CORE PRINCIPLE OF LASTING DEMOCRACY #8

Core Principle: There is No Fruit Without Roots. Regardless of what percentage of a democratic country are practicing Christians, lasting democracies must minimally maintain a proper, healthy respect for Christianity as the historical root and Source of The Foundational Principles of Human Rights and Democracy. Government persecution or restriction of Christian belief or practice is a sure sign of Democracy-ending ‘Creeping Totalitarianism.’ 

Western Civilization was viciously brutal before Christianity, entirely lacking any concept of human equality or Inherent Human Rights. The very first Chapter of the Judeo-Christian Bible provided the West with the historical foundation of the equal human preciousness which grounds Free Democracy: In the Bible’s first Book, Genesis, Chapter 1 verse 27, the Bible declares that humans, “male and female” are equally created “in God’s Image.” The Foundational Principles of Human Rights and Democracy are also rooted in the Judeo-Christian Bible’s Commandment, “you shall not kill,” and the Biblical testimony that “God is Love” (1 John 4:8, 16). This made Love for every precious human “made in God’s Image” the highest Western value Europeans (for all their human imperfections) were motivated to strive for. Just the striving for this extremely high and difficult goal (to overcome human selfishness) made Western Christian Civilization gradually better and better, as Europeans attempted to live the Bible’s way of “loving your neighbor as yourself” (Jesus confirming that one’s “neighbor” includes any human who needs help). The Bible’s New Testament further indicated that masters and slaves were equal before God, and equally loved; and that regardless of race/ethnicity, gender, or social class (including ruling class/kings), all humans were “one in Christ Jesus.”

Furthermore, the very term and concept of precious human personhood, with its attendant equal Human Rights, is rooted entirely in the Christian Theology that the One God mysteriously exists eternally as a Trinity of Three “Persons” – this One God in Three Persons created humanity “In God’s Image” and thus humans are now also said to be “persons.” Historically God was called “Three Persons” before humans were ever called “persons.” Christianity changed cheap-not-precious humans who served greater States into precious not cheap persons whom the State is obligated to protect (and ultimately serve – which is why Modern Democracy – as well as Modern International Law and Modern Human Rights – only ever developed in Western Christian Civilization which had this background of Christian principles). 

The model development of Modern Democracy (without any bloody revolution) happened in Christian Britain, where starting with the 1215 Magna Carta (followed by the creation of representative government in the 1265 first London Parliament), the King recognized the rights of his subjects and started sharing his power with some of them. Sharing power in ever-widening circles until today, when all adult humans in the British Commonwealth of Nations have an equal say or vote in their own governance; they are governed by representatives they elected; and the Monarch’s power is only titular. This entire development happened because Christian Britain understood from the Bible that before God a King and a peasant were equal, and equally loved by God. 

The “Father of International Law” (in 2006 also named the “Founder of Global Political Philosophy), Friar Francisco de Vitoria - and all the other later “Founders of International Law” like Father Francisco Suárez, Alberico Gentili and Hugo Grotius - were dedicated Christians (some Catholic, some Protestant) working logically from the Biblical, Christian, and ‘Pro-Life’ foundations of Christian Europe to help ensure Human Rights were respected wherever humans were (even outside of Christian nations). Thus the various colonizations from Christian Europe, for all their sad failures to best live the extremely high Christian standards of Love for every human and their lack of respect for some indigenous cultures considered “primitive” and “inferior” (failures which Friar Francisco de Vitoria had “fathered” International Law specifically to counteract), still also imported these Christian values of Human Rights and Freedoms worldwide, these taking root to greater or lesser degree in the colonies (note the European Christian colonists, whatever their imperfections, stopped all indigenous Human Rights abuses like human sacrifice, cannibalism, widow-burning and giving girls over to be Temple prostitutes – and stopped longstanding wars between indigenous tribes. All out of the Christian belief in equal human preciousness and the Inherent Human Right to Live). Most of the greatest social reformers in history were devout Christians specifically seeking to have Biblical, Christian principles of God’s infinite love for every human “made in God’s Image” better put into practice in their time and place, like William Wilberforce ending slavery in the British Empire (non-Christian social reformers like Gandhi were educated in the Christian West and very familiar with the Bible, and steeped in its principles).

To this day Human Rights including Freedom of Belief/Religion and Freedom of Speech do not exist in the most markedly non-Christian countries, those countries least influenced by The Foundational Principles of Human Rights and Democracy which Christianity introduced into the West (and least influenced by International Law which was founded by devout Christians putting Christian principles into practice worldwide. Atheist States and the most traditional Muslim States typically have no religious freedom and are profuse with other violations of Human Rights – and they typically persecute the Christians within their borders, who believe in The Foundational Principles of Human Rights and Democracy. Most successful democracies are in traditionally Christian countries which thus have the background needed for Human Rights and Democracy.  Though Christian Britain spread these concepts worldwide where they took root in greater or lesser degree in the various British colonies, in many nations without a Christian background in which the West has tried to implement democracy, it does not take root well, and people are threatened by thugs into voting a certain way, or have other major compromises of the democratic ideal.

This is because human equality, equal human preciousness which governments are obligated to protect and Freedom of Belief/Thought/Religion/Speech have never been political givens but have only existed as guiding principles for the governance of humans since these underlying Foundational Principles of Human Rights and Democracy were adopted by the West from the Christian Church when the West stopped persecuting Christians in the 4th Century.

Christianity’s principles mean without compromise that killing humans is wrong because all humans without exception are equally precious and have Inherent Human Rights beginning with The Inherent Human Right to Live.

Anti-Christian bigotry and illogical “Bulverism” that dismisses ideas just because they are Christian, is the surest route to eventual totalitarian oppression, because these fail to maintain the essentially Biblical, Judeo-Christian (and Pro-Life) Foundational Principles of Human Rights and Democracy. 

Thus, any LASTING Democracy must at least respect (if not embrace) Christianity as the Source of The Foundational Principles of Human Rights and Democracy, and never persecute Christianity, no matter what percentage of the country’s population are practicing Christians. Note that all The Foundational Principles of Human Rights and Democracy like equal human preciousness without exception which governments are obligated to protect and the Inherent Human Right to Live which means that killing humans is wrong, are all moral absolutes. Atheist Moral Relativists who believe in no human-loving God of Christianity to set any such moral absolutes for human behavior, cannot abide or practice any of the Foundational Principles of Human Rights and Democracy, which is why all the representatives of Atheist Communist States on the original United Nations Human Rights Commission refused to even vote on The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As Atheists they could not accept any moral absolutes like any Human Rights the government had to respect; in fact, as Atheists, they could not accept anything higher than the government, to which the government is accountable for how it treats the humans it governs. Which is exactly why all Atheist governments have been totalitarian and oppressive to human life and freedom. Atheist Communist governments killed an astonishing (nearly) 95 million people in the 20th Century, according to the scholarly tome The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression.