show us to be utterly and completely wrong. Perhaps we are misreading the signs of the times. But I don’t think so. I think that we are like the dreamer who has awoken with relief from a nightmare only to realise that the disaster of his nightmare is real and imminent. If we are right, what are we to do? What is the battle plan? Where ought we to focus our efforts? Here are things I think urgently need addressing by Christians and the church in New Zealand.
1. We must acknowledge our individual and corporate sin as the reason we find ourselves in this current situation and repent by making changes where Christ in his Word calls for change. (Part 1A and 1B).
2. We must commit ourselves to dependence on our king. This means prayer, particularly for wisdom and courage and a renewed appetite for His Word, particularly looking at how God’s people of old have responded to times like these. (Parts 2A, 2B and 2C)
3. We must confront the Church’s unholy dualism and learn once more to apply the lordship of Christ to all things. (Parts 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D)
4. We must develop and practise an evangelism that not only calls for personal salvation, but Christ’s lordship in every sphere of life. In other words we must disciple the nations to obey everything that Christ taught and call unbelievers to recognise Christ’s kingship on earth. (Part 4)
5. We must seek to build a Christian counter-culture. and in that attempt, embrace Christian truths that make the world cringe.
6. We ought to prioritise Christian marriage and family as one of the most powerful methods of resistance
7. We must protect our children while we train them for the day they join us in the battle.
8. We must pray for and seek out leaders who understand the times, encourage (literally make or put in courage) timid leaders and challenge the compromised.
9. We must prioritise obedience to our king over wealth, comfort and respectability. We must be prepared to suffer for holding to the truth.
10. We ought to put our hope in the sovereignty of the reigning Christ who is subduing all his enemies. This is our Christian hope. We know how the story ends. He wins. And since this is so, we should fight like we can actually win, and at the very least, go down swinging
No doubt clearer thinkers will see other essential ingredients in our resistance. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on this. In future posts, we will explore each of these in a little more detail.
Here in New Zealand, we have once again been subjected to a nationwide lockdown. Churches are closed, the nation is on house arrest, and you can only go to work if the government deems your work essential.
I am convinced that one of the premier problems facing the Christian church is a disgraceful complicity with the idolatry of the state and a woefully lacking theology of government.
By the end of this series, I want to make the suggestion that churches and church leaders are morally obliged to disregard our government’s lockdown orders and reopen the church as soon as possible. But before we get there, we must lay some Biblical foundations. Foundations that have been eroded for decades and are about to cause a collapse of the entire house.
What I want to do here is lay a ground-up foundation for Biblical principles regarding our theology of government and then make application to our current cultural moment. My hope is that we might all be able to take a step back and reconsider some of our assumptions about the role of government and our obligations before God in relation to government edicts.
Across this series, we will look at three core principles and then some applications regarding our current cultural moment. here is where we are heading:
This first installment explores principle one. Enjoy.
Read MoreCheck out this article on our freedoms and the dangers to them at the moment. Kurt Mahlburg writes:-
As I have elsewhere argued, vaccine passports are an ethical disaster. They pose an unprecedented threat to personal liberty; they replace informed consent with coercion; they assume no reasonable grounds for declining vaccination; they create medical apartheid; and they open the door to untold medical control.
To all the Australians reading this: think about the future you want to leave for coming generations. Think what our nation’s social fabric will look like in a few decades if speech continues to be silenced and the State takes mastery over your bodily integrity.
Speak up while you can and remind others of the liberties we once prized, bled and died for. Because forgotten freedoms fade fast.