From Logic to Loci – The Law of God and Public Policy

From Logic to Loci
The Law of God and Public Policy

Public policy is forged in various places or loci.

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:6, 7

The logic of public policy defines the first of the “Three Ls” of public policy-making, and consists of two parts.

First, government is not God; instead, government is God’s servant for the good of those served. And second, the people are not God, and therefore must not be allowed the last word on what defines the terms of “good” public policy. Only God can define what is good for people, for He alone is good (Mark 10:18). From the perspective of a Christian worldview, all matters of public policy-making must be guided by these two fundamental principles.

Public policies, then, should express the good purposes of God for people living together in society; and it is the purpose of government, as God’s servant on behalf of the governed, to establish and enforce such policies.

From the logic of public policy we turn to consider the second “L”—the loci of public policy, or, the places in our society where public policies begin to be forged and put in place.

It would be a mistake to believe that public policy is made by government in the first instance. The loci of public policy-making are three: conversation, publication, and participation. What comes to law as public policy is shaped in each of these arenas, and of these three, the first is by far the most important.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.