politician

Authority Confusion

June 11, 2009 by Chris Field Leave a Comment

Recent discussion about whether present day Governments can legislate away our long-term rights and such things as our Common Law rights prompts me to discuss “Authority Confusion”, or, better put, “Jurisdictional Confusion”.

An analogy or two might be helpful, to open the subject.

Analogy 1 – The Military Commander

Imagine a Military Commander who instructs his army to invade a particular region and take the cities. In the process a young soldier realises that the region they are invading belongs to the broader realm of the King he serves. He asks his Sergeant to explain what is going on. The soldier is told that the Military Commander decided to bring that region under military control, instead of the King’s control.

The soldier eventually challenges the Military Commander. “Sir, how can we invade our own land and violate our own nation and King?”

The Military Commander explains that the King gave him the right to rule the army and so he is doing with it what seems best to him.

Jurisdictional Confusion

Do you see the Authority confusion there? Can you see the Jurisdictional confusion?

The Military Commander draws his authority from the King who appointed him. He has jurisdiction over the army, on behalf of the King, not independently of the King. The Military Commander violates his own authority, abandoning the right to hold it, once he attacks the very authority who gave him his position and jurisdiction.

Analogy 2 – The McDonald’s Manager

Imagine a man who is promoted to Manager of a McDonald’s hamburger outlet. Once in that position he chooses to change the recipe for the burgers, give free burgers to his friends and add a few home cooked products from his mum.

When the customers and staff ask him why he is doing it he explains that he is the manager now and can do what he likes.

That is ridiculous, because he only has authority as a manager because he is in the employ of the company. Once he mocks the company by abusing the position of responsibility and trust they have given him, he disqualifies himself from the role of manager. He will be sacked.

Conferring Authority

Authority is conferred. The authority of the Australian Government, for example, has been conferred upon it. Centuries of British legal and cultural heritage, with Christianity, the Holy Bible, Common Law, application of Natural and Divine Law, the Westminster System, Imperial Decrees, Maritime Law, and so on, have conferred on the present Government the responsibilities they currently hold. The people of Australia hold authority as the “electors’ parliament” and need to confer their personal vote to a government in order for that government to have authority to govern.

Captain James Cook, operating under Maritime Law, subject to the Crown of England and the British Parliament, anchored in Common Law, based on Natural Law and Divine Law, based upon the Person, Place and Values of Almighty God as expressed in the Imperial Document the Holy Bible (King James Version), provided the basis for today’s Government of Australia.

When a Government violates and rejects the principles upon which that very Government has been established it invalidates itself.

No Government or Parliamentary System can destroy its own foundations, violate the principles on which it stands, or revoke the rights, responsibilities and privileges upon which it is established without making a mockery of its own existence.

Subverting Authority

However “power corrupts” and so politicians and legislators are not above the temptation to distort reality, arrogate privileges to themselves and violate the rights of others. What is happening in modern societies is the assertion of the exclusive rights of the present forms of Government, independently of the basis on which they stand.

High Court rulings, Statute Laws and University text books notwithstanding, reality has not changed. A wrong decision does not dictate a new reality. Foolishness does not destroy wisdom. Lies do not render the truth powerless.

Powerful People

People, who are free indeed, by Divine Law, Natural Law, Common Law and their cultural and legal heritage, should not be fooled by those who tell them that they no longer possess that freedom.

In Australia we also have the Australian Constitution to further affirm our personal freedoms.

And notice what happens each time we are asked to vote. Our politicians come to us hat-in-hand at each election asking us to confer upon them the authority which we hold as Australians. Without our permission they cannot hold office.

We are not pawns of the Parliament, but they are our servants, as their repeated appeals for our votes affirm.

True Freedom

Parliamentarians do not determine our freedoms. Those freedoms are ours from creation and through history. Parliamentarians and legislators can only operate within a narrow margin of function. Any intention on their part to cross those boundaries reveals that they are unworthy of the trust placed in them and are ready to violate the very authority on which they stand.

The Supreme God

October 15, 2008 by Chris Field Leave a Comment

The God identified in the Bible as Almighty God stands as the supreme being of all existence. To illustrate the profound significance of his being allow me to show His supremacy in the core areas of human existence.

Human Existence

Human existence and human life experience are governed by a range of structures, systems and realities. For the purpose of this article let me identify a set of those core areas of human existence.

Individuality is a core issue in human experience. We are all individuals, unique from every other person and creature.

Family is also a core issue, since we are all brought into the world as a result of the actions of others. Those parents and the family from which they come are a reality we cannot ignore.

Society is also a basic issue of human existence. We all live in some form of society with at least some form of social inter-action with others. The society may be a village or a city, and it may be a small group of associates we meet face to face or a global set of friends linked by a virtual social network.

Religion is yet another core issue of human existence. Even those who ignore religion must recognise that much of society and human history is deeply influenced by religious thought and process.

Politics is also included in this list, as societies manage their processes through leaders, elected officials or others who take charge over them, for better or for worse.

Law is another basic issue, whether in the form of human conscience or highly developed legal processes. Law stands apart from politics because political entities are not exempt from, nor lords over, legal processes.

Commerce should also be included in a list of structures and systems which impact our human existence.

Education and Communication are also components of our life experience, whether they are in definable systems or not, so let’s throw them into the mix for good measure.

God’s Supremacy

Let me now review this list of systems and processes and point out where God stands in relation to each of them. You will see that God is ‘supreme’ in every sphere.

Individuality: Our personal individuality cannot stand independent of God. God is supreme over our personal independence and individual uniqueness. God, as our creator, is the master of our whole existence, being the very author of our individuality and existence. So God rules supreme over every individual, no matter how defiant he or she may be in asserting a right to unique existence. They are the pot which the potter has made (Jeremiah 18:1-11) and their individuality has no existence outside of God, who rules supreme.

Family: We are each the product of a ‘father’ and ‘mother’, no matter how casual the relationship may have been which caused us to be conceived. We also come under the influence of those who are not our biological parents but who function in the capacity of father and mother in our lives, by nurture, mentoring or the like. Yet God is the supreme parent. He is our Father in heaven, as Jesus revealed (Matthew 6:9). He is our ultimate ancestor, as the lineage of Christ reveals in Luke 3:38. Christ’s family line is traced back to Adam, as is true for all of us, and we are told that Adam is the “son of God”. So, in terms of ‘family’ God is supreme. He is the most wonderful father ever imaginable, but He is also our ultimate ancestor. We are all His children by virtue of our natural birth as descendents of Adam.

Society: God is the ultimate source of social reality. While it is people who collectively create social entities it is God who has the most profound power over social interaction. When two or more people (society) gather in His name He joins their group (Matthew 18:20). But God is able to do more than just participate. It is He who is able to change the social experience for that group of people or their relationship with other groups of people. Ephesians 2:14 speaks of the ministry of Jesus Christ as the one who makes disparate groups compatible and who removes the social barriers which separate them. God is supreme over social experience.

Religion: God is clearly supreme in this dimension because He is the God above all gods (Exodus 15:11). Jesus Christ is the Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). All the religion of earth pales into insignificance against the heavenly temple and religious practice which is described for us in Hebrews 9:11 and 12,24. God is supreme over all religious reality, because He operates out of the heavenly temple with spiritual processes which have eternal impact, not temporary significance.

Politics: Here again God is the clearly supreme being. Christ is described as the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (Revelation 19:16). And the kingdoms of this world are taken under the supremacy of God (Revelation 11:15). Politics is clearly an area where God rules supreme – even though most politicians probably react to that notion. They may not mind whatever claims God makes theoretically, but many would not like God to exercise His lordship over them in practice.

Law: Once again this is not an area where there is any doubt. God is supreme over all legal process, because He is the judge of us all. The flood of Noah’s day and the destruction of the great cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are historical testimony of God’s legal supremacy. His Great White Throne judgement (Revelation 20:11,12) will call everyone to legal account, including all the kings, high court judges, magistrates and potentates who have exercised any level of legal authority over another.

Commerce: Commercial practice is regulated by God and overturned by Him. God demands just weights and balances, so commerce is honest and equitable. God limits the capacities for the charging of interest on borrowed monies. And God calls people to find provision in Him, completely independently of commercial process – “come buy without money” Isaiah 55:1. God is also supreme over those processes by which people seek to make commercial gain. God controls the crops, the completion of the building project and whether the money goes through holes in your bag. Commerce is not independent of God, but subject to God’s blessing or frustration. God is supreme over commerce.

Education & Communication: The revelation of God, through the Bible, is the most supreme education and communication in all of human history. No announcement or instruction has ever matched God’s Word in personal, social and national impact, throughout the entirety of human history. All of the news channels, universities, schools of philosophy and so on are lame when compared with the power of God’s word in the mouth of a child or God’s communications in the heart of a frail old man. God is supreme over all these processes and he will hold us accountable for every word which we speak, so teachers, media and entertainers are subject to God’s supremacy in their roles.

God is Supreme

This summary document should alert you to the truth that God is supreme. All those who beat their chests and seek to impress you with their pre-eminence should be recognised as humble and insignificant when compared to God’s presence in your life and circumstances.

I call you out of the tyranny and beguilement of those who wish you to come under their influence. I call you back to the simplicity and power of working with the one who is supreme and not getting entangled with those who wish to displace Him in your world.

Big Role for Australia’s first female Governor General

April 23, 2008 by Chris Field Leave a Comment

Since my posting regarding Australia’s first female Governor General I have been directed to some informed articles about the true role of the Australian Governor General. In view of the ignorance that most people have regarding the Australian Constitution and the roles of Australian citizens, politicians and the Governor General, I thought it prudent to direct you to at least one informative piece.

Sir David Smith, a retired public servant, has had a close association with the Monarchy and the Australian Governor General, serving a string of Governors General in his illustrious career. He has also become well informed about the legal and constitutional realities of Australia’s Head of State. It so turns out that the British Queen is not the Head of State in Australia, and has not been since Federation on January 1, 1901. The Australian Governor General is indeed our Head of State and is to act according to the Australian Constitution, not on instructions from the Queen of England. That surprised me, in light of the misinformation I had been subjected to by the Australian Press.

So do yourself and Australia a favour by reading at least the first half of an article written by Sir David in October 1996. Here is the link to the article, titled Australia’s Head of State: http://www.monarchist.org.au/smith3.htm

Australia’s First Female Governor General

April 14, 2008 by Chris Field Leave a Comment

For the first time in Australia’s existence as a nation it is to have a female Governor General. It has been announced that Queensland’s Governor, Quentin Bryce, has been appointed to replace Major General Michael Jeffery when he retires at the end of his five year term, in July this year. This gives Mrs Bryce the privilege of becoming Australia’s first female Governor General.

The role of Governor General in Australia is often seen as purely ceremonial. Quentin Bryce’s term as Australian Governor General will be filled with official functions. Any Australian Governor General, male or female, carries a high-profile surrounded by pomp and circumstance. But the role is much more than ceremonial. An Australian Governor General is much more than a rubber stamp to the decisions of the Australian Parliament.

In simple terms there are three entities who wield political power in Australia. The first level of political power in Australia is the people of Australia. The Australian Constitution enshrines the right of each Australian citizen to nominate who they will allow to exercise government over them. That is why, at each election, Australian politicians must come, hat in hand, to woo the support of the most powerful political entity in the nation. If the people do not assign authority to a politician then that politician is just another citizen. The second level of authority, then, is the elected representatives, politicians. They can exercise political privilege, delegated to them by the Australian people, on various terms, such as a limited duration of their tenure. The laws they can pass are limited by the Australian Constitution.

Since power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, those who created the Australian Constitution sought to find an effective balance of power. With the British and American experiences to draw from the drafters of the Australian Constitution sought to find an effective balance between the people, who own the land, and the politicians those people elect to govern the land. Since two competing parties could always come to a stalemate a third party was created to protect the most important element of Australian society – the people.

In the British system the Monarchy, which once ruled with absolute power, had been forced to share power with both politicians and the people. Huge social landmarks were crossed in the process, such as establishing all people equal under the law, including the King. The new (in relative terms) role for the monarch was no longer to govern, nor to yield absolute power, but to be the protector of the people who they once ruled, defending them against the potential abuses of politicians. The Monarch (King or Queen as the case may be from time to time) had long had to acknowledge that his or her place was a privilege they held under God’s authority. They could not take office until they had sworn to honour God and to uphold the Bible as the book from which society was to be governed. In so doing, the King or Queen became God’s agent for the protection of the people.

Little more than a century ago, when the Australian Constitution was drafted, the relatively new role for the Monarchy was appreciated and built into the Australian governmental model. A representative of the British Monarch was to be appointed as the Australian Head of State, extending the British Monarch’s divine mandate to uphold the Bible as the rule of law and the basis for society. This person who functioned as the Head of State, designated the Australian Governor General, stood to protect the Australian people from their elected politicians.

Once an ordinary citizen has become a politician and been elevated to a place of political power over others that person ceases to be ‘ordinary’ and may be tempted to exploit their privilege by abusing the very people who placed them in power. They might decide, for instance, that they should have privileges others do not have. So, every law that Australian politicians can legally make has to go through a final vetting process. The only ones empowered to make such rules are the politicians. To protect the Australian people from abuses of that political power, the Australian Governor General must give authority to those rules by signing them into law.

It is convention that the Governor General of Australia do just that, sign the laws that have been crafted by Parliament. But this is not to suggest that they are a mere rubber stamp. Any true Governor General recognises their place as a protector of the Australian people and upholder of the Bible as the rule of law. If they see any law being promulgated by an elected parliament that opposes the Biblical mandate for social law and order, they have the authority, right and responsibility to oppose that law and refuse to sign it into existence.

Further than this, an Australian Governor General can even take the drastic measure of removing a government which they deem to have exceeded its privileges and to be acting in a manner that is damaging to the people of Australia. Such actions are rare to the point of near extinction, except for the amazing example of Sir John Kerr, Australian Governor General between 1974 and 1977, who dismissed the Australian Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam.

So Mrs Quentin Bryce, in becoming Australia’s Head of State, as the first Australian female Governor General, becomes a hero of the Australian people. She is their protector. She is the one who has the power to protect them from their elected parliamentary politicians. She is the one who must weigh each law against the Bible and determine whether it upholds or contradicts what God has charged her to live by.

Let us all pray that she does what she is being given the privilege to do.

Human Existence

God’s Supremacy

God is Supreme

Recent Posts

Tags

Social Icons