Part of the series Who says…
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2015-04-20.
We are to be subject to one another and therefore subject to the governing authorities. Nowhere are we instructed to be enslaved to those who are to serve.
Everything ultimately becomes political. Although we all try to keep our specific allegiances private, we do have a corporate responsibility to keep our politicians and bureaucrats honest. We need to be politically active for our sakes, for our children’s sakes and our grandchildren’s future. This blog is to encourage you to do just that.
Bible Reference: Luke 16:13
Problems are often disguised as something else. Often problems remain obscured, and unresolved, when we mistakenly focus on the symptom rather than the cause. A classic example of this is what often happens in the health industry, where pills are often prescribed that tend to deal more with the pain than what is causing the pain in the first place. A cynical person may see this as the industry’s way of perpetuating the problem in order to extend the option of cashing in on the continuation of the symptoms.
A major problem within the education industry has been at work for quite some time now. You will notice that I used the word “industry” as opposed to “ministry” as ministry implies a service to benefit another, such as in ministering to someone else’s need. The problem is that those who are on the receiving end of this problem are focussing on the symptom which has the unwitting effect of validating the questionable claims being made and empowering those who should instead be called to account. Let me explain.
To begin, we need to understand that government is made up of two components, one that is elected by the people to make the rules required to keep our society running smoothly, and a secondary group, appointed by the first to administer the provisions of the rules passed by them, as a service to the people. This second group is known as the civil service. In Alberta, we are now in the process of electing, or re-electing, representatives to our Legislature who will be, supposedly, representing the wishes of the majority of their constituents to the governing body called the Legislature. From this elected body of representatives, certain individuals will be appointed to administer different parts of the government. The head of this elected body is referred to as the Prime (or first) Minister (Premier in Alberta), while the rest are referred to as Ministers of a ministry of some sort. Of particular interest to us as home educators, is who will be the Minister of the Ministry of Education. This Ministry of Education is made up of a very large number of people, collectively referred to as civil servants that make up a bureaucracy of stacked bosses in a hierarchy of greater importance, culminating at the ministerial level or with The Minister of Education.
It is important to understand that all the words used to describe the government, indicate that it is there to serve us. Words and terms like representative, minister, ministry, civil service and civil servants come with the understanding that they work for us, not the other way around. Also, it is imperative that the Minister ascertain that the ministry’s civil servants answer to him, otherwise the ministry takes on a life of its own and the “inmates start running the asylum” so to speak.
Of particular concern to us is that our provincial Education Ministry has become such an “asylum” and rather than serving the people, the people are now being forced to serve the government. The Ministry of Education has become bloated, top heavy and dictatorial and its workers or bureaucrats are becoming more like condescending, confrontational, heavy handed “bullies” that unilaterally reinterpret the rules and then, applying them retroactively, penalize its citizens who had no idea that they were violating rules they did not know had changed. Bureaucrats making decisions that negatively affect the electorate, or portions thereof, is not the intent of a democratic government elected to serve the people.
More specifically, the Apostle Paul in his second letter to Timothy (2 Tim 4:14) stated that “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works.”. Home education has inherited its own version of “Alexander” in the form of a Private School Analyst of the Department’s Financial Reporting and Accountability branch who, whether by her own initiative or through directives from a superior, has targeted private schools and home education to not only cause us much harm but to declare home educated students as second-class citizens who are to be denied the same opportunities made available to public school students. To be sure, home educating families determine to make themselves different by choosing to home educate, but that is no reason to reclassify home educated students as specific targets rather than equal citizens.
One more thing. Although our system is not a perfect system of governance, it is the best system available when it is conducted in keeping with the idea of being by the people and for the people. Ideally, what used to be is what should be, but that won’t be again until Jesus returns and takes his place as King of Kings who in His wisdom, mercy and compassion will have nothing but our best interests in mind! In the meantime, we are under the “authority” of the government and it’s bureaucracy. However, we do need to understand that these people supposedly work for us and although we are instructed to be subject to these authorities (Rom. 13:1-7) as citizens, we are not instructed to be in submission to them as slaves. We can only serve or be in submission to one master. Will it be God or government. It cannot be both.
More on this next week. Keep your eye on our web site.