Faith: Wisdom and Duty

The role I seek for the people of my district is a secular one and it is the Constitutional written agreement with the people that it should remain so. That does not mean I do not or cannot bring wisdom from the Bible, or any place it may be found, into the way I view the world, discuss shared values, and approach the duties through which I seek to serve you.

I view the example of Jesus as one of compassion, wisdom, and justice and constantly compare the actions I wish to take in life, and on your behalf, through those principles. Those principles are also foundational aspects of the state and federal Constitutions which serve as a contract between the people and those they appoint to serve them as leaders.

The phrase "No Kings!" is an often heard refrain these days, and the powerful of this world have instructed their followers to reject this assertion as a refutation of God's authority. I know many of us were taught that God establishes rulers and we should support them without question, but the Bible also commands that oaths and covenants are to be respected and upheld.

We do not have a dynastic king. We do not have a conquering emperor. We have state and federal Constitutions that are the supreme law of our land, and the founders declared the consent of the governed to be the legitimate source of authority for our government. They wrote our Constitutions to reflect that agreement. If one believes that God appoints our rulers, then in America and Arizona, “We the people…” are the rulers to be obeyed as our founders duly noted.

Therefore, as our Constitutions forbid any laws establishing religion, our leaders are under oath to govern by consent and build law upon that Constitutional foundation through secular reasoning not theological dogma and if one is beholden to God they ought to faithfully honor that oath made before Him.

On the subject of kings, should the people consider appointing one, the God of Abraham warned his people of the evils a king would inflict upon them. David showed us that even the most Godly man will be corrupted by a crown. And Jesus said that He would not rule on Earth for His kingdom was in heaven.

Samuel prophesied to the people begging God to appoint for them a king telling them that God said a king would take their sons for his armies, their daughters to be servants, their wealth to be gifts to his officers and vassals, and would take the fruits of their labor, their best servants, and their property to make himself wealthy. That, ultimately, the people would be his slaves. All of which came to pass.

Even David—a man after God's own heart—was corrupted by the power of the crown. His rape of Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah, his failures as a father, his warmongering, and the plague that came upon his people as his punishment for disobedience—these aren't just personal failings. They are warnings. If the most Godly king Scripture gives us couldn't handle unchecked power, what makes us think anyone today can? It may easily be argued that when the people ignored God’s warnings about the nature of kings, the folly and greed of their own kings was itself the punishment.

The kings of the Bible fail time and again to live in wisdom, justice, and humility. Clearly, the Bible shows that only a being above human frailty can handle such power and authority without preying upon the people and leading them to suffering. It is in Revelations that God comes in judgement and destroys every last king of the Earth, all of whom are in alliance with the beast. No, at no point does God show any desire that we should be ruled by a single person, in fact He casts down such figures as His enemies in the final reckoning.

Jesus himself was tempted with worldly power and refused on five separate occasions. He said His kingdom was not of this Earth, refused to pass judgement on others, and He refused the temptation in the wilderness to have dominion over all the kingdoms of Earth.

Jesus declared God's law was written on the hearts of the people to be judged by the Father, not humans. Even Jesus Himself would not judge the sins of others and where He did give his opinion on what to do about others' sins, it was almost always that one ought reflect inward and address their own thoughts, deeds, lusts, and ego instead. This individualized one's relationship to God so that instead of being judged for the acts of kin and country, each person shall stand alone before the throne of judgement and answer themselves for their actions.

Jesus said those truly faithful to Him would be known by their fruits of generosity, mercy, and love for the unloved, outcast, and vulnerable. He explicitly refuted the idea that His sacrifice would be a pardon for those who claimed His name but whose actions did not bear the fruits of his example. He warned us of those whose actions brought about chaos, violence, suffering, and cruelty, that such things were the fruit of their evil hearts.

Jesus actually called upon His followers to dissociate with those who were violent, exploitative, deceitful, greedy, and cruel. The Bible teaches that the faithful are to attempt to guide those people to repentance if possible, but shun them from their presence until such time that they changed their ways and made their atonement. He professed that their want for the community of His followers should bring them back into humility, grace, compassion, and generosity. Even the church Peter established for Jesus was run not by a singular figure but by the people together with those gifted with wisdom presenting it to the people through letters and lessons, not enforcing it with violence.

There was a clear distinction made between the affairs of state and the affairs of heaven and through example Jesus established them as separate matters for His followers. Jesus said to render unto God that which is God's and render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, clearly indicating such separation. He did not admonish the centurion for giving and obeying the orders of Rome that included capital punishment and warfare, but when Peter took up arms to defend Him from being captured, He corrected him and healed the wound Peter inflicted saying that those who live by the sword will also die by it. Again, on the subject of war, Jesus said for His followers such a thing was not against flesh and blood but spiritual enemies that led men to evil, thus refusing physical violence as an act of faith in lieu of guiding people away from behavior that harms others and attending to the damage done by those who abuse their power.

Jesus accepted no worldly power, had no heir, appointed no successor, and held no office. There is no Biblical grounds for a human king on this Earth nor any theocratic dominion. How could a human being claim Earthly authority in the name of Jesus that He Himself flatly refused? There is further no sound Biblical argument for Christians to do violence on behalf of God or the state as an act of faith.

So with that wisdom, and those principles and examples in mind, I too say "No Kings!" We, the people, are the rulers of this state and this nation and so it says in our founding documents. I do not seek, therefore, to rule you, but to serve you with the best of my ability and do all within my power and talent to honor your consent by protecting your Constitutional rights, contributing to the government of Arizona on behalf of District 19 with diligent stewardship, and ensuring you can rely upon me to act in the interests of peace, stability, and justice so you and your children may build and live your best lives.