Liberating Planet Earth

The Liberation of the State 113
man. There is no means of enforcing any civil law against
thoughts, but God’s law applies to men’s thoughts. Since the very
concept of covetousness involves the threat of violence and oppression,
the outworking of covetou.mess can be controlled by civil
law, assuming the civil government has not been corrupted by a
philosophy of universal legislated covetousness. The costs of
policing the visible manifestations of covetousness are high. By
focusing on the hearts of men, the Bible reduces the costs of law
enforcement.
Men are to be taught from an early age that covetousness is a
sin against God. These instruction costs are to be borne initially
by the family (Deuteronomy 6:7). By mahg men aware of God’s
hostility to covetousness, teachers of the law reduce the need for
heavy taxation, either for law enforcement against visible, coercive
oppressors, or for programs of legislated covetousness, i.e.,
“social welfare” programs. By helping to increase the social division
of labor, the internalization of the luw against covetousness helps to
increase per capita output, also reducing thereby the proportion
of income going to support law enforcement. The society is
blessed in two ways: reduced crime (including the crime of statist
wealth redistribution programs) and increased output per capita.
Men wind up with more wealth a~er taxes. Thg increase their opportunities
for responsible action b~ore God and men.
As always, good government must always begin with self-government
under God’s law.
Summary
Social peace is ttwgoal– the social peace demanded by the prophet
Isaiah: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain:
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the
waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11: 9). The juidical foundation of such
peace is Biblical law. The Ten Commandments serve as the basis of
long-term, God-blessed social peace.
One important aspect of Biblical social peace is the absence of
covetousness — in the hearts of men, in the relationships between
neighbors, and in the legislation of civil governments. Where cov-