The ‘Majority’ and The Christians

This is Part 5 of a series of guest posts entitled "The Constitution and Cardboard Justice", by my friend and churchmate, Goya Pableo. To read the previous articles, click on the links below.
 

When the current Constitution was being drafted back in 1986, the term “general welfare” was debated on. The term in the Preamble was not accepted by the Constitutional Commission since it might be understood as “the greatest good for the greatest number even if what the greater number wants does violence to human dignity” (Bernas, 2011). Instead, the phrase “common good” was used.

Although the Preamble is not a source of legal rights, its definition of the common good serves as a lens through which we should view the general welfare in Philippine law.

The Common Good influencing the General Welfare

Taking off from the Constitutional Commission’s deliberation, general welfare (a.k.a. Public Good) does not necessarily equate with what the majority desires but with what is good for them – even if they are in disagreement with it. Consequentially, if what the majority clamors for is not good for the whole nation, then the authorities must step in to uphold the law which protects our genuine general welfare.

The Issue of ‘Trust’

Out of 1,200 Filipinos surveyed, our President started his term with a trust rate of 91%. This is favorable, for it shows people’s approval of our recent civil authority, whether they acknowledge it being God-given or not. However, it is reckless to carry over that trust rate and assume the same for the conduct of the war against illegal drugs, using it as statistics implying support for unlawful methods. “Do you trust your President?” is clearly different from “Do you approve of the methods used to carry out the war on illegal drugs?”

Heartbreakingly, most Christians cannot delineate the end from the means, blatantly condoning – either by blind approval or bulging apathy – extrajudicial killings and “no mercy” police narcotics-operations in support of the President. Honoring the President does not necessitate that we approve of methods that could clearly place him and our nation in deeper peril.

The Issue of Approval

Approval of the war on illegal drugs is not automatically approval of the methods through which it is being carried out. True Christians should approve of the war on illegal drugs; the confrontation against these destructive substances, because we know that the true enemy of our souls uses these to bring our people under slavery and death. We pray for human security and economic growth, though temporal, but never at the expense of unlawfully executing our countrymen whom the majority may deem hopeless due to their drug problem. Let us never forget that in Christ, there is always hope.

 And even if majority of our people approve of the methods being used (and that’s a stretched, hopefully baseless assumption), general welfare is not subject to popular vote since it is possible for a collective mindset to be outright wrong. Historically, the Israelites wanted Saul as King, Nazi Germany supported Adolf Hitler on the Holocaust, the crowd cried for Christ to be crucified – vox populi (the people's voice) is not always for the common good.

Eternal, Not Just Temporal

As Christians, we should seek the common good of our country – to “loosen the bonds of wickedness, undo the bonds of the yoke and free those that are oppressed”(Isaiah 58:8), “render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another” (Zechariah 7:9), “defend the rights of the afflicted and needy” (Proverbs 31:9), “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with [our] God” (Micah 6:8).

The outcome of these commands may or may not translate to economic growth and human security, because those are not what we are primarily after. However, obedience to these does result to the honor and praise of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose Gospel we proclaim and whose operational definition of general welfare is for our eternal good and His eternal glory.

What, then, could be done to help stop the killings? Ambitious as it might seem, we’ll attempt look at possibilities in the final post of this series.

Meanwhile, again let us heed what God says through the prophet Micah: walking in humility with Him is, assuredly, for our good

Sources:

1. "Duterte Enjoys Record-high 91% Trust Rating – Pulse Asia." Rappler. July 20, 2016.
2. Bernas, Joaquin G. The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines (Annotated). Manila: Rex Bookstore, 2011.
3. Chandran, Nyshka. "President Duterte's War on Drugs Threatens the Philippines's Rule of Law." CNBC. August 24, 2016.

The Best of the Briefing, Vol. 4

August has been a very interesting month as far as news and the Briefing are concerned. You'll notice there are more than the usual amount of articles in this volume, and from a wide range of topics.

Here are some of the most salient points in these articles:

• The pro-LGBT movement has argued for the complete separation of gender from biological sex. Now, in light of the recently concluded Olympics, they're even beginning deny the biological distinction between male and female. This shows that the pro-LGBT ideology has become so radical that it is now willing to deny one of the most obvious facts of everyday human existence.

• The success of the Moral Revolution is leading to escalating discrimination against Christians and Christian Institutions for holding to historic,Christian convictions. As things are going now, it might not be long before historic Christian Institutions (such as schools and hospitals) will be forced to either waive all support from the government or give in to its demands regarding issues like LGBT rights and abortion.

We may not be feeling the direct effects of these developments in the Philippines (yet), but let's not kid ourselves. The political and cultural elites here aren't far behind their Western counterparts. And as the elites go, usually, so goes the culture.

The purpose of the Best of the Briefing series is to help you stay updated on important realities confronting modern Christians -- LGBT rights, Christianity & politics, secular materialism, abortion, Roman Catholicism, and the like. The articles included in these volumes say particularly important things in particularly helpful ways (in my opinion, at least). I hope that you find them useful. 

Click here to download Volume 4 of The Best of the Briefing. 

If you prefer the audio podcast to the transcripted articles, you can find them arranged by date on Mohler's website.

If you're a Logos user, you'll be glad to know that the documents are in .docx format, which you can use to create a personal book in your Logos library. 

Below is the list of articles included in this volume.

Business

1. The gender revolution arrives at the clothing store—but it's still organized male-female (August 22, 201)
2. The power of consumers: After dim sales report, Target announces new bathroom initiative (August 23, 2016)

Family & Education

1. Pending SB 1146 would mean the end of comprehensive Christian education in California (August 3, 2016)
2. Schools that refuse federal aid or request Title IX exemption blacklisted by secular left (August 3, 2016)
3. Good news for Christian higher education in California as lawmaker drops proposal—for now (August 11, 2016)
4. The "Good Parent" vs. the "Get-Real Parent": Deep moral insight for parents from an unexpected source (August 24, 2016)

Politics & Society

1. The fall of Roger Ailes can serve warning for Christians to avoid a media echo chamber (August 4, 2016)
2. When liberal policies outpace liberal preferences: San Francisco liberals don't want affordable housing (August 9, 2016)
3. Obama administration's transgender bathroom guidelines blocked by federal judge — for now (August 23, 2016)
4. From the French Revolution to 'burkini' bans: France's radical commitment to secularism (August 29, 2016)

Religion

1. Transgender deity in the Old Testament? Nonsense from a rabbi in The New York Times (August 15, 2016)

Science & Medicine

1. Will our brave new world include human-animal chimeras? NIH proposal erases ethical lines (August 8, 2016)
2. The misplaced trust of Scientism and the dangers of Neil deGrasse Tyson's "Rationalia" (August 8, 2016)
3. American College of Pediatricians: gender dysphoria debate is primarily about worldview, not science (August 11, 2016)
4. The moral behind the medical stat: 1 in 5 babies born in Indiana are addicted to drugs (August 17, 2016)

Sports

1. The NBA, creator of the WNBA, spurns North Carolina for codifying gender distinction (August 4, 2016)
2. The transgender revolution hits the Olympics … but not consistently (August 10, 2016)
3. No such thing as a "male body"? Transgenderism and the eclipse of biological sex (August 11, 2016)

4:12 Series- Margaret Wilson

 Margaret and Agnes Wilson stood before their judge. They had been found guilty of rebellion, and were about to receive their ‘just’ sentences. But what wrong had they done?

Rebels & Fugitives

Margaret, at eighteen years of age, was the eldest of three siblings, and Agnes was the youngest at thirteen. They, along with their brother, Tom, committed the great crime of denying that the king was the Head of the Church, because they were convinced from Scripture that the Church had only one Head, one King, the Lord Jesus Christ.

They were soon forced to escape to the mountains, to live in bogs and caves.

Caught!

In February, 1665, the sisters slipped into the town to meet some friends. Someone there asked them to drink to the king’s health, but they refused, saying that it was against Scripture and Christian moderation. Their cover was blown! They were seized and thrown into prison, where they suffered bitter cold and squalid conditions until their trial.

Thus they found themselves standing before Lord Grierson of Lag, a man who would be remembered for his savage persecution of the Scottish Covenanters. He commanded them to kneel, and when they refused, his men forced them to the ground. Satisfied, Grierson proceeded with the pronouncements. Agnes, being so young, would be released as soon as her father paid the stiff fine of 100 pounds. Margaret, on the other hand, was to be drowned alongside a fellow Covenanter, the elderly widow, Mrs. MacLachlan.

"Think Ye That We Are Sufferers?"

On the day of the execution, guards led Margaret and Mrs. MacLachlan out of their prison and onto the banks where the Blednoch River ran into the sea. Two stakes were planted in the sand, one for each woman. Mrs. MacLachlan, whose stake was planted lower down the banks, was the first to be enveloped by the cold waters.

As sea water filled the elderly lungs, the persecutors asked Margaret, “What do you think of her now?”

“Think ye that we are sufferers?” She replied, “No; it is Christ in us, for He sends none a warfare at their own charges.”

As the waters rose around her, she sang from the Psalter,

My sins and faults of youth
Do thou, O Lord, forget:
After thy mercy think on me,
And for thy goodness great.
God good and upright is:
The way he’ll sinners show;
The meek in judgment he will guide
And make his path to know.

Then, taking her greatest treasure, her Bible, she opened it up for the last time and read from the eighth chapter of Romans.

whom he justified, them he also glorified.

And,

we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Just before she drowned, the soldiers pulled her out, and Grierson demanded that she pray for the king. She sputtered that she wished the salvation of all men, and the damnation of none.

For this, they dashed her under the water, and pulled her out again. Some of the townspeople pleaded with her, “Oh Margaret, say it!”

She whispered, “Lord, give him repentance, forgiveness and salvation, if it be Thy holy will.”

Infuriated, Grierson screamed, “Damned bitch, we do not want such prayers!”

They threw her back into the waters and watched her drown. Afterwards, she was buried in an old churchyard alongside several others who had been martyred for the sake of the gospel.

Sources:

1. Jock Purves, Fair Sunshine: Character Studies of the Scottish Covenanters.
2. Wikipedia, "Sir Robert Grierson, 1st Baronet". 

Balm for the Victims

This is Part 4 of a series of guest posts entitled "The Constitution and Cardboard Justice", by my friend and churchmate, Goya Pableo. To read the previous articles, click on the links below.

Part 1

Since the recent bombing incident in Davao City, President Duterte has calibrated all of his power toward the vindication of his hometown and people. Likewise, the State looks at victims through the same protective lenses as the pater patriae1 - the protector, the “father”. If you harm the child, you infuriate the father.

The Victims

Part 2

For the purposes of this article, "victims" are those who have suffered physical, emotional, and/or mental harm, along with loss of property, wealth, and/or life at the hands of offenders under the influence of illegal drugs. Moreover, the families of victims are more than “third parties” (Wallace & Robertson, 2011); they also suffer, and sometimes more, with mental, emotional or even physical agony. Thus, we also treat family members and loved ones of the victims as victims themselves.

The State in lawful vindication of the victims

Part 3

Generally, the State should subject offenders under judicial processes even if the victims are reluctant to file a case in court. Aside from the imprisonment of drug convicts, victims could also claim civil indemnity – damages – ranging from monetary compensation to restitution (Art. 100 & 104, The Revised Penal Code). The State is also bound to protect victims from further harm by issuing restraining orders and injunctions, or by putting them under witness protection programs (among other legal remedies and benefits).

The law implies that victims should forego vengeful actions against the offender and leave the full vindication to the State. If executed rightly, the law fully punishes the offender more than any extralegal remedy can: the deprivation of liberty, then of property and if warranted, of life (but as of writing, the Death Penalty is suspended) – after due process of law – is meant to do to the offender what he has done unto the State (and indirectly unto us as a nation). This would also mean physical and emotional suffering for the convict, with loss of property, wealth, and “life” (in a sense that his physical strength wastes away as he spends his years inside the penitentiary).

“You are not in their shoes.”

Yes, we do not feel what the victims feel, and never will we – their pain is uniquely theirs. Yet, if popular opinion attempts to appease the victims by condoning lawless methods as vindication, more harm will be done. Human vindication begets human vindication, and it cannot discern who is innocent and who is guilty before the law.

Although geared towards retribution, the law is a channel of reconciliation between the State and the offender, since the latter is, regardless of criminal bent, still the former’s ‘child’ (like the victims). Even if reconciliation between the offender and the victims is highly improbable, we know of a model that says otherwise. As offenders of the Most Holy God, reconciliation is paved through the blood of Christ – we have infuriated the Father, and He crucified His Son instead of us.

For All Are Offenders

As Christians, we are called to be as balm to the hurting. Encouraging vengeance and lawless retribution is adverse to our call. The Gospel that we carry is meant to make people realize that all are heinous offenders before Him, and that apart from Christ, we are bound to suffer eternal death in accordance with God executing His due process. This is the message we give to the victims of crimes in this world, with the hope that God would reconcile them to Himself for eternity.

If what the majority clamors for is in conflict with the established precepts of law, what do we do? We’ll look into that next.

For the meantime, may we continually comfort the hurting with the Gospel that we have received.

Sources:

1. "Who Is a Victim of Crime?" Department of Justice. Accessed September 13, 2016.
2. Act 3815: The Revised Penal Code of the Philippines. Date Enacted: December 8, 1930.
3. Salaverria, Leila. "Duterte: State of Lawlessness Covers the Whole Country." Inquirer.net. September 3, 2016. Accessed September 3, 2016..
4. Segall, Marshall. "Pain: A Secret Garden of Pride." DesiringGod.org. August 19, 2015. Accessed September 1, 2016.
5. Wallace, Harvey. Victimology. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2011.

1 Latin for “Father of the fatherland” or “Father of the country”.