The rule of law is the single most dangerous idea ever inflicted upon mankind. It has gone by countless names throughout the ages of history.In more basic tribes it is known as respect for elders. In the tyranny of royalty, it is known as nobility, birthright and divinity. In communism it is known as the supremacy of state. In dictatorships it is known as the antidote to anarchy. In theocracies it is known as revelation.The net teaching of this idea is that you are to obey the law,not because of its merits or its morality. You are to obey only because it is the law. It is assumed that even if the law is wrong,then it is right to follow because it supports the system, and the system is more important than you. In order for an intelligent person to choose what is right, they must know who is asking obedience of them, they must consider why it is being asked, and what it is they are being asked to do. Only then can they decide for themselves if it is right. This is not what authority wants. Authority is not concerned with you doing what is right, it is only concerned with obedience.
The authority principle describes the behavior of people who live under the rule of law. The authority principle shows that people obey anything and anyone that they believe is an authority. Though the who, the why and the what have changed in history, the behavior of people is the same; they obey.When people are taught that obedience is principle, they obey.
When they are taught that the source of worth and knowledge is found in another person, rather than in themselves, they obey.This is the rule of law, and it teaches people that their will is subjective to the will of law and those who control the law.
Examples of authorities are governments, bullies, mafias,thieves and kings. People obey authority in their lives either out of fear of violence, or because culture conditions them to accept obedience as proper and good. Authorities always use both tools.The most successful authorities do not have to use violence as often because of the strength of their cultures. Both culture and violence enforce authority.
Under authority, people have obeyed law to the atrocities o fhistory. The murders, raping and looting under chieftains, kings,emperors, communism and Nazis were not perpetuated by small groups of men. They were performed by thousands and even millions of peoples. These people would not have committed such egregious evils on their own. If a random person had commanded them, they would have refused. So why, at the behest of a perceived authority, do they obey?
In history, it is difficult to imagine why some cultures are so much more violently depraved than others. Authority is the reason. Cultures with the least influential authority are the most peaceful, and by definition, the most free.Cultures with the most influential authorities are the most violent, and by definition, slaves.Any time you are compelled to act in obedience to authority,you are being influenced by this principle. Evil uses the authority principle to condition people to obey without questioning what, why or whom they are obeying. Destroying your identity to gain power over you is the modus operandi of evil.
Debate that.
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