#74: ANARCHY OF THE SECULAR LEFT

IDENTITY POLITICS | Mark Boonstra: Although politics infects everything these days, this is about more than just politics.

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Anarchy—defined as the rejection of all authority and the absence of order—is fundamentally opposed to the biblical call for peace, justice, and submission to God-ordained leadership. Scripture teaches that “there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1). As believers living in America, we are called not to sow chaos or rebellion, but to be agents of righteousness, honoring the laws of the land so long as they do not contradict God’s Word.

Titus 3:1 urges us to “be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work.” In a nation blessed with freedom and civic responsibility, Christians are to model godly citizenship—standing for truth, seeking justice, and promoting peace—not disorder. Anarchy breeds confusion, but God is not the author of confusion; He is the God of order (1 Corinthians 14:33). In honoring rightful authority, we reflect His character and help preserve the moral fabric of our communities. Enjoy Judge Boonstra’s essay; he “nails” this issue on basic morality. -Stephen Phinney

“ANARCHY.”

Our rights were endowed to us by our Creator. George Washington implored us to remember that religion and morality are the “indispensable supports” of our society. John Adams declared that “Religion and Virtue are the only foundations” of our society and government. Samuel Adams observed that the “Religion and public Liberty of a People are intimately connected,” “It’s a word derived from the ancient Greek: anarcia (or anarkhia).

And it’s rearing its ugly head once again in America today.

What does it mean?

And what moral lessons does it present for us?

In short, “anarcia” is a combination of the Greek words “an” (meaning “without”) and “arcia” (meaning “ruler”).

So, simply put, anarcia (or “anarchy”) means “without a ruler.”

Anarchists respect no authority (other than their own). They accept no rules (other than their own). They instead choose chaos and lawlessness. Not by accident, but by design.

Anarchy stands in stark contrast to the rule of law. The basic system by which a society is governed. A fundamental set of rules that are generally accepted by the citizenry (or at least by the law-abiding citizenry), and a methodology for enforcing those rules. And the law, of course, has its foundation in the principles of morality.

America, of course, was founded on notions of liberty, based on the “self-evident truth” that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

But anarchists take liberty to an unacceptable extreme. Liberty, as our founders envisioned it, does not mean that all men are free to do whatever they wish, whenever they wish, without consequence. Or to inflict chaos and lawlessness on the lives of their countrymen.

Indeed, the very next line of the Declaration of Independence confirms “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” And while the people may alter or abolish a form of government that “becomes destructive of these ends” (as Great Britain had done in the 1700s), “prudence . . . dictate[s] that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes,” as mankind is “more disposed to suffer . . . than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

The anarchists of today come from the secular Left.

They don’t accept the vision of our Founding Fathers. Indeed, they reject the essential norms of our society and deem themselves subject to the authority of no one.

Today’s anarchists believe, therefore, that they have a right to riot in the streets, take over our cities, attack police officers, loot local businesses, assassinate corporate executives, congressmen (and even presidents), threaten Supreme Court Justices, and defy federal law.

Of course, in rejecting authority and in dismissing the rule of law, the anarchists of today seek to liberate themselves not only from all earthly governing authority, but from the Godly authority that gave rise to it. They reject the lesson that Paul imparted to the people of Rome:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. [Romans 13: 1-2.]

What is the root cause of all of this?

It has to be more than TDS (“Trump Derangement Syndrome”), doesn’t it?

It is.

Although politics infects everything these days, this is about more than just politics.

It’s about basic morality.

And it’s about our worldview. Do we have a God-centric worldview? Or a man-centric worldview?

Our Founding Fathers recognized cannot subsist separately,” and “rise and fall together.” And Gouverneur Morris professed that “there must be religion” because “when that ligament is torn, society is disjointed, and its members perish.”

Perhaps this best explains why the secular Left in America, just a few years ago, was tearing down our statues. They don’t believe in the foundational values of America.

And why it has been on a decades-long campaign to banish God from our schools. To tear down displays of the Ten Commandments. To reinterpret our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom as one of freedom from religion (rather than of religion).

At bottom, the anarchists of the secular Left reject not only the authority of government, but more fundamentally the authority of God.

Mankind has been violating God’s laws since Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

And it is in that tradition that the secular Left operates today.

They don’t care, for example, that God created man and woman. And that he formed them with intricate distinctions of DNA that we can barely begin to comprehend.

No, they arrogantly believe, in their man-centric view of the world, that we can override all of that. That if we think we identify as a gender other than our own, then we can change our gender.

And in the name of “choice,” they decree that they have a right to take the God-given life of the innocent unborn, right up to the moment of (and perhaps one day beyond) birth.

They reject basic morality in favor of treating all human behavior as if it were morally equivalent. And they demand the right to teach our kids according to their own values (or lack thereof) rather than our own.

This man-centric worldview of the secular Left extends even further into such policy matters as “climate change.” The climate has been changing since “the beginning,” when God “created the heaven and the earth.” It has warmed, it has cooled, the waters and risen, and they have fallen. But now we are to believe that mankind controls it all. That we are the cause of warming (or cooling) or hurricanes, or you name it. Certainly, we should be good stewards of the earthly habitat that God has given to us. But, like it or not, we are not in control.

A little less arrogance, and a little more humility, would go a long way in this world. After all:

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted. [Luke 14:11.]

Anarchy. No ruler, earthly or otherwise. Not even God.

The result? Chaos. Lawlessness. Human arrogance. Moral equivalence.

And a failed society.

It’s time to return to the God-centric worldview of our Founding Fathers.

America will be a better place.

Listen to the reading of the United States Constitution:

Identity Politics, with Mark Boonstra & Dr. Stephen Phinney, is an extension of IOM America’s IM Christian Writers Association. The mission of the authors is to restore faith in God & country.

-Mark | Mark’s Substack | Visit Mark’s Website