A
Political Party Platform Based on Biblical Ethics
The (
) Party is based on a philosophy of limited government. It is
inclusive of any and all persons who celebrate the
history of our democratic republic as rooted in the U.S.
Constitution. The Declaration of
Independence gives the original definition to the scope of civil
rights and the nature of a limited
government to serve these rights:
"We
hold these truths to be self-evident, 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.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed."
In the Fifth and
Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, these rights are
legally defined as the protection of
persons from the deprivation of "life,
liberty or property@
without due process of law. The word Amen@ as
used in the Declaration is understood in its best literary sense as
inclusive of all humankind B
men, women and children. It was this commitment to unalienable
rights that enabled the United States to
overcome inherited evils. Especially, it allowed us to legally
emancipate blacks and women to fully
participate in our democratic and constitutional republic. And it should apply likewise
to native Americans.
The basis for civil
rights enumerated in the Declaration is found in the biblical order
of creation. Here there are four
subjects addressed: God, life, choice and sex. In the beginning is
God, and his highest goal in creation was
human life, as he made man and woman in his image to rule over the works
of his hands. The defining
distinctive then given to man and woman was the power of moral and
aesthetic choices. The most
important choice involves human sexuality, where in marriage and the
establishment of a household,
there resides the power to pass on the gifts of life, choice and
sex, through procreation, to our children.
The Declaration
addresses these same four subjects in the same order. It begins with
God as our Creator who endows
us with unalienable rights. The first right is that of life,
followed by liberty, which equals the language
of choice or freedom. Then the language of the "pursuit
of happiness,@
equally with that of "property,@indicates
the subject of human sexuality. In the order of creation, sexuality
is based on the joining
of man and woman in marriage, whereupon they establish a new household, which is their basis
for property rights and thus economic productivity, which in total
is the basis for the individual and
society=s
power for the pursuit of happiness.
Consistent with this
biblical heritage, the (
) Party affirms six ethical components which are universal in
aspiration, and an excellent means by which to govern a
constitutionally free and democratic republic:
1. The power to give reflects the nature of the Creator, where
true power finds its definition in the giving of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to all
persons, all of whom are made in God=s image. This power to give is the nature of true government.
2. The power to live in the light means the freedom to live
openly and honestly in the sight of God and one another. No darkness, no deceit, no
hiddenness, no
motivations by fear, no ulterior agendas.
3. The power of informed choice is the genuine freedom to make
good choices, based on the true definition of terms necessary to distinguish good from evil.
This reflects the power to give where
God=s
love does not force itself upon us, but comes by invitation.
Religious liberty is thus the first freedom and we affirm the ethics of persuasion in civil
discourse and we renounce all coercive and
intolerant means. It is the power of informed choice which
makes "the
consent of the governed@ possible.
4. The power to love hard questions reflects the humility and
confidence to embrace any and all questions honestly. It equals the invitation to all citizens
to be received into the political process
with graciousness and respect, regardless of their views so
long as civil order is honored. This
freedom of dissent in the marketplace of ideas creates the
dynamic tension in which a constitutional and democratic republic thrives.
5. The power to love enemies means our recognition that those
who oppose our persons or positions, in any capacity, nonetheless deserve respect as image-bearers
of God. It also means that we renounce any dehumanizing language or actions in our
political partisanships.
6. The power to forgive is the power to give in the face of
brokenness and betrayal. It is the grace to
acknowledge our common humanity, and to be merciful to each
other, in the hope that all people of good will can work more productively together to ensure a
healthy civil order.
As human life is
protected, human liberty is established, and property rights and the
pursuit of happiness are made
possible. These three contexts for civil rights equal the scope of a
limited federal government. They
form a necessary and logical order, the basis for the Bill of
Rights, and a framework in which to define
the core principles of the (
) Party.
Life
Apart from a
definition of human life, questions of liberty, property and law are
moot. The (
) Party affirms the
following:
1.
All human life is made in God=s
image, is of equal value in God=s
sight, and for its entire natural duration it is to be protected by due process of law as the
first order of human government.
2.
The historic family unit, rooted in heterosexual faithful monogamous
marriage and the raising of children, is the basic institution in society. It is
predicated on the power to give and it is the cradle
for human life. As such, it deserves unique cultural and
legal affirmation.
3.
Trust in human relationships is based on the power to give, and
necessary for the well-being of human life. These qualities are best learned in the intrinsic
nature of faithful marriage and parenting.
Liberty
All liberties are in
service to human life, and the First Amendment sets forth the order
of liberties necessary for a just
society:
"Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
The (
) Party affirms the following:
1.
The first freedom is that of religious liberty, and only when it is
secured is there freedom of speech, press, assembly and the redress of grievances. The
"free
exercise thereof@
is secured as Congress gives no preference to one church or religious
organization over another, as it refuses to
establish churches, and as it is free itself from being
established by a church.
2.
The goal is "free
exercise,@
which is to say that citizens of all religious or philosophical
persuasions are invited to participate in the political
process according to their express beliefs.
3.
Religious liberty celebrates the enfranchisement of all minority
worldviews, guaranteeing the vote to all law-abiding citizens. Majority and plurality religious
or political worldviews expect no more freedom to advocate their positions than the freedom
minority worldviews have. By the same
token, minority worldviews have no more freedom to see their
positions morally or legally enfranchised, beyond what they can win through persuasion
within the democratic process.
4.
For those who by choice, circumstance or the brokenness of adversity
do not to participate fully or partly as members of the historic family unit, they should be
equally free from punitive laws restricting private associations. All persons, however, must
accept accountability for the public
consequences of their private associations and actions, and
that they in no way deprive others of
life, liberty or property. This is the ethics of informed
choice.
5.
The education of children is the primary responsibility and liberty
of parents. As such, government must serve this prerogative, and serve local liberties to
define the nature and relationship between
public and private education. This freedom of choice in
primary and secondary education is the
foundation for a vibrant higher education, for this nation=s
commitment to a genuine liberal arts discipline in all the sciences, and thus for preparation of
leadership in all sectors of the culture.
6.
There is a crucial liberty for people to choose their own means of
health coverage, retirement provision and other "insurance@
and Asocial
security@
type needs apart from government mandated means. By the same token, where government means have been
mandated in the past, all concomitant promises must be honored.
7.
The liberty for citizens to disobey civil government is only
applicable when and if the Bill of Rights were to be abridged by the force of a coercive and
unconstitutional State power, thus seeking to force a citizen to deny his religious beliefs in
word or deed.
8.
An immigration policy rooted in the identity of the United States as
a nation of immigrants reflects the power to give; and our future identity is rooted in the
same power to give, and as protected by
the rule of law.
9.
In its international role, the United States should model its
constitutional freedoms. Wherever religious and political liberty is respected or
an aspiration,
the United States is free to join in mutually
appropriate political and economic relationships. As well,
the United States maintains its prerogative for its national sovereignty and defense as the
best means to be an agent for religious
and political liberty within the community of nations,
respecting equally the aspirations of all other peoples.
Property
Once life and
liberty are secured, property rights and the pursuit of happiness
become possible. The ( ) Party
affirms the following:
1.
The ownership and protection of private property is the liberty for
all to pursue, and due process of law is required before any property, liberty or life is
deprived.
2.
The reservation of rights to property belongs first with the people,
and then within the local and state jurisdictions which are outside the jurisdiction of a
limited federal government.
3.
The jurisdiction of a limited federal government includes those
areas where interstate cooperation is necessary for the common good; such as national defense,
commerce, the protection of the environment; as well as the protection of life, liberty and
property in capacities that transcend an individual state jurisdiction, or supersede it in concert
with the unalienable rights to life, liberty
and property.
4.
The right for collective bargaining in labor matters, and the right
not to participate in the same, are equally necessary.
5.
Tax policies must support society=s
dependence on the historic family unit, taxes must be in fair proportion to government=s
needs, must be derived from productive economic activity, and must encourage entrepreneurial ventures and capital formation for
businesses and job creation.
6.
The ethical commitment of a free market economy is: AEarn
all you can, save all you can, employ all you can, and give away all you can.@
Accordingly, it is understood that wealth and the cognate power for charity is produced by families and workers in the
private sector, not by government. Government serves the free market economy in its
constitutional role of protecting life, liberty and
property.
7.
The support of the historic family unit is the best deterrent to
criminal actions which violate persons and property, and the best deterrent to substance
abuse.
The (
) Party affirms the above principles as a guideline for
specific public policies. It believes that the government
which governs the least governs the best, and accordingly it is
committed to reducing the
complexity and amount of current local, state and federal statutes as much
as possible.