We are under a dictatorship. It’s a tyranny we Americans tolerate for now, because we don’t have what it takes to resist. Red Dawn? Nah. We aren’t like that; we aren’t that strong. Worse, no enemy is going to make it that easy. For example, we seldom see dissent silenced by brute force, notwithstanding the criminal behavior of police in the recent G-20 protests in Pittsburgh, or similar actions here in the US. Rather, dissent is controlled by making it socially unacceptable. Dare to dissent from Israeli control of US government (no, it’s not total, but very obviously present)? You’re denounced as an anti-Semite with no recourse or defense. Dare the suggest the president doesn’t know what he’s doing? You’re a racist reactionary. The enforcers don’t wear uniforms like the Brown Shirts, but they serve the same function.
How to defeat it? Tyranny’s greatest weakness is whether individuals yield to the common conscience. That we even have a phrase “common sense” which serves as a cover for mere convention is proof the biggest weapon is not really language, but the unwillingness of most to face any significant social pressure. The weapon is the herd instinct. Attack that and you win. It crumbles so easily under the most insignificant assault, you’ll laugh when you finally try it.
The founding principle in tyranny is ownership of the self. Really; that’s the whole thing. The reason tyranny works is because everyone — “common sense” — assumes an obligation which is not supported by God. In the Laws of Noah, there is a generalized assumption you won’t seek harm of another, but may not always be able to avoid it. So we justly deduce the general obligation called “civility,” which permits us to live with others and avoid unnecessary hostility. The weapon of tyranny is to extend that principle far beyond God’s design. You are under no obligation at all to make your neighbor happy. Their feelings are by no means any concern of yours. You might read their emotional reactions as the means to tailoring each encounter, but that’s only a matter of convenience. In the final analysis, God does not grant to anyone the right to terrorize the rest of the world because of how they feel. You are under no obligation — absolutely zero — for how your neighbor feels about anything. Your only obligation is the degree of justice in your power, your choices in actions and words.
We could spend days and weeks untangling what it means to be just in your words. Words are a form of behavior, and while they do not break bones, they do cause great harm via manipulation and deception. You are obliged to be honest, but you are not obliged to reveal every private detail of your life. It might be an esoteric art form for many to discern between secrecy and privacy, but the principle remains. Indeed, civility assumes not every detail of your existence is worthy of note (but don’t tell that to the idiots who live on Facebook or MySpace). You inform folks voluntarily of things which could affect them, and of which they may not be aware. Otherwise, you mind your own business.
You owe them that much under the Laws of Noah. Anything more requires a covenant or family ties. Where nature and circumstance do not bestow a family linkage, it can be emulated via covenants. You can choose to become “family” in effect, with the expectation of God’s enforcement, by a covenant. Marriage is the primary example, where two lacking a family tie consent to become family. There are complications regarding how that commits others to whom you are related by DNA, but that’s another matter. For the sake of this discussion, please note you bind your relatives in certain aspects when you marry someone, because your covenant with your spouse makes them kin to your family. How you come to the decision won’t matter; you have to agree in advance, with properly informed consent, to such conditions as covenant includes. Covenants are sacred; God becomes a party to them, since the theory is all covenants are submitted to Him for ratification. You’d be surprised what He will back, but the point is He backs solemn covenants. Nothing under God’s heaven justifies the assumption a civil government can intrude where family or covenant fails. Keep in mind, no civil government is truly legitimate which isn’t constrained by family or covenant ties. Which brings us back where we started: No one should assume you are bear a burden of responsibility more than mere civility, unless there is a family or covenant relationship.
No political entity on earth can justly assume a covenant authority over you simply because you happen to stand on soil they claim to rule. And it should be painfully obvious no one has a right to control how you think or feel about anything, regardless of kinship. Family can require you to act in certain ways, as if you believed or felt as they wished, but cannot pretend to mess with your head. (Hint: All forms of manipulation are inherently evil.) God reserves to Himself alone matters of what’s inside your head. If you hate me, that’s your problem. If you act unjustly toward me, that’s another matter. It shouldn’t bother me how you feel, and I should strive to overlook all outward expressions of those feelings, so long as they do not hinder me in obeying all the Laws of Noah myself. In other words, annoying someone is no sin, and only a small consideration in civility. You shouldn’t want to, but sometimes higher considerations demand it.
What are those higher considerations? Things are a little fuzzy there, from our human perspective. We can state certain general principles, but they must of necessity be expressed through individual humans. Nobody living on earth is the ultimate authority, nor can any group of humans claim to speak conclusively on every detail. The whole point is the tension and constant negotiations are the norm. It’s the nature of things; there are no short cuts. Deal with it. The whole problem with tyranny is someone or some group refuses the burden, seeks an escape God does not allow. That’s why we can point to this or that government or policy and claim it’s not legitimate in God’s eyes. Most tyranny rejects Him in the first place, though it may be a rejection via rejection of what He has revealed of Himself. It won’t matter if you say there is no God, or you make up your own fictional version of Him — it’s the same sin of rejecting Him. Tyranny by definition is someone usurping God’s authority.
That we cannot all possibly agree, at any one time, what it is He demands of us means facing negotiation and tension is utterly required of us all. No role on this earth is so great, vital or important as to justify escaping it. If you deliberate negotiations on behalf of a vast family or covenant nation, you are bound by the same principles, and you cannot assume everyone will be happy. You cannot assume everyone has to keep their objections to themselves for your convenience. You cannot use the intervening household, clan, and tribal leadership (or equivalent civil jurisdictions) as a buffer to avoid facing them. The purpose of rising to such prominence is facilitating their combined wishes, along with your best understanding of their needs. If you can’t do it right, there’s a good chance you are trying to do too much with too many people. The greatest failure of all government is taking authority over more people and stuff than can be managed justly. The greatest sin of government is insulation from the governed.
How can you hope to work toward correction if you don’t understand what government is doing wrong? How can you possibly suggest better ideas if you don’t know what God intended? How can you begin to know what God intended if you don’t even know what’s inside yourself? The starting point is not correcting this very obviously broken system under which we live! The starting point is correcting a very broken understanding of things — your understanding, my understanding. And we cannot hope to work on that if we let someone else tell us what is supposed to be inside our hearts. “The number one problem in American today”® — too many Americans don’t know who they are. In this, the mystics are altogether correct. If you don’t spend some time alone with yourself, in a quiet place, doing the work of introspection, you will have no ground to stand on for pushing against injustice. It does take time. If you have the added advantage of being able to pray when you do that, all the better. But lacking that, at least get to know yourself and your own heart on things. It takes time. Don’t ever make the mistake of thinking God won’t support this; if you do this, you are obeying His Laws.
So whether in prayer, meditation, or whatever you call it, you should have started this years ago. Not emptying yourself, but finding yourself. Pour out all the stuff other people have put in there and find what God planted there as Creator. It’s not that hard. Find a place where you aren’t distracted and look inward. Do it daily if you can, and give it time. I care not a whit about differences in personality, or all those psychological inventories, and so forth; people who never bother to look inward are dead men walking. That’s what rules America, in that all those who lend their approval, via voting or simple acquiescence to tyranny, are dead. They might as well be, since all their actions sum up to letting tyranny proceed unhindered. The one key to reform or revolution or just surviving is coming to life in knowing yourself. Do this first and you’ll have reason to hope.
