"So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."
After the first man fell, God sent Moses the governing doctrine he wanted to establish. God said,
Exodus 18:21
21 "But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens."
Today this same command is called the 'doctrine of lesser magistrate'.
The lesser magistrate doctrine declares that when the superior or higher civil authority makes unjust/immoral laws or decrees, the lesser or lower ranking civil authority has both a right and duty to refuse obedience to that superior authority. If necessary, the lesser authorities even have the right and obligation to actively resist the superior authority.
There are today in the United States 3,244 counties including US territories, or an average 63 per state with an average 100,000 people.
When James Madison, our fourth President, devised less magistrate the structure of authorizing power was in the order of the Individual primarily, then family, community, municipality, county, state and lastly federal.
It is a pyramid as it was when Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro told him in Exodus 18:17:
“What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave.
Trump and Republicans will win a minimum of 2450-2500 counties and 1800 by significant margins in red states. Counties and the states are the governments with the most power to affect the individual’s daily life.
This is also why the people are moving to parts of the country where their neighborhoods are strongly in support of their political views and values.
Based on a New York Times analysis of detailed public voter registration records of over 3.5 million Americans who moved since 2020, is an extraordinarily glimpse into one of the ways that national divorce is already taking place — down to the street level.
“Across all movers, Republicans chose neighborhoods Donald J. Trump won by an average of 19 percentage points in 2020, while Democrats chose neighborhoods President Biden won by the opposite margin (also 19 points). In total, movers started in neighborhoods 31 percentage points apart; they ended in neighborhoods 38 points apart. Across the country, the result is a widening gap between blue neighborhoods and red ones."
"Our analysis suggests partisanship itself…plays a powerful role when Americans uproot and find a new home. And their very personal decisions about where to resettle help power the churn of migration that is continuously reshaping American life at the neighborhood level and contributing to a sense that Americans are siloed in echo chambers, online and in their daily lives. It also has real stakes for our elections: Political scientists say the more partisan a district or state becomes, the less a candidate needs to woo voters from the other party — or, after winning, govern on their behalf.”
"Our analysis suggests partisanship itself…plays a powerful role when Americans uproot and find a new home. And their very personal decisions about where to resettle help power the churn of migration that is continuously reshaping American life at the neighborhood level and contributing to a sense that Americans are siloed in echo chambers, online and in their daily lives. It also has real stakes for our elections: Political scientists say the more partisan a district or state becomes, the less a candidate needs to woo voters from the other party — or, after winning, govern on their behalf.”
The study goes on to say, “In all but three states that voted for Mr. Biden in 2020, more Democrats have moved in than Republicans. The reverse is true for states Mr. Trump won — in all but one, more Republicans moved in.
"In 36 states, polarization happened in both directions at once: More newcomers were of the winning party, and more of those who left were of the losing party.”
For example the Times says, “All movers we spoke to felt politically comfortable in their new homes. Upon retiring, Robert LaRoche, 60, moved from Las Vegas to Spring Hill, Fla., about an hour north of Tampa to live closer to family. While the majority of his old neighbors in a precinct that voted for Mr. Biden by 41 points “did not align with our values,” he said, that’s not why he moved, nor was it why he chose his new home. He sees it as a bonus that he gets to live in a precinct that voted for Mr. Trump in 2020 by 26 points.
Mr. LaRoche’s sentiment is shared by more and more Americans — that life is less contentious when the people around you vote the way you do.
“Now I can talk to my neighbors about absolutely anything and not start a big argument,” he said.
For example the Times says, “All movers we spoke to felt politically comfortable in their new homes. Upon retiring, Robert LaRoche, 60, moved from Las Vegas to Spring Hill, Fla., about an hour north of Tampa to live closer to family. While the majority of his old neighbors in a precinct that voted for Mr. Biden by 41 points “did not align with our values,” he said, that’s not why he moved, nor was it why he chose his new home. He sees it as a bonus that he gets to live in a precinct that voted for Mr. Trump in 2020 by 26 points.
Mr. LaRoche’s sentiment is shared by more and more Americans — that life is less contentious when the people around you vote the way you do.
“Now I can talk to my neighbors about absolutely anything and not start a big argument,” he said.
The tradition of resistance to unjust laws by the lesser magistrates includes the time in 39 AD when Publius Petronius, the Roman governor of Palestine refused to install an image of Caligula, emperor of Rome, in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Caligula was enraged and sent a letter to Petronius instructing him to commit suicide. Shortly after sending the letter Caligula was assassinated and the ship bearing the news of his demise arrived in the Holy Land before the ship bearing the suicide order. Petronius was following in the footsteps of the Biblical prophet Daniel, who risked his life when he deliberately disobeyed the Persian emperor Darius’ edict to pray only to him for 30 days.
But in ancient times the most explicit statement of this doctrine came from the Roman Emperor Trajan (d. 117 AD), who handed his sword to a lesser official with the following instructions, “Use this sword against my enemies, if I give righteous commands; but if I give unrighteous commands, use it against me.”
Alexis de Tocqueville believed that self-rule is a rare and high achievement, and that it deserves to be called human greatness. He also believed that Americans were able to achieve and sustain self-rule because of their virtuous habits and their religion.
Regardless of who won the 2024 federal office of the Presidency, because of the doctrine of lesser magistrate, the local and state level elections, dare i say 'heartland', will continue to wield the power in America. Self-rule will still allow for America the ability to remain the freest, safest place on earth for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Vote down ballot.
