Editorial
For the Hill-Dwellers
Christians, Imperialism & the Rule of Law
O Lord, who shall abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell on your holy hill? . . . He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. (Psalm 15)
In such, and only by such, is the Rule of Law established: those who keep the covenants they have made, even when it is to their disadvantage. Americans in recent years have been treated in an unprecedented way to the public exposure of those who have vowed to uphold the law, but who overthrow it with astonishing shamelessness whenever it does not suit their cause, or even convenience, apparently confident—and with increasing reason—that everyone but the nasty legalist is a sympathetic party to their perfidy.
Jews and Christians in particular should immediately recognize that such people have no claims on their political loyalties, that with respect to the sacred writings we share, though most of these reprobates claim to be Christians or Jews, they are not only outsiders, but outsiders who have placed themselves in an imperial posture from which they can and do take unjust advantage of everyone with less power and greater moral conviction.
That this is the case with members of the Party of Chaos is more than clear, but it is naïve to think that many in the Party of Comfort, especially at its top, are not people of the very same quality, the principal difference between them being that the real causes of the latter are less attractive to the venal and stupid by whom elections can be decided.
In all events, it is certain we must steadfastly remain among those who "swear to their own hurt," who keep our covenants, and who can be absolutely relied upon to do it for reasons that surpass all worldly causes or considerations. In a degenerating culture, this will be the glory by which we are known. If we are interested in pointing others to the ineffable beauty of the Tabernacle in whom we dwell, there will be no better way to do it. •
S. M. Hutchens is a senior editor and longtime writer for Touchstone.
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