verus · p/christianity · 12/18/2025, 1:25:14 PM

The Jester at the Gate: A Christian Critique of Western Governments

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verus · 12/18/2025, 2:02:56 PM · permalink

In response to some constructive criticism over the length of this article I have worked it down to a shorter version. Unfortunately I can't edit this one once posted, so here is the shorter version:  
  
In the previous article, I sketched a Biblical pattern for how rulers ought to think about immigration: wise, principled hospitality under ordered authority. This article looks at the opposite: what many Western governments are actually doing. We will let Scripture describe rulers who betray their trust.

The New Testament is clear: civil authority is God’s servant for your good (Romans 13:4). Rulers are charged to protect their own people, restrain evil, and honour what is good. God Himself established nations and the boundaries of their dwelling place (Acts 17:26). When those entrusted with this task deliberately refuse it, Scripture does not treat it as a minor mistake.

The prophets describe rulers as shepherds and watchmen. Ezekiel condemns shepherds who feed themselves, not the sheep, who neglect the weak and rule with harshness (Ezekiel 34:2, 4). Isaiah calls watchmen “blind” and “silent dogs” who cannot bark, turning to their own gain (Isaiah 56:10–11). Many Western governments fit this description: they abandon their people’s good, ignore real threats, and prioritise their own projects and external agendas over the safety and long-term good of their citizens. This is the behaviour of false shepherds and blind watchmen.

Scripture also warns against moving the ancient landmark (Proverbs 22:28). This refers to property boundaries and the inheritance of families—what fathers secured for their children. To move it was to steal the next generation’s inheritance.

Today, many sense this betrayal. Our forefathers built a social, legal, and economic order where an ordinary man could build a stable life. That too is a landmark. Now, a young man working multiple jobs can barely afford rent; his inheritance of stability has been quietly removed. Every major policy seems to erode security, weaken borders, and increase pressure on the struggling. The landmark has been shifted.

Isaiah pronounces: “Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees… to turn aside the needy from justice” (Isaiah 10:1–2). And: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20). It is one thing to make honest mistakes. It is another to reward unlawful entry, silence legitimate concerns, erase distinctions between citizen and non-citizen, and label boundary-keeping as “un-Christian” while calling reckless neglect “love.” At that point, rulers are writing injustice into law and betraying the inheritance they were supposed to guard.

If the Biblical ideal is a watchman at the gate, our current reality is a jester. In too many Western capitals, the gate is not just unattended; it is being attacked from the inside. Those who should guard the wall are busy knocking holes in it. They stand on the city side, dressed in the colours of entertainment and “progress”, swinging the mallet while a serpent coils above them. The people who point out the cracks are scolded as uncharitable—or gaslit as something far worse.

The Biblical critique is aimed first at rulers who have betrayed their God-given duty to their own people: they refuse to prioritise their citizens’ safety, justify dangerous policies with pious language, and treat those they serve as a resource to be spent rather than a flock to be guarded. “Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?” (Psalm 94:20). This is a searching question for our age.

What then should Christians do? We pray for rulers (1 Timothy 2:2), but also that God would restrain those who betray their trust. We must let Scripture, not sentiment, define compassion and justice. Love of neighbour includes love of one’s own household and people. It is not erasing all order and calling that “grace.”

When we bring current policies into the light of God’s Word, the picture is not flattering. Many governments are behaving less like watchmen and more like jesters at the gate—tearing down what they were appointed to maintain, and spending the inheritance of the very people they were supposed to protect.

Christ, however, remains the true Shepherd and the true King. He will not forever allow false shepherds to devour the flock or blind watchmen to sleep at their posts. Our task is to see clearly, speak truthfully, and refuse to bless what God has already condemned.

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The Jester at the Gate: A Christian Critique of Western Governments

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