Of human sacrifice, and parents tears,
Though, for the noise of Drums and Timbrels loud,
Their children’s cries unheard that passed through fire
To his grim Idol.
—Milton: Paradise Lost
____________________________
The day began like any other, for the family. A recent Friday morning at the little farm of William and Jenica Keim, in Mansfield, Ohio. William was raised Amish, but had broken away years before. And met and married Jenica. They had two young sons, Malachi (age 4) and Dalton (age 2). After years of dreaming and saving, they had just recently purchased and moved onto the eighty acres that was their new home. A place where they could live in peace, live off the land as much as possible, and raise their children.
That morning, before dawn, William got up and went turkey hunting. I don’t know if it was on his own farm or at some other local spot. In any case, he was successful. Called in and bagged a nice gobbler, and returned in triumph to his home and family. He skinned the bird and his wife put it into a large pot and placed it on the stove to boil. The little boys were excited. Daddy had shot a turkey. And now Mom was fixing it to eat. Oh boy. They couldn’t wait.
After hours of boiling, the turkey was ready. Jenica turned off the stove and turned her back for just a moment, doing something else. And that’s when it happened. Right there, while she was in the room. Little Dalton, eager to see for himself, walked up and tried to pull himself up by the stove handle, so he could peek at the turkey. His weight tipped the stove forward. The large pot slid off and crashed to the floor. Dalton was severely burned by the boiling water, mostly on the front of his legs and feet.
And that’s what happened. A terrible, tragic accident. One of those things that life throws at you, now and then. What happened next is why I’m writing this.
William and Jenica were very familiar with burn treatments. They knew what happens to burn victims at hospitals. The scraping, the screams of agony. The painful skin grafts that would follow for years and years. They also knew very well of the only known natural treatment that heals burns. B&W Ointment. They knew of it because William’s father, John Keim, had invented it. B&W will actually regrow new skin over burned areas, even third degree burns, something the most sophisticated modern techniques cannot do. It has been proven over and over again. They also knew that if they took Dalton to the hospital, he would undergo the painful scraping and grafting. The folks at the local hospital wouldn’t hear anything of B&W Ointment. And they wouldn’t release Dalton, either, so he could be taken to a hospital that allowed the treatment.
And so, because they feared the consequences of state-mandated burn treatments, they made their choice. And rushed their child to a relative 10 miles away, a relative trained and certified to treat burns with B&W. And she applied the ointment. For the next sixteen hours, they watched him closely. He showed no signs of pain. The next day, they decided to take him to a hospital in Pennsylvania, a rare island in the hospital world where the B&W treatment was permitted. And as they were making their plans, it happened. The worst possible thing imaginable. Dalton’s eyes started fluttering, and within minutes he stopped breathing. They immediately called 911 and applied CPR. But by the time the ambulance arrived, he was gone. Their beautiful two year old son. Just…..gone.
The furies of hell were about to be unleashed upon William and Jenica. But here, I stop. Pause. Think about it. The loss of your child. The intense shock, the grief. I’m not a parent, but that’s one fear I’ve tried to imagine, now and then. The fear of such a loss. Maybe you get over it, sometime. Maybe you never do, quite. Whatever the case, you will walk through desolate fields of intense grief for a very long time.
I don’t know William and Jenica Keim. I’ve never met them, never communicated with either of them. But my heart goes out to them both in the loss of their son. Two years. They had him for two years. Ample time for him to develop his own distinct personality. To be his Mama’s “little man.” And now they will know him no more on this earth. Even from a safe emotional distance, it is a harsh and bitter thing to contemplate.
After the ambulance arrived at the hospital, all the corrupt machinery of the state was unleashed upon the couple. Two police officers awaited them and questioned them at length. I would have told them never to speak to any law enforcement investigators without an attorney present. Never, under any circumstances. Never, for any reason. But they didn’t know. They thought they had to, I’m sure. The officers intimidated them, I’m sure, too. And after they returned to their home, the vile vultures of the press closed in. Eager to peck at the carcass of grief, eager for such a sensational story, reporters camped outside the home and practically assaulted anyone who came or went. TV news crews closed in as well. And the headlines screamed from the newspapers. The Keims had not taken their son to the hospital and now were under investigation for negligence in Dalton’s death. Think about that. You’ve just lost your two year old son. And then you are forced to deal with a nightmare like this.
The community, the common people, rallied, though. As did the local churches. Support poured in for the grieving family. More than 800 people showed up for the viewing, and around 400 attended the funeral. And people came to the farm and worked. Cut down trees, removed limbs, cut the grass, fixed a broken well, cleaned up and repaired the barn. That’s what real people do, people with a heart. Show up and help. Mourn with those who mourn. But show up with support.
And now the dark cloud of the vengeful state hangs over William and Jenica Keim. Will they be charged? Will their remaining son be ripped from their arms and forced into the jungle of state foster care? Will they go to jail? And it all boils down to one simple question. In a case like this, where there is no hint of any history of abuse, who gets to decide what is best for a child? The parents? Or the state?
I come down way, way on the side of the parents. It’s not even close. Life, and living, includes risks. And it includes choices that can go dreadfully wrong, the choices of parents who truly love their children, and want what’s best for them. Why should the lack of certain actions of such parents be criminalized? William and Jenica wanted Dalton to live. To heal and be free to be the man he would one day be. They bear the loss of their son. They will always bear the regrets, the not knowing for sure whether or not they did the right thing. They were deeply vested in their son. With all the love of which parents are capable. They made their choice. The best choice they knew. And we all know the state cares nothing for Dalton. Nothing. The state is incapable of compassion. In this case, it cares only that its power might have been challenged. And it is all too willing, too eager, to lash out, to crush and punish any perceived dissent. That’s how I see it. And I know no other way to say it.
The Amish have their faults and failures, I know all too well. It took me long enough to break my way out of that culture. But I am very proud of many aspects of my heritage. I am proudest of all of a single, defining Amish characteristic. And that is their quiet, persistent, relentless resistance to the state, when they deem it necessary. They don’t march. They don’t make a lot of noise of any kind. But they refuse to yield. They simply won’t comply. No matter the cost.
In the past few months, the Swartzentruber Amish faced down the state of Kentucky over the simple issue of safety signs on their buggies. (Yes, of course I think they are insane. No, it doesn’t have to make sense to me, what they believe. I strongly support their right to be left alone.) And recently I saw some old film footage of a row of darkly-dressed, black-hatted Amish men walking into the courthouse here in Lancaster. Walking in to be jailed for refusing to send their children to high school. The footage shocked me. These men were willingly giving up their freedom for their beliefs. Quietly. And back in those days, the 1950s, the Amish were far from the media darlings they are today. Back then, they were very much viewed as second class citizens. Looked down upon. Despised. It didn’t matter to them then, how they were perceived. It doesn’t matter to them now. And it will never matter. They will always be who they are, when it comes to conflicts between their religion and the state. They will always stand firm. They will never surrender.
And that’s a beautiful thing. I strive to be worthy of such a heritage. I differ a bit from the traditional Amish resistance, though. I’m most definitely not shy about raging against the machine and throwing my stuff out there. I’m not shy about calling the state what it is, either. Right to its face. And so I’ll just say it here, out loud.
When it comes to our children, the state is Moloch, demanding sacrifice. And those who impose its edicts are Moloch’s priests. As are a good many (not all) of the minions who enforce those edicts.
A rash accusation, you say? Hyperbole? OK. Fair enough. Let’s take a little peek at some of the actions of the state, and see if my claim might hold water. Here goes.
It is the state that imprisons many of our children in the morass of failing public schools, and then criminalizes them for simply being children. It is the state that assaults and terrorizes four-year-olds at airports. It is the state that sends our sons and daughters to shed others’ blood and too often their own in countless, senseless, endless wars all around the world. All the while trumpeting the preposterous vacuous slogan that they, our sons and daughters, are “protecting our freedoms” by killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people ten thousand miles away. It is the state that persecutes and destroys Amish farmers for producing and selling raw milk. It is the state that criminalizes farmers for making a living, by suddenly redefining as a felony the act of owning the livestock they are producing, and have always produced. And sends its goons right out to farms to kill hogs worth thousands of dollars each. It is the state that blatantly robs its citizens for carrying more than arbitrarily dictated amounts of cash. It is the state that casually and ruthlessly destroys lives, just because it can. It is the state that is trying to gain control of every aspect of our lives, with the vile abomination that is Obamacare. It is the state that has incarcerated more than 2.3 million people in this country, which boasts the highest prison population in the world. The number of people under correctional supervision now totals six million, more than were in Stalin’s Gulag at its apex. And the list could go on and on. It is the state…It is the state…
And as the state’s devastation is unleashed upon the land, the cries of innocent children echo to the heavens. The untold millions of children of the state’s victims all across this land, and across the world. Often, no one is there for them except the state itself, which steps in as the “provider” for those children. As a benevolent father figure, as a “god” to replace the family it has destroyed.
Why, then, should we even listen to Moloch’s priests, as they piously bray about the tragic but accidental death of a child? A child about whom they couldn’t care less, except as a bludgeon to destroy the parents who dared to defy them. What can one do, in the face of such tyranny? How can we respond? How should we react? We can be aware of the true nature of the forces at work here. We can speak out. And as a Christian, I can choose to pray for the oppressors in this case. As counter-intuitive as that seems. Yes. Pray for them. Not that they would have wisdom. But that they would change in their hearts as individuals, and cease their worship of the beast. And cease demanding by threat of raw and brutal force that we worship the beast as well. (To those who would challenge me with Romans 13, consider maybe for the first time in your life what many believe that chapter really means.)
And then, of course, I am called to lift the parents, William and Jenica, in prayer before the Lord in this their time of intense grief and loss. And in this their time of persecution. And you can, too, wherever you are. If you live in the Mansfield area, get involved. Let them know you support them. Help them out where and when you can. Be there for them, provide what comfort you can. And stop the gossip when you hear it. It’s slithering around out there, oh yes, it is. A bane of the Amish culture, it’s pulsing from person to person, from mouth to ear, a poisonous stream of words. Rumors. Told as facts. Stop them, stop it cold. These people are hurting. Rebuke the gossipers. And don’t pass the venom on.
If you just want to keep informed of what’s going on, or send William and Jenica a personal message, check out this web site now and then.
One day, I am convinced, the time will come when the Amish “popularity wave” will crest and crash and recede. And they’ll go back to being what they were when I was a child. Second class citizens. And when that day arrives, the state will be all too ready, all too eager, to step in and declare the Amish lifestyle a crime, a felony. The lifestyle itself. It’s so primitive. And it’s abuse on its face, the way they raise their children. The way they discipline them. The way they make them work, and deny them an education. Such a time will come. Maybe not in my lifetime. Maybe not for a long time. But it will happen.
But until then, and even after it all comes down, the quiet persistent Amish will always stand in defiance to the vile false god that is the state. They will not waver. They will not comply. They will never surrender their children to Moloch’s priests.
And we must never surrender ours.
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Prayers for William and family, and his father John, too. John discovered, promoted and personally trained many people in the use of his burn treatment and has done so much good for many burn treatments. For this to happen to his own grandson must be devastating.
Comment by Monica — May 18, 2012 @ 6:59 pm
I appreciate your strong stand and telling it like it is.
In regard to the real Molech spirit in operation in our society, and the way to stop it, I urge all readers to take the time to read this “extensive” but actually very concise analysis of how to turn the tide: http://statesofrefuge.org/downloads/ToEndAllAbortion.pdf
Comment by LeRoy — May 18, 2012 @ 7:57 pm
Thanks, Ira, for your Jeffersonian view of government. I will remember to pray for the Keims.
Comment by John Schmid — May 18, 2012 @ 11:00 pm
Wow! A very sad story but an excellent perspective. I believe the state is one of the most evil institutions ever created by man.
Comment by Ed Yoder — May 19, 2012 @ 12:39 am
Ira, a very well written blog, that all parents that want what they feel is best for their children, fear. We hear and read these stories from the media, but it all seems to always still be far away. It is baying at the front door, this machine called the state. Only the state would allow an abortion on one hand and criminalize a parent on the other for choosing their own method of treatment. It is as you have said it cares not, it has no feelings. We have no rights, only contracts and privileges. A license to drive contracts with the state rules. A license to marry contracts with the state rules. The list goes on and on, and as time goes on the machine keeps gobbling up more and more freedoms that have been on contract for a long time.
Our hearts hurt and our prayers are for the Keim family. Keep writing Ira, it is one of the most powerful weapons God has given us.
Comment by Steve — May 19, 2012 @ 8:56 am
This is a heartbreaking story. While I agree with some of the things you say about the evils of the power of the state, I also firmly believe that the power of the state is needed as a counterweight to the power of rapacious individual persons and corporations. Why, for example, should chicken farmers be allowed to dump chicken waste into the Chesapeake? Individual rights are all well and good until the actions of another individual threaten the health and welfare of me and mine.
Comment by cynthia r chase — May 19, 2012 @ 9:40 am
Ira, thank you for sharing your heart, concerning William and Jenica’s situation. You did a great job telling it exactly the way it is. May the Lord cause us to also take a stand for what is right. If we don’t, the corrupted and power hungry fools will continue their agenda. God bless you and keep writing, Brother.
Comment by Joe Keim — May 19, 2012 @ 11:23 am
What a well written blog!
Such a tragedy and something that the media and the State take and blow out of proportion. Sad really!
The parents are punishing themselves enough I am sure to have to be thrown into the media and justice system seems unfair.
They made a choice, was it the right choice, that no one will ever know! The same outcome may have occured had they sought medical attention immediately and thus Dalton would have been subject to a scary scene devoid of the love and care of his family and friends and may have had the same outcome!
My heart cries for William, Jenica & Malachi!
Comment by Allyson L — May 19, 2012 @ 12:45 pm
Very well written and thought provoking, Ira. That is certainly an injustice on the government’s part and certainly they can be justified in standing for their rights on this case. Taking care of our children is one of the highest callings God gives us parents.
Just a few comments in defense of those who for the Lord’s sake honor the government. (1 Peter 2:11-25) The government that was in power when Romans 13 was written was Nero’s, and if you study the reign of Nero’s government you will find the most corrupt imaginable.Some Bible scholars actually teach that in light of the historical context of Peter and Paul’s letters, Paul’s must have been sabotaged and added later. (btw I consider it to be divinely inspired).
I read the link you provided and the author assumed that because the government sometimes asks Christians to do things against God’s word Romans 13 must mean something else. My 2 cents would be that we are to obey everything they require of us, but when it goes against God’s will than in no way are we to obey. Even then we are to honor the government, not because they are worthy of it, but because by doing that we can be a light and even win them to Christ.
Love your book, Ira! Keep up the good blogs!
Comment by justin smith — May 19, 2012 @ 10:58 pm
I would like to second what Cynthia had to say. There is no doubt that many of us would like to do with less government, but we have to remember that it is also “the state” that not only gives us the freedom, but the means on which to travel from one place to another when they build, maintain, and plow the highways on which we drive our cars; it provides clean water and the means for flushing our toilets; and it keeps order. Can you imagine trying to drive our highways if people were allowed to make up their own rules? Recently David and I met someone with his blinkers on, driving the wrong way on an Interstate! We were hoping he’d get caught by the police before he crashed into someone. So, I’m glad we have law enforcement, sewer and water, and roads in my town.
I am very saddened by the story of the little boy. The death of a child is one of the worst tragedies a parent could endure. My heart goes out to the parents.
In this case a regulation might have prevented the accident. Perhaps all kitchen ranges should have to be anchored to the wall before selling a house.
Comment by Saloma Furlong — May 20, 2012 @ 1:01 am
I am in the process of reading your book, looked you up online, read your most recent blog post (I think it’s your most recent, at least). These are simply my thoughts, just offerings of a slightly different leaning than your own.
re: the couple. Horrible tragedy, in all senses of the words. On one hand, looking at their choice which corresponds with their belief system, it’s totally understandable; I have had several friends diagnosed with terminal illnesses who’ve chosen naturopathic routes vs. Western medical solutions….They eventually died, but wasn’t it their right to treat the illness in the way they chose, even if it accelerated their deaths? On the other hand, so many cases of child neglect have occurred, resulting in the inability of the law (and society) to objectively view and judge per situations versus per issue…. It’s become a very slippery and damaging slope, to both sides. I’m not sure this issue is solved, other than people not jumping to conclusions and hearing the total of the situation, vs. issuing immediate opinions based on their own biases. Unfortunately, having come from a medical family, doctors are not prone to respecting anything homeo-/naturopathic.
re: raw milk… I see it in the super markets here. Is it not legal outside of NY? Is their basis for persecution the issues that occurred pre-pasturization, years ago?
re:”Obamacare”…
I went to the link you posted… Perhaps the new health care bill is also in response to the people who use the emergency room as doctor visits for their children (which results in 6 hrs waits for critically injured or ill patients), who do not pay their bills, who refuse to take care of themselves & end up in the hospitals, costing the state and private hospitals millions of dollars in unpaid bills. (Thinking very specifically of many of my students’ parents, the more uneducated of them that were raised on taking everything to the emergency room.) Do I think that we should be forced to purchase healthcare? No, but I think there is more to the whole bill than meets the eye (as there always is with all gov’t bills)… and I think about this country with less government, with fewer protections for the citizens who’ve have endured massive amounts of discrimination against their civil rights, to the point that we had to legislate laws that included them specifically so the majority was forced to do the right thing – and I’d rather have a little more government regulation than less, because many people left on their own do not always make the right or honest choices (as with the emergency room visits). (That being said, there is a LOT about the American gov’t that can use fixing.) (That also being said, it seems that if civil rights includes people of color, women, and people with alternate sexual orientations, it should also include people with alternate religious beliefs, point blank.)
I also think about the irony that occurs when the people making the “That is wrong! That is an abomination!” declarations suddenly desperately need the service they protest; then it’s suddenly alright to use it, an exception to the rule because it specifically concerns THEIR well-being & they are the moral majority… of course, until they no longer need it & go back to protesting. (an example of this being in this NY Times opinion piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/opinion/sunday/bruni-a-catholic-classmate-rethinks-his-religion.html?_r=1)…. I guess that I look at the health care bill as allowing many of my friends who cannot afford private health insurance sudden access to an affordable option, and that, should I need it in the future, this option will be open to me as well. Nothing like not having health insurance when you suddenly need it (and I have been there before, when I’ve been unemployed).
This is also an interesting take on the Affordable Care Act.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/how-will-the-affordable-care-act-affect-you-.html
That being said, with all that is wrong in our US society, I’m still truly grateful that I was born here. I have the freedom to be myself, as a woman, as an artist, as a human being. In most places in the world, this is not a guarantee, especially for women.
Best,
Comment by Jen — May 20, 2012 @ 7:24 pm
The state is prosecuting the parents for the decision they made to protect their child in the best way they knew how. If you know anything about the history of B&W it was a wise choice.
The state also uses your and my money to kill thousands of unborn babies. Where is the justice?
Comment by Paul — May 21, 2012 @ 1:10 pm
Ira, just a word for others to understand about burns, you lose a lot of liquid when you have a burn and that needs to be replenished. I am not judging this couple, I believe they had a good thing going. I am praying for everyone that God will allow this to maybe bring the world to understand a treatment that is much better than what they have. Our daughter was burned at age 6 and the whirlpool is horrible. I am so glad they have the B&W but also remember the Burdock leaves also because that is the greatest part in a huge burn. God bless. Love your writings. Maybe you should just make a book out of this blog. 🙂
Comment by Connie S — May 22, 2012 @ 12:10 pm
What a tragedy, and a simply horrible thing. I grieve for the family. As an RN, though, I know there is a lot more going on physiologically with the body than what meets the eye– fluid shifts, electrolyte imbalance, etc. Severe burns are best treated at a hospital. The parents thought they were doing the right thing, however. I don’t think they should be treated as criminals– they are grieving enough. It’s sad that innocent families are treated like this, but so often the state fails to remove an abused child from a home, or returns them to that home, and the child ends up dead. Keep writing Ira– you are a very thoughtful person, and extremely intelligent.
Comment by Bev B — May 22, 2012 @ 2:14 pm
I’m with you on this. I have five children and a part of me would die with them if I ever lost one! The few times we’ve even come close are all the evidence I need that we, as parents, try to make the best decisions possible in a moment of crisis or panic. Tragedies happen…. things go wrong. To be judged as criminals because they wanted what was best for their child is wrong. Very wrong!
Comment by Trudy Metzger — May 22, 2012 @ 11:01 pm
This tragedy isn’t about religious faith, or the power of the state over individual rights.
It’s about making a stupid, wrong decision about their child’s health because they thought they knew better than the medical professionals.
Laws are written to protect the innocent, and in this case, these laws are on the books to protect the child against the liable and criminal actions of the parents.
How you can defend the parents for their actions is astounding.
Ira’s response: Let me guess. You work for the state in some capacity. And my freedom of speech is not palatable to you. Might that be the real issue here?
Comment by Ira R. — May 22, 2012 @ 11:14 pm
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2008Jul24/0,4675,ScaldingDeath,00.html
This is a very similar story… except for a couple important details. They werent from a plain background. they were druggies. They abused the 4 other children in the home.
So they should have had the right to treat their child at home if they wanted? Not? they shouldnt have been investigated because they were grieving RIGHT?
If the evil government had NOT investigated this family, then the other 4 children in the home would NOT be in safe, loving, christian homes NOW! These children would have continued to be sexually abused, not fed, drug from state to state running from drug dealers. This father went to the media talking about how he worked two jobs to support his family etc… investigation proved it went to support his and his “woman’s” drug addictions.
If the Kiems are truly loving, caring parents who have community support and are not abusive parents then they have nothing to fear.
As a foster parent I have seen alot of government corruption. I have had to bend over backwards to please caseworkers. But I have also seen the good that can come out of the state investigating parents. They can not just go by face value.
I have a child in my home… her mom and boyfriend got into a fight. Mom was not allowed to hvae the child. No one investigated her, the police just handed her the child after the fight. Two weeks later this perfectly normal 2 yr old lay in a hospital fighting for her life, her brain severely, and permanently damaged. simply because no evil government agency wanted to investigate her mom. She had a long history of being incredibly mentally unstable.
I feel sorry for the Kiem family. But there is a reason there are children and youth agencies….
Comment by a foster momma — May 23, 2012 @ 2:32 pm
The parents made the decision they thought best for the child. If it was a mistake —
doctors also make mistakes and people die
hospitals make mistakes and people die
the ‘state’ is the most incompetent.
I will stand in defiance to the state with the Amish.
Comment by Kurt — May 23, 2012 @ 7:30 pm
I enjoyed this blog, Ira.
I would like to believe we can all agree that there is a difference between children being legitimately abused and what happened here in the story Ira references.
If we believe the state has the authority to tell those parents what the best method of treatment is, then we have to ask ourselves what Murray Rothbard asks in his book ‘Education: Free & Compulsory.’
In it he raises the question: ‘Shall the parent or the state be the overseer of the child?’
If you think the state has the right to dictate which medical treatment is preferable and should be able to enforce it with arrest, what makes you think will stop them from deciding your religious teachings are detrimental to the child? Or the private school you send them to? Or the Bible you gave to them? Or for that matter, that extra piece of cake you allowed them to eat for dinner?
Yes, in Romans 13 it says we as Christians need to submit to government. But it does seem to have a qualifier when it goes on to describe what a government instituted by God looks like. ‘For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. (Romans 13:3, 4 NIV)
Seems to me our government now punishes good and rewards evil instead of the other way around. Raw milk is bad and we should raid farms that sell it. Abortion is good and we should subsidize it.
All humanity is cursed with the sin nature, so why would we decide that it’s a good thing to give such a select few so much power over so many other people’s lives, knowing full well they are every bit as sinful as we are?
Comment by Jeffrey Kauffman — May 23, 2012 @ 11:00 pm
Ira, what is great about your writing is how you make people think. My heart goes out for this family’s loss of a child, and I will keep them in my prayers. We could debate about the state verus the people and never agree. But I pray that you and the others reading this will agree that JESUS is the answer. We are only here for a short time compared to enternity in Heaven. We are all going to have sufferings here in this world, some of us will have more than others, but we are to keep our Faith in GOD. “Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest if we do not give up” Gal. 6:9
Comment by Warren — May 24, 2012 @ 8:35 am
Thanks Ira for your heart-felt commentary.
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Acton-1887, speaking of men in authority, etc.
Overstepping God ordained civil government has been going on in this country for a long time. And will ultimately lead to tyranny and dictatorship. It started snowballing down hill in the 1960s when public Bible reading and Christian prayers were banned from the classrooms. Today,one major result is a Marxist-leaning, sodomy-favoring, Islam-bowing superstar in the White House. And with a loud cheering section from the VP, congress, media and the rest of the progressive left. The USA may be on the threshold of severe divine judgment.
I do not know the William Keim family, and this is the first I’ve heard of their horrific loss and ongoing problems. But my simple hope and prayer is, that they would not overly blame themselves for this “accident”. Rather, that they might cast their care upon the LORD, because He truly does care for His own. May they also find some comfort in the Word of God, knowing that He alone is the absolute Sovereign and in complete control.
Rom. 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Comment by e.s.gingerich — May 25, 2012 @ 1:09 pm
In response to a couple specific comments, and the tenor of many regarding the government issue: “The state” gives us nothing, except what it has previously taken from us. You might read the book “The Law” by Frederic Bastiat (for a very short work among others, such as Common Sense by Paine).
Re: honoring the government, I honor civil government officials just as the Bible says, “Honor where honor is due.” We should fear God and the king, and honor all PEOPLE, as created in God’s image. Even Nero is a tragic figure for just the reason that he was made to do good and instead chose a path so twisted. But due honor may include specifically not honoring or even decrying certain actions of government officials.
In upholding offices of God-ordained authority, we do well, as David showed us by not killing a demonized and persecuting King Saul. This was even when David knew he was anointed by God Himself to displace him. His obedience at this point made him a fit king, because he had proved he was one the people could trust to not abuse his power even for personal advancement. He was truly a man after God’s own heart, and insofar as he obeyed the spirit of the law (love your neighbor), he was a picture of the coming King, Christ. EVEN SO, as a man “of like passions,” he once committed adultery and murder. At this point, was the prophet Nathan in the wrong for confronting the king with his actions? Hardly. It was the very confrontation that created the opportunity for the ruler’s repentance. If the ruler had been allowed to continue uncorrected, the land he was in authority over would have been subject to even more judgment. (As it was, many died – if you will remember that God gave a choice as to Which punishment would ensue in this case, yet not a choice as to Whether or not there would be punishment.)
In our society, as set up under its original covenants and legal structure, We the People are ultimately accountable, and Held Accountable directl by God, for the behavior of our civil leaders. If we vote for those who pre-announce they will disobey the law of our land (currently the Constitution at the federal level, and the state constitutions within the several state jurisdictions), God accounts the lawlessness to us! So it is little good to then complain and say how bad the legislators are. If they cross lines with impunity while in office, it is then the duty of the People in the jurisdiction of said elected office to raise up another candidate and vote out blatant transgressors. If we find we have become too small and ineffective to do this, then it is up to us to cry out to God, gathering together in public solemn assemblies, to REPENT of our unbelief, because one can put a thousand to flight and two ten thousand – if and when we ourselves are truly right with God and following His ways, which includes courage. It is time to have done with the victim mentality (Rev. 1:6), and understand and begin to appropriate our spiritual authority in the heavenlies, as a people under God who are a servant of the nations. (There are those who understand and hear me.)
That is enough said for now. If you need a quick education-in-one-day on the historic relationship of Christians to unrighteous governments, please get Francis Schaeffer’s “A Christian Manifesto” and take the 8 hours (only) needed to read it. You can also look at the much longer Martyr’s Mirror, but this will take longer … and it seems to need put into modern context, so we can truly grasp what the resistance of those “Anabaptist” martyrs was.
I’ve seen it attributed to Jefferson and Franklin, but it is a saying worth pondering regardless if it was from a slave: “Disobedience to tyrants is obedience to God.” We need to review our Bibles from Babel through Babylon, and the Roman-type (feet of clay) Beast in Revelation, and see the difference between God’s Kingdom (which is now in force – Rom. 14:17) and the kingdoms of this world (who rule Over people, like the Gentile nations). We also need corrective lenses from our worldly thinking in this respect: that we may understand God is not going to be defeated by men in history, not even powerfully demonized one like those who were in Egypt, for “more are they who are with us than those who are with them.” (See that verse in context, too, as a prophet led an entire army captive; much like Abraham’s trained household took plunder from a coalition of recently-victorious kings in his day!)
There is a difference between a “State” (which tries to play God) and a “civil government” (which keeps order, according to pre-agreed-upon laws, Under God), just as their is a difference between “politics” (human pressure, which operates in families and businesses as well) and civil government. David used politics well, but always to unite the people of God, never to divide them into parties to manipulate them by playing them against one another. State and politics are NOT THE SAME as civil government under God, and we badly need to begin making this distinction in our discussions.
First and last, we need to believe God hears and answers prayer (see James 5), and then not be stopped from doing it. The enemy fears such an awakening, though his media agents will never admit it.
Comment by LeRoy — June 4, 2012 @ 1:16 pm
Wow, Ira. You must have been in one of your brooding moods when you wrote this. It’s very black or white. Life is more often than not gray. Nevertheless, you must stand up for what you believe in! You must. Good on ya for your courage to speak even though you knew some people would criticize your point of view.
Yes, the State. A love hate relationship. They help and they hinder. My sister-in-laws and her husband were foster parents. They loved the children they fostered and gave them hope in humanity again. In this case the state helped. Yet, another Illinois governor ends up imprisoned for putting his own selfish wants before those he is supposed to be serving. In this case a hindrance. Keep the focus on God.
Those poor, dear parents who lost their precious boy. May God have mercy. I hope things worked out “well” for them.
On a different note, Ira, even when you’re not trying to be funny you still are. When you get mad at people (#16) and make your remarks, oh! do I laugh! You’ve done this on a couple of your other writings as well.
Nuff said. Love your blog!
Comment by Francine — October 28, 2012 @ 2:42 am