LORD's political system Vs. Roman's system
Our present day political system is inherited from the Romans. LORD's political system is described in Judges, Old Testament. The present day system cannot dispense justice promptly, and suffers many shortcomings. I hope we will discuss various aspects of LORD's system (Vs. Roman's system) and the feasibility of its implementation. But any topics of interests to Christians are also welcome.
Government - a basic understanding
Let us consider a fictitious situation - an island with some inhabitants. The inhabitants agree to set up some form of Government.
Exercise : It would be a good exercise for you to write down the essential things for a Government. [Scroll down to continue]
Possible Answer :
They may simply elect a king and let it be their government.
But let us focus on a system similar to the system nowadays.
Then they need a Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister must have some Ministers under him to help him.
They need an election system.
They need a Police, hence a Head of Police plus a handful of policemen.
They need a Judiciary. Hence some judges, and some officers to help in court proceedings.
They need education .....
They need medical care ....
They need defence ....
.....
Therefore, there are Minister of Justice, Minister of Law and Order, Minister of Education, Minister of ....
The Prime Ministers, the Ministers, the people working under the Ministers, ... they all have to be paid. That is to say,
They need a budget.
Exercise : Names the ways to raise revenues.
[Scroll down to continue]
Possible Answer :
Income tax;
Property Tax - say, according to the area of the land the person has, certain sum per year;
Import tax;
Export Tax;
Licencing all commercial activities for Licence fees
....
....
Exercise : What percentage of the population should be in "civil servants" ? Could you forsee troubles that may arise ? i.e. places where the system may go wrong ?
[Scroll down to continue]
Possible Answer : Many things may go wrong, especially if the moral of the population is not good. The Prime Minister may demand good food, that he employs a number of servants to serve him sumptuous food every day, or he may demand pomp, that he employs lots of "runners/attendants" for his service. The Ministers may use their influence to obtain contracts for his friends and relatives. The Judges may seek bribe. The civil-servants may find faults with the people unless they pay them bribes. The Ministry of Defence may seek power, .... Simply put, the government may become corrupted.
Only when the moral of the population is good would the "Civil Servants" be really servants to the people. How many governments today are really servants to the people ? How many governments are NOT corrupt ? |
This system, based on "compulsory tax", can be extremely burdensome for the people. Tax rates of 30 - 50 % are not uncommon. Moreover, this system "governs" us, it may "govern" every aspect of our lifes, thus preventing us from doing many things we want to do, which are not illegal according to Laws of LORD.
Not so with LORD's system. You may learn how LORD's system functions from the Bible, Exodus to Deuteronomy - the political system LORD gave the Israelites, and which finally enabled them to enter Cannaan. [Click here for a quick introduction to LORD's system.
THREE PILLARS OF LORD'S SYSTEM
|
P.S. Isabella Lucy Bird (1831-1904) travelled extensively to many places around the world in the 19th Century. She saw political systems of various places, and her books can give us great insight as to Political systems, many of them were still in their primitive form. Moreover, they augment our understanding of LORD's Cleanliness Rules in the Old Testament.
|
Try to investigate other Political Systems, do not let the Roman type of Political System restrict you |
(*) Law of GOD and His Commandments
(*) Jesus' Sermon on the Mount
(*) Other Teachings of Jesus
(*) Hymn
(*)
