God. Real. Right.

This question is particularly addressed at kingdom-minded believers who claim that patriotism, military service, and government authority are the wrong places for Christians to live out their Christianity. It is a very simple question rooted in the golden rule (the universalization of ethical claims; what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.)
What do believers pray will come from government, from those in authority? Simply this: “…that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” 1 Timothy 2:2. How do “kings and all who are in authority” bring about such a condition? Although Romans 13 does make explicit that it is accomplished with the sword, that passage would not be necessary to figure it out. In all the affairs of men, it is the exercise of (more…)

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This commandment is based on Jesus’ statement in Matthew 7:12, the golden rule. As it turns out, it is extensionally equivalent (sorry for the obfuscation here) to Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative. Many people seem to think the golden rule is about making sure we’re nice to other people so they’ll be nice to us. Hardly.
The point is that if we are going to claim anything is right for us, we must also acknowledge that it is right for everyone else. And if we are going to claim something is wrong for someone else, we must acknowledge that it is wrong for us. As it turns out, this rule is more than coincidentally powerful. It is rationally impossible to believe morality is real and not hold this view. Further, when all is taken into account, it appears that this one rule manages to encompass every moral imperative about living with people.
In traffic, it means one person cannot ethically take the shoulder since the benefit of doing so hinges on everyone else following a rule he has not applied to himself.
In economics, it means there must be a level playing field. That is, there must be a free market, with governmental intrusion only where there is fraud.
Respect for authority, for life, for marriage, for personal property, and for truth itself are all products of this one commandment.

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