The Godlessness of the State

The National Day of Prayer is approaching, which means the usual tensions between those opposed and those for will be brought out again. A number of organizations have sprung up in recent years to defend the National Day of Prayer (NDP). The day, which is held every year on the first Thursday of May, has “been under attack” by groups such as the Freedom from Religion Foundation, who oppose it on constitutional grounds.

I was listening to the radio this afternoon and I heard an ad asking for people to help support the NDP and other government-sponsored Christian initiatives. The organizers were concerned over a growing sense of Godlessness in America. Along with the NDP, they told of another case where the Ten Commandments were ordered to be removed from state government buildings.

So what did Christians do before 1952, when the NDP was established by congress? It doesn’t take an officially sanctioned day to allow prayer. We should go out and pray, not just on a special day, but every day, for any reason. This whole idea that if we don’t have permission, or sponsorship, or subsidy, or recognition, or assistance from government then we can’t get anything done is really sickening.

And about the Ten Commandments, why must they be placed in the halls of government buildings? Are we to believe that because the state displays them that it somehow respects their intent? The government violates them every day, many times. Having the Ten Commandments placed in the halls of the organization that violates them on a far greater scale than any other institution seems more blasphemous than reverent.

In particular, the sixth and eighth Commandments are disregarded by the state in what appears to be a matter of principle. The state’s two greatest contributions to civilization have been warfare and taxation, which necessarily involve murder, killing, and theft.

Tens of millions of people have been killed as a result of the state’s wars. Thousands have been executed following death sentences from with American courtrooms. Police, it seems, are killing innocent people with a startling regularity.

It is ludicrous that people are demanding that government buildings, constructed with expropriated funds and which employ millions of people paid with stolen money, bear the Commandment from God which declares “You shall not steal.”

But it isn’t only those commandments which are ignored by the state. There is such a cult-like atmosphere that surrounds the state and its figureheads that it’s practically a religion in itself. God was so opposed to such affronts that he gave two Commandments against idolatry – the first and second both cover worshiping other gods.

Just look at these two temples. One is to the Greek goddess Athena, and the other is to the US Supreme Court.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Unless of course you are an agent of the state, such as an interrogating police officer, prosecuting attorney, or undercover police agent. Then it’s perfectly fine to violate the ninth Commandment.

And what about the tenth Commandment? It gets its fair share of disrespect, too. The current squabble over the “Buffet Rule” is a clear case of covetousness. Tom DiLorenzo reminded me of an even more overt example of this when he posted this statement from Abraham Lincoln’s chief tax collector, David A. Wells: “Wherever you find an article, a product, a trade, a profession, or a source of income, tax it!”

Why do some Christians want to be even remotely affiliated with this activity?

Another Look at “The Hunger Games” Trilogy

For another take on ”The Hunger Games“trilogy, see Austin White’s excellent analysis over at his blog Stop the State. In it, he gives a brief plot synopsis and commentary on the youth audience the books were written for. And finally he dives into the heart of the series, which is essentially the LewRockwell.com motto of “anti-state, anti-war, pro-market.”

White covers the role of the police and how only the most brutal are selected and retained. He discusses the role of the market in preserving what quality of life it can, given the Total State’s control over the lives of the people of Panem. And finally he describes the sledgehammer the series’ author, Suzanne Collins, takes to the state and its wars.

From the article:

The primary issue of the series is war and it is at the final chapters where interstate war receives the complete uncompromising, unrelenting condemnation it deserves. There is no glory depicted. Libertarians often correctly point out that wars between countries are in fact wars between governments, but Collins shows wars between governments for what they really are: the State versus every single one of us. All sides will eventually commit atrocities, all sides become indefensible, no innocent on any side is safe from the State, and the people who bear the greatest costs are almost always those who least deserve it.

Read the rest here.