Who Are the Good Guys?, 2

Continued from "Who Are the Good Guys?"

Like the great majority of Christians, I'd like to believe that the civil authority and all its representatives are the good guys. I'd like to believe that as long as I follow my King and do no harm to my neighbor, that I have nothing to fear from the police or the bureaucrats.

My experiences and those of others I have known tell me different. The actions of our civil government against people with politically incorrect views tell me different.

When I taught Government & Econ. on the high school level, I tried to lead the students into an awareness of these things through reading and discussing current events. One student asked how our government could make so many mistakes.

I replied, "You're operating under the assumption that the government is on our side. Suspend that assumption, and the answer will become more clear."

Please understand that I'm not saying that all soldiers, police officers or other civil servants are evil. Many are good people who do not understand the system they serve.

Ignorance, of course, does not provide an excuse for evil acts. Some years ago, for example, constables with shotguns and drawn sidearms raided a homeschooling family I know.

The fact that any of those men were good, churchgoing individuals did not mitigate the terror they inflicted on the family. The young child who first saw the armed group approach the house became hysterical, running and shouting, "They're going to kill us. They're going to kill us."

Of course everyone sees himself as one of the good guys. From the police officer who tricks a citizen into giving up his rights to the agent who makes an example of someone who expresses politically incorrect views, every abuser of authority sees himself as a good guy.

Christian Martialists, not only need to discern the good guys from the bad guys but more importantly need to know how to BE the good guys. Otherwise Christian Martialism will be just another self-interested faction.

To be continued.