RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
Greg Bahnsen, No Other Standard
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It is not accidental that the glaring
socio-political and criminal problems of the late twentieth century
concern matters where our society has turned against the specific
directives of God´s law. What we are reaping is criminal anarchy
on the one hand, and (ironically) an ever-increasing scope of state
authority on the other. The state is doing more and more (and
spending irresponsibly), but doing less and less of what God has
ordained it to do for our good. Civil justice "” respect for every
person´s rights, freedom and protection "“ has fallen in the streets.
Have the critics of [revelatory] ethics not noticed this? Do they have any other standard to propose than God´s law? What exactly is the alternative they have to [revelatory] ethics? We have inherited the worst of both worlds when it comes to political theory: a social order which is simultaneously authoritarian (big government) and disrespectful of law (big crime). The state interferes with everything from milk prices to private Christian schools, promoting discriminatory results by unjustly restricting the market and our freedoms. Yet the criminal justice system is as ineffective and unfair as we have ever seen: first degree murder receiving a lighter sentence than armed robbery in some
cases; teenage hoodlums being arrested up to seventeen times (including felonies) before spending any time in jai~ molestation, rape, and destruction of property rising sharply in incidence and severity; unborn children slaughtered for convenience; assault and gang violence becoming a way of life (death); sexual fidelity as well as perversion promoted everywhere from the media to the schools (with no right to discriminate against it); prisons inhumanely warehousing offenders who will return repeatedly; plea-bargaining and early parole making a mockery out of already light
sentences, etc. things. At the same time, the opponents of [revelatory ethics] have
unwittingly turned us over to the worst kind of tyranny imaginable "” political power which is not restrained by any objective, publicly accessible, written standard of transcendent justice by which the state´s actions and prerogatives may be judged. Having no inscripturated morality from God as our socio-political standard (or nothing specific enough to be helpful), the critics of [revelatory ethics] have no principled basis or guidance for a judicial system by which to protect us from those who despise God (criminals) or those who wish to play God (the state).
Helping the Poor Without Feeding the Beast
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It is not accidental that the glaring
socio-political and criminal problems of the late twentieth century
concern matters where our society has turned against the specific
directives of God´s law. What we are reaping is criminal anarchy
on the one hand, and (ironically) an ever-increasing scope of state
authority on the other. The state is doing more and more (and
spending irresponsibly), but doing less and less of what God has
ordained it to do for our good. Civil justice "” respect for every
person´s rights, freedom and protection "“ has fallen in the streets.
Have the critics of [revelatory] ethics not noticed this? Do they have any other standard to propose than God´s law? What exactly is the alternative they have to [revelatory] ethics? We have inherited the worst of both worlds when it comes to political theory: a social order which is simultaneously authoritarian (big government) and disrespectful of law (big crime). The state interferes with everything from milk prices to private Christian schools, promoting discriminatory results by unjustly restricting the market and our freedoms. Yet the criminal justice system is as ineffective and unfair as we have ever seen: first degree murder receiving a lighter sentence than armed robbery in some
cases; teenage hoodlums being arrested up to seventeen times (including felonies) before spending any time in jai~ molestation, rape, and destruction of property rising sharply in incidence and severity; unborn children slaughtered for convenience; assault and gang violence becoming a way of life (death); sexual fidelity as well as perversion promoted everywhere from the media to the schools (with no right to discriminate against it); prisons inhumanely warehousing offenders who will return repeatedly; plea-bargaining and early parole making a mockery out of already light
sentences, etc. things. At the same time, the opponents of [revelatory ethics] have
unwittingly turned us over to the worst kind of tyranny imaginable "” political power which is not restrained by any objective, publicly accessible, written standard of transcendent justice by which the state´s actions and prerogatives may be judged. Having no inscripturated morality from God as our socio-political standard (or nothing specific enough to be helpful), the critics of [revelatory ethics] have no principled basis or guidance for a judicial system by which to protect us from those who despise God (criminals) or those who wish to play God (the state).
Helping the Poor Without Feeding the Beast