Can Christians have respect for authority when authority does not seem to command respect?

“Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; “ Psalm 37

I am writing for those Christians who are concerned at deceit in our politics. If you accept political deceit then I do not know how to convince you, but this article will most likely not do that. But if you are concerned as I am, how do we reconcile that with respect for authority? How, for example,  do you respect authority if your figure of authority encourages you to drink disinfectant?

A quick summary of what is covered in this 1800 words:

·         How do we have respect for authority when figures of authority do not command respect?

·         Can we understand how we reached this situation?
·         Are there such concerns in UK as well as USA?

·         Psalm 37 tells us not to fret, to refrain from anger.

·         There are voices arguing against making political capital out of this – which are intended to shore up support for the Government, i.e. to make political capital out of the situation

·         What is the role of Opposition? Can we challenge with respect?

RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY

Does “submit... to human authority” (1 Peter 2:13) mean “support the Government’s policies because they are the Government”?

Biblical Reference (one example, there are others): “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people”. (1 Peter 2:13-15 NIV).

I have more of Psalm 37 in mind and I’ll return to it below.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

I am going to ask one more question before attempting to resolve this. How did we get into this situation?

I can recall the dreadful news in 1966 of the Aberfan disaster. Some people asked: “How can God allow so many people, so many children to die?” But the laws of physics were known, and the consequences of stacking up thousands of tons of coal-mining waste at a steep angle above a village were known; people chose to ignore those consequences, with tragic results. And equally we have two recent consequences.

·         The likelihood of a global pandemic was known, considered in the UK in 2016, and then ignored

·         The consequences of electing a leader with a track record of serial casual dishonesty and self-serving are also predictable

I heard two statistics about coronavirus when it arose in China; perhaps 80% of the population would catch Covid-19, and the mortality rate was estimated as 1-2%; simple maths indicated half a million deaths in the UK and four times that in the USA unless suitable measures were taken.  But I had been working in Sierra Leone on the Ebola recovery programme. I knew that in Freetown my temperature was taken every morning and I had to wash my hands before entering the office. My temperature was taken before I was allowed on any flight out of the country. If necessary, the UK would be able to adopt effective measures. Or so I thought.

The primary duty of a government is the health and safety and security of its citizens.

I find it impossible to attribute any positive motive to the encouragement to ingest disinfectant. The kindest interpretation is that the speaker is demented.

TWO SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC

I need to be explicit here. I do not see health and safety and security of American citizens as the primary concern of the current President of the USA, and many readers will agree with me.
But I need to go further. When I see a Government ignoring the possibility of securing ventilators and PPE for ideological reasons related to Brexit, then that indicates to me that the health and safety and security of UK citizens is not the UK Government’s primary concern. We saw a Civil Servant squirming to answer honestly about this in a Select Committee, and to be honest I believe the evidence under questioning more than the subsequent retraction.  However, I know people who will still defend the UK Government’s actions. I find this somewhat puzzling, but I think there are at least two factors

·         “This is not the time, we are where we are, don’t look back”;  and, to develop this further, I think the UK public in general has a great sense of fair play, and actually would have forgiven the Government a great deal and “started from scratch” in February if the UK Government had, for dealing with coronavirus, set out on an honest path

·         Sympathy for the Prime Minister when unwell.

If you have a Christian Faith, then you are unlikely to agree with the methods used by this Government. You may or may not agree with their objectives - that is a matter of politics.
But you surely do not agree with deceit as a method for achieving those objectives - that is a question of morals.

However, even if you wish to apply what I am saying only to the USA and not also to the UK, please read on if you will.

PSALM 37

Let’s read more of Psalm 37,

Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. (Psalms 37:1-8 NIV)

This Psalm was chosen to open the service in my church at the start of 2020 - chosen I expect without any thought of politics. And yet it can be applied very directly to the current situation. But the Psalm tells us not to “fret” about those who do evil.

MAKING POLITICAL CAPITAL?

There are subtle (and not so subtle) ways of making political capital out of the crisis and shoring up support for the Government:
"Now is not the time..."
"We are where we are..."
"Don't try to make political capital out of this..."
"So clap for Boris"

This is a clever campaign to build up support for the Government; but can we just agree::
- The first duty of a Government is the safety and security of its citizens - it's not the duty of the citizens to look after the Government and keep it free from criticism.
- Where a Government has other higher priorities, according to evidence in Parliament , then it is valid to raise questions
- No-one (not me, not The Daily Mail, not the Guardian, the BBC) has an infallible sense of "the mood of the nation".

Some may say “this is not the time”.  My view is that when people are dying unnecessarily it is time to choose a more honest path. We must be wary of healthy challenge being shut down.

GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION

So – let’s consider again - how did we get into this situation?
Actions have consequences; giving power to a deceiver means that you can no longer count on the State fulfilling its primary duty which is the safety and security of its citizens.
It’s not for myself that I mind that “my” MP and “my” Minister ignored the letters I wrote to them in mid-March  pointing out some of the help that the community needed; I mind because of the attitude that this indicates. “Take it on the chin”?
The Prime Minister is in my view not the hero that the right-wing newspapers have presented him as, but is someone who through his own foolhardiness probably infected himself and colleagues. That is not leadership.

The Government will tend to try to speak with one voice, with collective responsibility. We have Opposition Parties in parliament for a reason; it is not just to wait to become the Government in four years time, it is to challenge the Government where the Government may be going wrong or being less than honest.

CHALLENGE WITH RESPECT?

Personally, I think Keir Starmer’s approach of "Support the Government when they're doing the right thing, push them to do more where that’s appropriate” is right.

And pushing them to plan for the exit of lockdown and to plan for the testing that could help and be open about those plans is valid.

It’s relevant to cite the track record when pointing out "could do better". That should be an encouragement to improve; every teacher does this with their pupils and the Government should not be exempt.

But should citizens rebel? Should citizens attempt to overthrow authority? No – we must respect the exercise of authority. The introduction of Covid-19 testing may be late and botched, and not consistent with what is being said about it, but it is the regime on offer and we must work within that authority.

We can meanwhile encourage a more honest approach to the crisis. We cannot march through London, but we can use social media, we can write to the newspapers, we can question those who tell us that “the mood of the country” is unquestioning support for the Government’s deceit. We can write to MPs and Ministers even if they ignore our constructive suggestions.  We can use humour and satire, as I do; please never imagine that because it is funny (hopefully!) it is not serious.

Here’s a tangible example. What is the exit strategy? If it involves mass testing then we need to ramp up the capacity now, rather than leaving it till the last minute and then finding that we don’t have the capacity we need.
(And if I add “as happened with PPE”, that’s not intended as a meaningless argument, but rather to highlight a pattern of behaviour that is very evident in this Government and its leader of leaving things to the last minute - and then probably saying “we are where we are”. Since this is a pattern of behaviour, strong resolve and probably challenge is needed in order to see change).

But Psalm 37 tells us
Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; ……Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

So – you expect me to
KEEP CALM

In the midst of this
CARRY-ON?

OK