“Cursed is the man who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.”
(Deuteronomy 27:17)

This curse was numbered among the many that Israel’s priests called out upon the people from Mount Ebal as the nation entered the promised land in the Old Testament. God had given the people His law. He expected it to be observed and if it was not observed, then the people would be cursed. Among the requirements of the law was the affirmation of private property, which is rooted in the 8th commandment against theft.

The name for my organization is taken from the Deuteronomy passage because I believe that we live in a society where people are beginning to routinely move their neighbor’s boundary stones. Today we live in a culture that plays fast and loose with the property rights of others. The proposition that the powers of government may and should be used for the purpose of redistributing property from one person to another has become commonly accepted. However, there is no biblical mandate for such action. In essence, this kind of activity undercuts the legitimate property rights of individual people and is, therefore, a legalized form of theft. The classic case of such theft in the Bible was the conspiracy of Ahab and Jezebel to take Naboth’s vineyard. In this case, Ahab and Jezebel were motivated by their own greed. Modern redistribution is generally motivated by charitable desires. However, we cannot truly be charitable toward others by promoting the violation of our neighbors' private property. Such efforts confuse the meaning of charity. The important point to make is that the government is limited and its actions are as much bound by the moral law of God as are the activities of anyone else. Moreover, failure to act morally inevitably invites one’s own destruction since such behavior ignores the laws of God.

--Paul A. Cleveland


Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Foundational Issues

"The beauty of the snowcapped peaks along the continental divide in the Rocky Mountains is awe-inspiring. The snowdrifts formed by the wind throughout the winter create beautiful formations and smooth fields of deep snow whose untouched serenity inspires and refreshes the heart. Despite the beauty, each year the temperature eventually rises and the snow begins to melt. The snow that was once so uniform at the mountain’s crest melts and runs off one side of the slope or the other. The combination of the forces of gravity and the contours of the land divide the resulting water that was initially very close together. On one side, the water accumulates in various tributaries and rivers eventually traveling to the Gulf of Mexico, while on the other the water funnels into the Pacific Ocean.

Francis Schaeffer used a similar picture of a watershed in the Alps to illustrate the importance of foundational issues. Foundational issues are those that define the “watersheds” for our lives and our cultures. It is often the case that differences in opinion about foundations seem mundane and trivial to most observers. However, the decision to be on one side or the other of such  issues is anything but insignificant. This is true, because these choices logically force us to move in one direction or the other. Moreover, it is not until the forces of time and logic drive us to see where our opinions ultimately lead us that we understand the impact of those decisions. 
 
The situations we face in today’s culture are sometimes very alarming. Many of us are deeply concerned as we see our culture becoming more and more accepting of policies that deny the sanctity of life, that limit the free exercise of religion, that erode our right to privacy, and that continue to infringe on the right to private property. However, becoming active in many of these “causes” can feel like trying to stem the flow of the Mississippi river and divert it to the Pacific Ocean. We may be able to transport some of the water there bucket by bucket, but the general course of the river to the Gulf of Mexico is relentless as it presses on in spite our efforts. 
 
Until we begin to see clearly what the essential issues are that determine where our culture is heading, we will never really be able to stem the tide. The issues involved are much deeper and more significant than we usually acknowledge. Boundary Stone was formed to equip people with an understanding of foundational principles that not only will allow them to make wise choices for themselves, but will also allow them to protect and defend the rights that all people should enjoy."

--Paul A Cleveland 
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