“Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” Proverbs 14:29
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Proverbs 14:34
“Partiality in judging is not good. Whoever says to the wicked, ‘You are in the right,’ will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations.” Proverbs 24:24
As I write this Canada is experiencing a crisis of sorts. Truckers, protesting the diminishment of their liberties and vaccine mandates, have converged upon Ottawa and shut down the city. In short, by parking their rigs in the road, they’ve ground traffic to a halt. They demand an end to the vaccine mandate.
Critics from the left call this an insurrection. They say it’s an attempt to overthrow the government. Some have called for police – and even the military – to break up the Freedom Convoy. Supporters on the right note the lack of destruction – no arsons, looting, or violence – by the truckers and their supporters. Supporters claim that the truckers are within their rights to protest the restrictions of their liberty and the threatening of their jobs with vaccine passports and mandates.
So, which side does the Bible support?
To answer that question bluntly: the so-called Freedom Convoy is correct in principle, if not in application. Let me explain.
First, we must evaluate political/civil issues through the categories provided to us by Scripture. The civil magistrate is defined in the New Testament era as God’s avenger against the wrongdoer. He, the state, is given the right to use violence (the sword) for the purpose of vengeance. Therefore, the state is God’s minister (Romans 13:4, 6). Three times in Romans 13, in fact, the Bible specifically refers to the state as “His servant (as avenger) and minister.” The concept of separation of church and state is that the church can’t use the sword. The sword of the church is the Word of God. The gospel is preached without coercion, threats, regulation or violence. The state is, in this structure, God’s referee. The state uses the sword of violence to punish crime as defined by God. He’s an avenger; he’s not the church.
This leads us to the fact that if the government acts outside of its mandate it is illegitimate. This doesn’t mean that a citizen has an automatic right to disobey an extra-biblical order. But it does mean that the church and its officers – all of God’s saints, that is – should preach the good news of the Gospel to the state and call it to repentance. The church should do this, as I am now, while being in subjection to it for His sake.
For example, we’re told that we pay taxes to fund the state’s morally legitimate crusade against crime. If a person is attacked, robbed, defrauded, raped, or murdered – regardless of their worldly status, race, class, sex, or anything else – the state, as God’s minister, must avenge that person. The basis of moral government action is the principle of self-defense. If a person had a God-given right to use violence for self-defense but couldn’t, for whatever reason, the Lord demands that justice be served through His minister, the state. Many libertarians wrongly say that all taxation is theft. The Scripture tells us that we rightly pay taxes for this reason and this reason alone.
This means that paying taxes for any other reason is unbiblical. For the state to tax income and property is a violation of the first, eight and tenth commandments. Human rights and liberty do not originate with the state but with God. Therefore, taxes are paid as a service rendered and that service is self-defense. The state has no more claim to one’s labor and property than any other lawful business. A government that claims the right to tax property and labor is one claiming to be God. To pay taxes for anything other than self-defense is a violation of Scripture. But, though that’s the case, the Christian should submit to the governing authority for the sake of His name. Christians should speak the truth (as I am here) and call the magistrate to repent and yet not resist his authority. God will settle this account at Judgment Day. Pay your taxes. Obey the law insofar as it doesn’t require you to violate the principles of faith and worship of God (see Daniel, for example).
If the state abuses its God-given power and authority it may be resisted insofar as there are legal grounds to do so. The best example of this was the Declaration of Independence. The American Revolution wasn’t a revolution. It was a war of self-defense and the Declaration was a divorce document signed by lawful representatives of the people and delivered to a king who was abusing his authority. The American “Revolution” was a morally legal action taken against the usurpation of Godly authority by England. The basis of the action was God’s ultimate authority and the doctrine of lesser magistrates. It wasn’t a revolution of anarchy. It wasn’t a blind power grab.
Another example would be John Brown’s Harpers Ferry raid. Brown was clearly correct that slavery was an abomination and could be resisted by force. His error was taking the law into his own hands. What followed was bloodshed and the death of those he tried to help. The Civil War that followed forced the hand of the North as the South seceded due to the great abolitionist, Abraham Lincoln, ascending to the White House. The North’s war with the South, insofar as it was motivated to free human beings denied their God-given rights, was a war of self-defense and a lawful government action. It was not a war of “northern aggression” in that the principle of self-defense couldn’t be applied to the South since they fought to protect slavery. If ever there’s a clear example of the violation of the principle of self-defense, it’s slavery. The South, therefore, had no moral/legal grounds for self-defense any more than the rapist can claim self-defense when/if the woman fights back. Brown “waged war without wise counsel” (Proverbs 20:18) and could only fail. He was right in principle and wrong in application. This is frustrating, yes, as his goal and cause were just.
(America, incidentally, still has the capacity to peacefully and lawfully resist tyranny. The primary vehicle for the resistance of ungodly law is the doctrine of lesser magistrates, which the Founding Fathers wrote into the Constitution through the 9th and 10th amendments. When the rights of individuals are trampled through tyrannical overreach, states and counties can and should legally resist. Christian citizens should study the doctrine of lesser magistrates and encourage their local elected officials to understand and use the 9th and 10th amendments in a Godly way. The Apostle Paul appealed to his rights as a Roman in the book of Acts. Christians should insist that their governors and mayors stop acting as Federal stooges and rediscover the meaning of American federalism.)
To be legitimate, resistance must be pointed at a specific grievance (as seen in the Declaration of Independence where, first, the supremacy of God-given rights was proclaimed, and then, second, the specific list of trespasses was enumerated). A protest can’t be vague. It must specifically reference a law that violates one’s God-given rights. And the remedy must be liberty for all through rule of law. It must call the civil magistrate to God’s moral order for all citizens, not any specific class of men. Any protest that doesn’t meet these two principles is, therefore, invalid.
Thus, insofar as the Freedom Convoy is protesting against true overreaches of the magistrate and demanding a Godly restoration of liberty, it is legitimate. Forcing people to take a drug/vaccine they don’t trust, especially in light of natural immunity and other measures, is tyrannical.
By blocking roads, however, they have effectively taken over the city. This means that they’ve violated the rights of other citizens. In the process of protesting the violation of rights, one must be careful not to trample on the rights of others. This would mean that, though the Freedom Convoy is correct in principle, it’s flawed in application. The principle of self-defense, being our guide, teaches that one can use counter-violence only against the attacker/abuser. One can’t shoot or punch a bystander in the name of self-defense. Therefore, a blockade of government buildings as a self-defense measure could be morally permissible. Or, organized defiance against the rule/law/regulation in question is Biblical. But the denial of property rights and freedom of movement to other citizens is, according to this principle, unbiblical.
This isn’t to say that the Canadian government is correct. It has clearly violated its biblical mandate. Protesters should be concerned with the tyranny in their midst. They should defy tyrannical orders. But they are on shaky ground when their actions do to others the very thing they’re protesting. The principle of biblical self-defense demands that we love our neighbor by never playing God over them. Each authority in this world must stay in its lane. All forms of civil disobedience, therefore, must be specifically targeted against the usurper himself. Organized protests, due to the weakness of the flesh, and the fact that protesters themselves, even when they’re victims of abuse, are in danger of sinful overreach. They must be restrained by the principles of Scripture. They must be guided by the categories of the Bible and call for justice only, not political power and/or vengeance. They must not be given over to unrighteous anger, which leads to violence and destruction.
The issue being protested, just like with a crime that’s being prosecuted, must be specific. A protest is only valid when the protesters act as the true legal arm of the Lord – the legal arm that’s been abused or denied by the powers. The protesters, like the Continental Congress, must bring specific charges against the power they’re protesting. A vague charge is inadmissible in the courts and the streets. The charge must be specified and there must be a Godly remedy to it – such as calling the magistrate back to its Godly duty.
A protest is, when logical and legitimate, a truly legal and non-violent argument taken by an individual or group that’s founded in the biblical principles of liberty of person and property. A protest that doesn’t meet these requirements is unbiblical. Thus, the Freedom Convoy is right to resist, yet wrong to violate the property rights of other citizens.
Finally, as I write this there’s rumors that Justin Trudeau might initiate something called the Emergency Powers Act to suppress the protest. This would allow him to basically declare the protestors as enemies of the state and allow for the seizure of their bank accounts and property. It would allow for the evisceration of the all the liberties of those citizens he disagrees with. This is unadulterated tyranny. Should it happen the church should/must rise up with one voice and call for Mr. Trudeau to leave office. He has other options at his disposal to disperse the assemblies rather than such an egregious order like that. We should pray that Canada does not follow that path of despotism. If it does, however, we should not be silent. Liberty is God’s gift to us and we should treasure it.
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