Mike Winther talks about limiting government and where the brightline should be. The challenge of the brightline is defining it. Where is that line in the sand that separates two ends of a spectrum when enough is enough? He goes on to share examples, such as the abortion debate. He talks about society, government, and relativism.
Mike tackles the role of government and how Political Science as a discipline is about defining the proper role of government or finding the brightline. He also mentions the period of Judges in the Old Testament as a model for modern government. He talks about justice, not harming others, and doing what you say you'll do. Mike dives into human rights, having a different civil and military government, and the importance of laws being consistent.
You'll Learn:
[01:33] A brightline separates each end of a spectrum. It's where you draw the limit. It's where we distinguish one thing from another.
[01:59] The entire abortion debate is about the brightline. Where's the brightline? When does it become murder?
[02:26] The challenge of the study of government is that our society does not like brightlines. Brightlines are confining to us.
[03:05] Human beings would much prefer that there weren't brightlines, and they weren't held accountable for their actions.
[03:26] We prefer relativism or we want the line to be kind of foggy.
[03:50] Government is taught as a relative thing without brightlines.
[05:12] Mike majored in Political Science. Political science comes down to one question and that is what is the proper role of government.
[13:24] The period of the judges in the Old Testament is an excellent model for modern government.
[15:05] Hebrews chapter 11. The Faith Hall of Fame. It's proper for the civil magistrate to raise an army and defend the people when they are attacked.
[18:24] If you want to know the proper role of government, just read back through Judges and see which things were improper according to the civil magistrate.
[22:41] Types of punishment in American and ancient Israel.
[27:00] There are two fundamental principles to how you should live.
[27:32] Justice is doing to others as you would have them do to you or not doing harm to others. It's also doing everything you say you're going to do.
[30:49] Why would Christians go to the court for justice? The church doesn't have the power of the sword to force people to do what is right.
[34:47] Freedom of movement is a human right. Our duty as citizens and Christians is to minister God's word.
[36:31] Matthew 28 says to go out and disciple all of the nations.
[43:10] If we say a right only protects Americans, then God isn't the source of those rights.
[47:17] Why should the military justice system be different from the civil justice system? If we're already using the best system, why would we use a different one?
[51:04] Another question for discussion is if there's a role in government for preventing future crimes? Minority Report movie.
[52:09] If you define the proper things for the government to do, then everything else is improper.
[53:27] Good law should be consistent.
