For argument sake, let’s propose the following. I have passed a new law saying:

1. I am the government.
2. I can drive whatever speed I like.

If a cop pulls me over for speeding, I will pull out my law book and quote to him, “I can drive whatever speed I like.” Of course, he’d have a good chuckle and write me a ticket. He has a gun, and just as importantly, the willingness to kill me.

The knee jerk reaction of 99.9% of people reading that would say my government is not valid. But why? Why is the state of Colorado law valid, and my government and law invalid?

Isn’t making up a new government exactly what the state of Colorado (or whatever government at whatever level) has done? A group of guys got together and said, “We are the new government.”

Then, they say something like, “Let’s write a consitution! The constitution will define our territory and we’ll make up out of thin air a process for new laws to be passed. Somewhere in the law or the constitution, we’re going to have to say that we have the right to apply our laws to the people within our boundaries. If someone comes along and asks whether we have the right to do this, we’re going to be able to quote to them from our laws saying that we do have the right.”

So, they’d say the law applies, because the law says it applies. This is circular reasoning, and isn’t a valid answer. If I said Islam is true because the Quran says so, you’d say that’s circular, and you’d be right to reject my answer.

I’ll put forth a few devil’s advocate answers to the question about why the government of Colorado laws might be valid.

The laws of the government of Colorado are valid because:

1. They control the territory defined as Colorado.
2. The government has been in existence in its current form since 1876.
3. Anyone who enters the territory of Colorado agrees to abide by the law or face the consequences.
4. Government agents have guns and are more than willing to use them. They rule by force.
5. The Bible says we should obey the civil magistrates (Romans 13:1-7).

Numbers 1 and 4 are really the same. Forcing or threatening people doesn’t really make laws or a government valid, though it can be very effective.

Number 2 is not really a valid answer. It’s possible that the government has been invalid since its inception, or it has become invalid at some point. So, 1, 2 and 4 aren’t good answers.

Number 3 is a little bit more interesting. At least it adds a layer for us to peel away. There are people in Colorado who don’t agree to submit to the laws of Colorado. (If none of the other five million, there is at least me.) Why does the law apply to those who don’t agree to submit to Colorado law? And you’re back to the original question. Answer number 3 is just fluff.

Number 5 is really the only answer that would come close to being a good answer. However, if you’re going to claim number 5, you’d have to see whether the government qualifies as being valid by the standard of Scripture. I’ll tell you that it fails miserably.

This answer leads to a conundrum for government, because they explicitly reject that they might rule by biblical standards. They have rejected the Bible and Christianity as possible sources of guidance for government. THEY have rejected the only possible reason for their validity.

The only valid government is one that enforces God’s law as prescribed in God’s law. If they rule by God’s law, then they have God’s blessing in forcing people to do certain very limited things.

While I may not have covered every possible response to the question of why the government of Colorado is valid, I assure you there are no valid answers other than the biblical answer.

My made-up government, consisting of one citizen, is more valid than the state of Colorado, assuming I adopt God’s laws. They have no God-given or moral authority. All they have is the threat of force.

Oh, good news, I just made my wife and kids citizens as well, so now my government has 5 citizens. Care to join me? You might want to check out what God’s law says, but it is beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMhNFGzqtIQ

I’m a little bit surprised they even have the ability to arrest him for such a silly thing.

How long are we going to put up with this kind of behavior? I wish all the people protesting the cops could actually spend their time doing something useful, like working to cut the budget of police or something specific.

If there were 50 cops there in LA that June, 1989 day. Not ONE stood up to the others and said, “We shouldn’t be abusing these people.” That would be the bare minimum. Not only that, not ONE said, “We’re on the wrong side. We shouldn’t be enforcing man’s law when it contradicts God’s law.” Out of 50 cops that day, zero showed themselves to be good cops.

Zero out of 50 is a terrible percentage. Furthermore, below is the story of a good cop, and how that got him fired, because good cops can’t be tolerated on the police force, at least in Las Vegas. I’ll admit there might be good cops, but you must admit the evidence is pointing to a small percentage.

I’m shocked that at least two Christian cops in the course of this conversation [This post was a comment I made in the course of a Facebook conversation discussing the first video.] can’t bring themselves to say that the cops in the video were evil. What is the deal? What have they bought into that makes them so biased? I’ve asked them both directly to denounce those cops. This is a private forum where their fellow officers won’t ever know what they say, and they still don’t have the courage or the common sense to bring themselves to say anything bad about these other cops from 26 years ago.

How will these guys ever have the courage to actually stand up to their fellow cops in real life when they can’t call evil what it is on Facebook? If they want to see a bad cop, they can look in the mirror. I hope they prove me wrong and come out to strongly denounce what police across the country did to Operation Rescue. But I’m not holding my breath.

We live in a country under God’s judgment and generally run by ungodly perverts. Cops enforce the evil, pagan laws in this country, and I have Christians telling me I’m the one that has to assume a cop is good. It seems to me they need to start showing themselves to be good. When magistrates (which includes cops) in this country start standing up to evil, maybe then we can start identifying some good cops. Until then, the good cops are so few in number that they must keep a low profile, are under discipline, or already fired or quit.

I haven’t received a lot of feedback on these ideas. Debate and conversation is a good way to test ideas to see if they stand up. In response to this post, here are a few of the responses from Facebook.

1. “That is a VERY short sighted and offensive meme and corresponding blog post. There are brothers and possibly sisters in Christ in this group who serve the public in law enforcement. Perhaps the lack of response to that blog post should give a clue. How is what you say about fellow image bearers edifying?”

I think it’s very edifying to  claim that it is inadvisable for Christians to be police, assuming it’s true. Of course, no argument against the proposition was offered by this older woman.

2. “Maybe ‘no good cops with jurisdiction near abortion clinics.’ Otherwise, I agree completely.”

I certainly agree that that is all the article proves. But, you could go through and show how there are enough unjust laws in this country that no jurisdiction would be left with an excuse. This country has gone so pagan that I don’t see how a Christian can remain a cop unless they are there to work against the whole system.

3. “This was truly an awful article. I feel sorry for you.”

Maybe this guy is a cop? He never returned to offer any further brilliant insights.  Unfortunately five people liked this vapid comment.

4. “I think the writer makes a great point.”

I can’t help but agree.

5. “I would just ask that everyone be respectful during this. Let me explain, I live in Australia and I worked as a Police Officer for a while. Through this time I never saw a conflict between my beliefs and my actions. After I finished that job, I began to feel different. I would get flashbacks of incidents I went to, would be unable to stand in crowded rooms and began to distrust even my closest friends. Yesterday I went to a specialist who diagnosed me with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The first thing I did was approach my brothers in Christ, who just began to spout the same kind of stuff here.

I mention this as while I understand the issues being mentioned, please be respectful while speaking on this issue. I love the Pub, but sometimes when these issues come up, I feel far from welcome.”

Cops having an us vs. them mentality is one of the problems. That is a mentality of an army occupying enemy territory. If his Christians friends start saying the same things as he hears elsewhere, maybe he should take a hint.

6. I know of At least one good cop: he’s a captain and an elder in my church.

I bet some of the guys in the video where Christians and elders at a church. You’ll pardon my doubts as good cops don’t remain cops for long.

7.  “The first few minutes of the video below debunks the fantasy that a large percentage of cops are good.” Bill, this line alone should have told you that the author of this post is not reasoning well. I am a police officer, and I cannot tell you exactly how I would have responded to that call because I do not have all the information regarding those specific circumstances. Many times the officers know information that the rest of the public does not, and that is a factor in why an officer made a particular decision.

But to be fair, enforcing unjust laws is something every Christian cop has to be sensitive to. As our government moves further down a path of unrighteousness, it should concern any Christian who is an agent of enforcement for that unrighteous government. However, sinful behavior is something anyone in any profession is tempted with. How much lying, stealing, etc. go on in the business world on a day to day basis that Christians who work in offices have to deal with?

In my time as a cop, only once have I had to make an objection to an order based on conscience, and it landed me in the chief’s office the next day. But, it was worth it, and I’m glad I took a stand for my convictions. By and large, as a cop, I spend my time and energy on worthwhile pursuits- enforcing violations of God’s moral law, holding criminals accountable, and protecting innocent people so they can go about their lives peacefully. There is not an abortion clinic in my jurisdiction, and for that, I am thankful.”

The fact that he can’t adamantly condemn the cops in the video shows he has a bias problem. I’m glad he has refused to follow orders in the past, but I think if I were a cop, that is something that would come up quite often, not just once in a long career.

Also, for the government to use the sword to enforce God’s moral law isn’t how it was intended. There are things that are a sin that aren’t criminal. He doesn’t lock up people for lying. But I bet he does lock up people for drug crimes. Doing or selling drugs is a sin, but it isn’t a crime in God’s law. And I bet he’s written a speeding ticket or two in his day, which is enforcing the arbitrary laws of men. Not to mention that in God’s law, there are no police.

8. Cops don’t arrest protesters because they are protesting abortions. The ordinances and laws enforced were not written with abortion in mind. Those same laws could be used to protect religious organizations as well. Just because the anti-abortion protester is against abortion doesn’t mean their actions are right in the sight of God. You don’t get a free pass from being Christ like just because you are anti-abortion. Just like other activists, many anti-abortion protesters intentionally break laws and create conflict with police so the can play the victim and make recruitment videos.

He included his happy “serve and protect the citizens” picture. It’s as if a cop can never criticize another cop. It’s quite sick. I have video proof that 100% of 50-100 LAPD cops are evil cops, and cops can’t bring themselves to admit it. It’s as if they’re reading a highly-edited cop version of the Bible.

Neither can they say what they would do in that situation, leaving me to wonder if they would do exactly what the LAPD did that June day in 1989.

9. My self along with twenty other Christians were out at the abortion mill today in Riverside California and we had two encounters with the police and they were very kind and favorable towards us and our cause. I think there are proper ways to protest the abortion mills and we ought to comply with the established laws of the city that we are in.

Generally, if you do exactly what the cops say, you’re OK. Some of them (though far from all) might even be familiar enough with the 1st Amendment to let you exercise your right to free speech on a public sidewalk. Of course strict obedience to every cop’s whim is what communism was built on.

There is another conversation that brought up an interesting, albeit fallacious, point that I will save for another post, but I think it’s obvious that no one  really even tried to argue against the post, and the proposition remains intact after some scrutiny. But I’m always looking for more feedback.

One thing that is discouraging is that this is a Christian Facebook group, and judging by the comment likes, there is a lot of unreasonable support for the cops. Of course, when you grow up in a police state, and it’s all you know, maybe your arguments in favor of the police state aren’t rational.