The Impotence of Democracy: Defining Goodness

The United States as a democracy (yes, I know – we’re a democratic republic) has a great many things going for it. I wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else. But frankly, our democracy has a number of serious flaws which can only be overcome by a good monarchy. A king, you see, doesn’t have to take opinion polls to find out what is "good." And a good king will make good decisions based on good standards.

The most serious flaw of a democracy is that it reflects an average standard of what is good and acceptable instead of an absolute standard. Inevitably, the average standard of goodness and acceptability declines decade by decade into the amoral abyss of "anything goes." Anything, except, of course, evaluation of society by an absolute standard. That is absolutely immoral, and the only sin that absolutely cannot be tolerated, according to today’s progressives (a.k.a. liberals).

In 1830 Alexus de Tocqueville came from France to study our country. In his two volume work, Democracy in America, he wrote:

I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors, in her fields and boundless forests, in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution.

Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if American ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.

I wonder what De Tocqueville would think if he visited us today?

John Gardner wrote, " We would not put up with a debauched king, but in a democracy all of us are kings, and we praise debauchery as pluralism." (On Moral Fiction. Christianity Today, Vol. 40, no. 2.)

From her inception, the Ten Commandments have long been America’s bedrock. That is no longer the case. It is now quite fashionable in our country to use God’s name in vain, to worship other gods (hedonism, secular humanism), to construct and worship models of other gods (the evolutionary tree), to ignore any day set aside for rest and worship, to marginalize our parents, to murder our unborn babies (do they ever get to choose?), to commit every sort of sexual immorality, to permit the state to balance its budget on the backs of people on low and fixed incomes (and call it gaming), and to covet absolutely everything our neighbor has (and bankrupt ourselves on credit because we don’t have the cash to pay for it).

Sir Isaac Newton, brilliant mathematician, wrote of three laws of motion in 1687. His Third Law states, briefly: "To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." I have long believed that Law applies not only to the material, but also to the spiritual universe. As our country has jettisoned the foundational moral laws of the Creator, we have compensated by micromanaging away our freedom in a plethora of imbecilic, nanny-state laws: No more good firecrackers; six-year-olds in car seats; tobacco free zones (outdoors, for crying out loud); banning trans fats in New York City; proposing a "Twinkie tax" (just what we need – the Food Gestapo) – the list goes on and on. It’s OK to hand out condoms to kids in high school (because they’re going to do it anyway), but woe to you if you sell them (even diet) soda on school property! I can hardly wait until they fine me because I didn't brush my teeth!

Frankly, we could use a good king to set absolutely good standards in our crazy, mixed up world! Some day we will get exactly that. Jesus will return as King (Isaiah 11:1-5) and set up an absolutely Good government based on principles of Goodness! And by the way, this King is so good he has already died to pay for all your legal infractions (Romans 5:8-10). I think you can trust him!