Religious Implications of Global Citizen First

Here is another question that was posed about the global first initiative, "Have you considered the question from a religious perspective?"

The religious question in this is quite interesting. Thomas Paine in his pamphlet Common Sense wrote, "government even in its best state is but a necessary evil in its worst state an intolerable one." Paine went on to write that the design and end of government was to provide security and freedom. In other words Paine believed in limited government that should interfere in the lives of people as little as possible. What is fascinating about Paine's view is that even though he was a deist, he used the Bible to show that God "disapproved of government by kings." To prove his point he referred to two incidents in the history of Israel, a nation that had no king at this time. The first incident was the victory of Israel over the Midianites led by Gideon. Following that battle, the people wanted to make Gideon king. Paine points out that "Gideon in the piety of his soul replied, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, THE LORD SHALL RULE OVER YOU. Words need not be more explicit; Gideon doth not decline the honor but denieth their right to give it; neither doth he compliment them with invented declarations of his thanks, but in the positive stile of a prophet charges them with disaffection to their proper sovereign, the King of Heaven."

The second incident happened about 130 years later when the people of Israel came to the prophet Samuel and demanded a king. Paine writes, "But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us; and Samuel prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, THEN I SHOULD NOT REIGN OVER THEM....Now therefore hearken unto their voice, howbeit, protest solemnly unto them and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them."

This demonstrates the mindset of many of our founding fathers and their views toward limited government, and how they would cringe at the thought of adding another layer of government. By the way, you can read my Diigo annotated web page of Thomas Paine's Common Sense by clicking on this link: Diigo Common Sense.

The second intersection with religion relates to biblical prophecy and the creation of a world government. (Note: Rischard does not say that he is in favor of a world government. However, in order to create these GIN panel of experts, one would have to create a bureaucracy that would support these panels, including some kind of enforcement mechanism.) Many Christians believe that towards the end of time as we know it, a world leader will emerge (referred to as the antichrist) and create havoc on the earth. For at least one viewpoint on this issue, you can read the following article: Bible Prophesy and World Government.

These are just two of the ways that this issue can be looked at from a religious perspective. This is certainly not a comprehensive look at the subject.