Health Care System Solution Video #4

Finally have my blog as up to date as my Facebook posts! Blogger didn't like my video, so I had to split it in two.

-tob

Part a:

Part b:

Health Care System Solution Video #3

Trying to keep up the blog!

Thanks for waiting!

Toby

Health Care System Solution Video #2

Howdy! Here's the second installment in my series. In this video you get the bonus of seeing our new daughter, Mandy!

Thanks!

Toby

Health Care System Solution Video #1

The solution to America's health care system issues in 10 easy videos! Check them out here, or on my Facebook. Feel free to share these videos as they are posted, but please provide a link to my blog or Facebook page.

Thanks!

Toby

Thoughts on the 9th Commandment

The Ten Commandments provide a framework for creating a civilization that trusts the Lord for its provision and protection in all things. Each command establishes principles that shape the way we approach social issues great and small. They change the way we think and act, no merely as individuals, but as families, churches, social groups, and civil societies.

Exodus 20.16 contains the 9th Commandment which says simply, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." This command is a whole lot bigger than it seems like at first blush. I want to share some thoughts about it and how I see that it could shape our civilization.

The idea behind this command is that we should not use the force of law to take from others, nor should we punish (or reward) those who have done no wrong. If we trust that God is our provider and our protector, then we don't need to use unjust means to acquire safety or provision.

Violations of the 9th Commandment are grounded in a lack of faith that God will provide for us and protect us adequately--as are violations of all the Big Ten (see Exodus 20.2). This lack of faith produces fear for our survival that drives us to take unjust steps to protect ourselves from perceived dangers or to be willing to manipulate and pervert justice to take what we want (usually couched in terms of what we think we need) from others.

Today's application of the 9th Commandment is that it disallows racism, bigotry, and prejudice. All of these execute judgement on others who have committed no wrong against us. Sometimes this is because of their associates (Joe's brother took my bicycle, so I hate Joe), because we think they might hurt us sometime in the future, or because of any number of paranoid fantasies on our part.

Racism is the sin of passing false judgement on another person, making them pay for a crime they have not committed. I mistreat a person based on their race in whatever way and I become guilty of this sin. I try to get the government to pass laws that privilege my race over another and I am guilty of this crime. When government punishes someone, or gives preferential treatment to someone, based on race, then that government is guilty of violation of the 9th Commandment. If in my business I hire based on race, I am guilty of this sin. If I don't let my kids play with someone merely because of his race, then I'm a sinner guilty of violating the 9th Commandment. If I pass over someone for a position of authority in church because of their race, I am guilty of violating the 9th Commandment. If I treat my boss with less (or more) respect than I normally would because of my boss' race or whether my boss is male or female, then I stand guilty. If I'm more than ready to "stick it to the man" through force of law, just because "the man" is different from me, then I'm guilty of this sin. If "the man" has committed a crime then fine, punish appropriately for THAT SPECIFIC CRIME (not for merely existing and being who they are). BUT if I can't define the crime (in terms of God's Law) then I had best step back and take a long look at my heart.

If I alter the way I do business with someone based on their race alone, then I am as guilty as can be. If I vote for or against someone just because of their race, then brothers and sisters I am a racist guilty of violating the 9th Commandment. If my choice of church is based on race, rather than on the leading of Scripture and the Holy Spirit, then I'm guilty of this sin.

Does it mean I have to like everybody the same? NO!!! It means that I may not punish others who have done me no wrong! I prefer some people to others sometimes because they simply like what I like, or do what I do. Sometimes those likes and dislikes fall along racial, familial, national, or class lines. That's OK. What's not OK is rendering judgement against others because of those differences.

Now let me really lay one on you: if I "buy American" just because I prefer Americans to foreigners, then I might very well be guilty of this sin in my heart; if I try to punish companies through the force of law who are moving "our jobs" oversees then I am definitely guilty of this sin; if I am anti-immigration because I think someone from another country shouldn't have the same opportunity to work in America as someone who is native-born then I am guilty of this sin in my heart.

Mind you, this does not mean that laws against racism are legitimate. It means just the opposite in fact. The government doesn't have a right to pass laws against being a racist jerk. If I won't be friends with you because of your race, then I'm a sinner, but not a criminal in terms of the civil law. The civil government must be blind to race. It must not punish people for their attitudes about racism. Government must only punish actual crimes of one person against another. (If I hit you, then I'm punished for hitting you, not because of the reason I hit you, etc.)

Civil government must not punish (and it must not reward) based on race. No racial profiling. No racial quotas. No laws privileging nor punishing because of race AT ALL. No searching someone because they look wrong, period. Looking wrong is not a crime, therefore the civil government cannot punish it. Forcing you to stop and be searched is punishment. It is detainment by the authorities. I'll talk more about the search issue specifically in a later post on the 9th Command.

I've noticed that Christians who don't like affirmative action are often fans of racial profiling. Both violate the 9th Commandment. Both are racist. If we want God's blessing in our society then we must agree with His Laws when it's inconvenient as well as when it's convenient.

Stated another way, the 9th Command means: "Don't render judgement, or help others to render judgement, against people who have done no wrong to deserve punishment." Judgement comes in many forms: relational, moral, religious, and civil. Take a careful look today at how you render judgement (in your heart and in your actions). Are those judgements based on the person's character and actions, or are they based on your own fear and distrust?

If you totally believe that God will protect you and provide for you, then you don't have to worry about what somebody of another race "might" do to you, nor do you have to justify yourself in taking away from someone who is different because you "need" it. You don't need to get laws passed to protect yourself from them, or to punish them just for existing. If we walk with Him, then He provides all the protection and provision we need, both as individuals and as a society.

As always, feel free to disagree and take me to task. But keep in mind I won't abide outright rudeness.

More on the 9th Commandment when the Spirit moves me!

-Toby