Theological Dialogue #17: It's the law ;)

For all intents and purposes, there has always been law.

However, that idea is slightly complicated. There has always been eternal law. There has always been a natural law. We know this to be the case because these laws have existed as long as God has existed... always.

As for the nature of civil law, we have reason to believe that as long as there has been society, there has been law. In the 22nd century humanity makes its first conditional laws (If you do this, then this will happen...) and from that point forward we see an assortment of laws emerge: Hammurabi's code, the Torah, laws of various republics and tribes, constitutions and religious laws, the list is endless. But it does leave us with one conclusion: all societies make/create/abide by laws.

That isn't actually the starting place though. To best understand why you abide by civil laws every day, you first need to understand the goal (the telos) behind establishing laws. In the book of Jeremiah, we are introduced to the concept that God "knows us" and "appoints us" before He forms us in the womb. This has massive implications. The idea of us is as infinite as God is infinite. In other words, we have, at least in concept, always existed. That's remarkable. And furthermore, there is an eternal law meant to govern what we could become if we pursue the best version of ourselves. However, we are free to choose whether or not we abide. We are free to choose whether or not we accept this appointment.

But if we do, we are called to listen to our hearts (the place where the natural law resides) that it might guide us toward our eternal/divine plan.

The problem is this: the world is often too loud for us to hear anything. We walk around with head phones in our ears, we are constantly staring at screens, we spend very little time listening. And it is for this reason that every society institutes laws designed to help us "hear better" or more accurately, to guide us toward the natural law. The struggle comes when we are then forced to navigate civil laws in light of what is lawfully permissible vs. what is moral. The two are not one in the same. You have to remember that civil laws are ultimately there to regulate behaviour, and keep civilization afloat. However, they simultaneously have to refrain from being too strict or they run the risk of inciting  revolution. That is why we see this interesting balance in regard to how most laws appear moral, but others are questionable at best, yet all are instituted. If society feels as if they played a role in the choosing of the laws and if they feel like those laws protect them without inhibiting too many of their freedoms, they remain content with the system as it is.

This becomes tricky as we attempt to evolve beyond the 4th stage of moral development. At some point, we have to learn to see the law for what it is and understand that while it has the ability to guide us to the natural law, simply following it to the tee will not provide the desired outcome. Philosophically however, there is a way to navigate this quagmire and determine which laws are just, and which laws demand a reaction of civil disobedience. The defining characteristics of a just law are quite simple in their nature. In order to be just, a law must follow an ordinance of reason (it must be reasonable/make sense) it must be directed toward the benefit of the common good, not simply the powerful majority, it must be established by a proper authority, and it must be promulgated (made known). Every law should be subject to this scrutiny in the respective order. If a law is unreasonable, it is unjust, and thus should be resisted. And in the same way, if a law seems reasonable, but it only benefits the few, then it too should be resisted. It should be resisted nonviolently; we should never justify immoral behaviour simply because it is lawfully permitted. (Remember slavery...)

Ultimately, we should strive to be the best version of ourselves, seek holiness, and quest to discover what God's divine (eternal) law has in store for us. But if we are going to do this, we must learn to listen to our heart, and critically look at what society is asking from us or what it is permitting us to do, and determine whether or not those things are in alignment with the objective good. Once we can begin to work our way through the labyrinth of societies demands, we are sure to discover what it is that God has in store for us.