The Political Theology of Statist Warmongers

While this website is primarily about the application of Reformational thought to the Portuguese-speaking context, I felt I could sporadically use it with a wider outreach. Several will benefit from reading this, but I have specifically in mind Reformed voters in the US who are in the process of choosing the GOP nominee for the forthcoming presidential elections. Their choice, in turn, will affect the whole world. Those who know me in person know that I would support Ron Paul if I were given the ability to vote. However, in this text I address a deeper issue of principles  – LGF.

by the Editor.

Statist warmongers rely upon three assumptions about the nature of Leviathan in order to implement their agenda:

1. That the State is omnipotent. The state (and here in particular the imperialist state) can afford to overstretch itself in several ways without suffering any negative consequences. It can afford to pursue endless wars financed by endless debt. It can afford to re-write justice and morality in order to accommodate the status quo and still retain legitimacy. It tells people what they should eat, drink or smoke. How to raise children. Which materials to wear. Which thoughts should be thought, and which songs should be composed. At zero cost. No trade-offs here: “Yes we can!”

2. That the State is omniscient. The imperialist state will intervene because it knows what is best for strangers abroad. It will intervene because it can assess and dismiss every single instance of negative unintended consequences. It will intervene because its intelligence service is perfectly reliable. It shows exactly where threats are, whether in the form of weapons of mass destruction or dangerous individuals. It is able to predict the future. It is able to perfectly understand the past and learn from historical mistakes. “Yes we can!”

3. That the State is omnipresent. The imperialist state is perfectly able to be present at all aspects of life, at all levels of government and at every square inch of the inhabited universe. Perhaps it may even decide to be present at the Moon and beyond. And this comes at a cost that in the worst case can be ignored with the phrase “it’s worth it”. In fact, there seems to be no cost of omnipresence in cases like the virtual world. Indeed, the imperialist state is present even at the virtual world, controlling and regulating what you type or click. “Yes we can!”

In addition to this, several would add that the State is also the Origin of the existence, coherence and diversity of morality, prosperity and freedom. That, therefore, it can impose these things and many more. It can change hearts by legislation, after all, even the heart itself depends on imperial fiat. Leviathan as arche, the Origin.

That is to say, in Reformational parlance, statist warmongers depend, for their reasoning and policy of imperialism, on the Humanist Ideal of Control enabled by the dialectical ground-motive of Nature/Freedom. It resembles the ideal of Imperium of the ancient ground-motive Matter/Form, but with new Imperial clothes (or lack thereof). Jews, Evangelicals, Muslims, Roman Catholics, people of every sort of background are daily co-opted by the cult of Leviathan. So persuasive is the political theology of statist warmongers that it may bring even Confessional Reformed Christians into political apostasy.

The adhesion, in Reformed circles, to warmonger statism is symptomatic of a deeper worldview issue. Reformed Confessions speak of legitimacy and restraint of the civil magistrate. Reformed writers, from Calvin to Althusius and beyond, speak of the value of limiting government and politicians with oath and covenant. On several occasions, Reformed Christians were victims of big government. They defended these principles, they died because they were denied these principles. And now they want to deny these principles and let strangers die because of their denial.

There is a deeper worldview issue. Government is not the arche, neither is it omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. There is a “more excellent way”. A worldview more compatible with Reformed theology, which ascribes these divine attributes to God alone and makes a crucial point of limiting government in scope, level and target of hope. It is a worldview and a political position that supports not only the cause of justice but also strives to implement it in a just manner. It is the worldview of Calvin and Althusius, Kuyper and Dooyeweerd, Heidelberg and Westminster.

While US politics is not my sole concern, it seems that this country is now on the verge of making the most important electoral choice of the 21st century. The Empire has no divinity. The Empire is declining. It can lose gracefully or it can still stretch its tyranny for years to come, dragging together a great part of the world down the drain. I beg Reformed voters to choose justice, legitimacy and restraint and to reject violence, illegality and extravagance. You have a good Constitution. You can make better use of it. Say no to those who are not willing to obey it. Those who think they are above the law. Say no to practices that assume Leviathan is above the law. Say no to the political theology of statist warmongers.

Exeter, 30 Jan. 2012