Leaving Egypt Ministries, Obadiah D. Morris

Many people claim that it’s impossible to know God’s thoughts, dismissing attempts to discern what He thinks about a given issue as us trying to impose our thoughts upon His. God is often treated as some distant, unknowable spiritual being who hasn’t provided clear instruction on righteous living and the moral standards that please Him — as a being who isn’t very active in our lives.

These views are explained more so by the fact that many people stubbornly refuse to accept God’s truths, rather than God having not provided them. They don’t want to amend their ways, and so like to act as if there is nothing that God hates. The real issue here is often that many men resist having their mistakes or shortcomings pointed out, especially when it can be shown that their actions go against God’s ways. These men are averse to facing the truth and prefer to cling to their own beliefs. They often dismiss or justify their sinful behaviors, idolatry, pride, nationalism, and worship of secular institutions, even going so far as to claim divine approval through slogans like “God and country.” We hear often upon our rebuke of the sin of statism the retort, “Oh, so you’re not a sinner?” As a way of dealing with such charges against them, they chalk it up to “we’re all sinners” and dismiss the attempt to get them to repent for such sins as patriotism and police worship. Rather than heed the conviction of the Holy Spirit that law enforcement officers can be agents of evil, they stubbornly hold onto evil, cultist slogans like “back the blue,” convincing themselves that God condones the hero-worship of police that they find themselves practicing. 

Fortunately, God has not left us in the dark about His views on many matters. He has provided us with His word, which reveals His thoughts and guidance on how we should live and what we should believe. (I guess this is unfortunate to those who want to keep believing their wicked acts are fine by God)..

God’s stance on evil and good is clear throughout scripture: He detests wickedness and iniquity, but loves righteousness. The Bible repeatedly states that God abhors the wicked men and workers of iniquity of our world, who can only be those men who carry out evil political agendas. While He desires that these individuals would repent and change their ways, their actions remain detestable to Him.

When examining the role of “law enforcement,” we see that many of the acts associated with policing align with the very behaviors that scripture identifies as abhorrent to God. Even a cursory review of one biblical list of things God despises reveals that police officers routinely engage in such practices as part of their duties.

We are told, 

“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes,  feet that run swiftly to evil, a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19). 

The prophets consistently reiterate this same message.

“Do not plot evil in your hearts against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely, for I hate all these things,” declares the LORD” (Zechariah 8:17). 

When men join sheriff’s departments that kick down doors on warrants for “possession of an illegal firearm,” are they not plotting evil in their hearts? When police lie to obtain search warrants, knowing their informants haven’t confirmed anything, are they not swearing falsely?

Let us demonstrate that all these things are decidedly the case by looking at the proverb above. 

“Haughty eyes”

Most Christians recognize that pride is a sin. However, the type of pride condemned in scripture goes beyond mere self-confidence or arrogance. While narcissism and psychopathic tendencies may be common among police officers, the “proud” that the Bible condemns are not simply those who are full of themselves. The scriptural references to the “proud” do not refer just to some vague, apolitical group of conceited individuals. “The proud” that God references tearing down is human kings themselves, their princes, and their other minions, eg., law enforcement officers (2 Chron 32:21; Isa 10:12, 37:36; Ezek 28:2-10; Zeph 2:10-11). As I have written before, pride and statism are bound up with one another. Biblical pride is really all about state power and the feelings that men have when they rule over others and act as gods. 

The character of a police officer is deeply rooted in a sense of pride. They are conscious and proud members of an exclusive “thin blue line” gang, considering themselves superior to the general public they are ostensibly tasked with serving. They look down on the rest of the people from their high-horse of self-appointed authority. Anyone who has watched just a few videos of police interacting with the public has witnessed their arrogant demeanor and egos. These views lead them to believe they are above the very laws they are said to uphold, granting themselves immunity and the “right” to seize property through civil asset forfeiture, which is a crime if carried out by any individual without a badge. Police officers often operate as a brotherhood, working in concert to maintain a steady flow of inmates for local jails and generate revenue for the kingdoms of men which they serve. They are essentially frat boys with weapons (many are affiliated with the Fraternal Order of Police), secure in the knowledge that their fraternal organizations and the State itself will protect any unlawful actions by cloaking them in the mantle of “law enforcement” and “just doing their job.”

Between the shiny boots, badges, uniforms, weapons, and souped-up sports cars, police officers proudly prowl the streets looking for victims to funnel onto the county’s courtrooms and jails, keeping the coffers of their masters full.

The daily objectives of police are enforcing the decrees of men and finding civilians in which to plunder under some arbitrary law, statute, or code that they can cite. Their priorities center on expanding human authority—the dominion of man over man—rather than the Kingdom of God. Their daily thoughts rest within serving men. These proud police officers serve other gods than the Lord and have their minds on wicked thoughts. “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts” (Psalm 10:4).

Since such men have lofty views of themselves and the systems that they enforce, God always promises to tear these proud men down to size. Such promises to bring down the proud should serve as a warning to men who enforce the systems of man. 

“The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted—it will be humbled” (Isaiah 2:11-12).

“A lying tongue“

Police are trained to lie and deceive as part of their jobs. They routinely provide false testimony in court rooms, despite being under oath. They lie during traffic stops to coerce information from people. Dishonesty also pervades their report writing and interrogation of suspects, who are supposed to have a legal presumption of innocence. Such lies are commonplace among police officers because lying is sanctioned by law. 

God thinks such behavior as lying, as carried out by police as part of their jobs, is an abomination.

“Lying lips are abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 12:22). 

In some ways, police have an incentive to lie, being that they aren’t very good at solving crimes, while up against public pressure to find suspects and secure convictions. Only some half of murder cases result in an arrest, incentivizing them to nab someone to blame. Less than half of violent crimes are solved in America. And this can’t be explained by not having enough funding, which is often the statist solution — to just throw money at inefficient government services.

If people genuinely cared about preventing crime, one might expect them to oppose the current tax-funded system of law enforcement. This system, not beholden to voluntary payments of consumers or the need to profit, pays investigators regardless of their performance, providing no incentive to achieve results. Moreover, the system of man-made law being enforced diverts resources away from actual crime-fighting, instead focusing on punishing individuals who have not directly victimized anyone but merely violated some decree of the State. 

“Hands that shed innocent blood”

The state system that police sign up to enforce is based on invading the bodies and property of other people. The State has its origins and continued existence in theft. As the anarchist philosopher Murray Rothbard said, “The State is a coercive criminal organization that subsists by a regularized large-scale system of taxation-theft.”

There is thus no way of not taking part in crime and invasions of people and property if one joins a State to serve it. The State, by its very nature, is violence and bloodshed. Those who uphold and defend this system share in its bloody legacy, even if you’re just a bolt-turner for the machine and not an infantryman, a paper-pusher but not a patrolman. This is particularly true for police officers, who act as gun-wielding members of this violent system. Choosing to become a cop means pledging to use force in the enforcement of state laws, even to the point of killing someone who resists arrest for something as minor as “driving without a license.”

Those who enforce the state’s legal system of positive law, which is based solely on political edicts rather than any real understanding of law and crime, are complicit in shedding innocent blood. After all, many victims of police aggression are people who have harmed no one and violated no one’s property, eg., a man who possessed something deemed “illegal” — making the police the true criminals for using violence against them.

The reality is that police are inherently tied to violence. Their very jobs revolve around forcefully enforcing the laws and directives handed down by politicians and their superiors. While many encounters may appear peaceful, with the person simply submitting to an arrest, the underlying threat of force is always present. Even when physical violence does not occur, the dynamic between police and citizens is fundamentally coercive. The moment someone dares to challenge an officer’s authority, that officer is prepared to use deadly force in response. This violent potential is a core part of “law enforcement,” no matter how many routine interactions may go smoothly. There is no escaping the conclusion that the police, as an institution, are inextricably linked to the shedding of innocent blood, whether directly or indirectly.

In fact, the notion that the nature of state rule is simply “comply or die” is overly generous. Cases like that of Daniel Shaver, who was killed by Officer Philip Brailsford as he crawled and cried on the floor, demonstrate that even compliance with officers’ commands offers no guarantee that one won’t be murdered. This undermines the common refrain that “you wouldn’t have gotten hurt if you just obeyed the officer” — the same instruction given to people when facing private criminals holding us at gunpoint.

The essence of “law enforcement” is the willingness to use force in carrying out the directives of the political rulers and bureaucrats whom they serve. They serve as the enforcement arm for the general political conspiracy to exploit and plunder the public. Their primary duties involve seeking out individuals to apprehend and deprive of their freedoms on behalf of the men above them who make the commands, as well as setting up traps and checkpoints to ensnare members of the general population. They are the men spoken of in the scriptures, 

“They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net. Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together” (Micah 7:2-3).

Contrary to the widespread public perception of police officers as guardians of peace, law, and justice, these so-called “peace officers” are the very individuals who corrupt justice, law, truth, order, and peace.

“Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake. The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace” (Isaiah 59:7-8). 

The main source of crime and injustice in society is from the State. The theft of property by police even exceeds that of private criminals — and this is only counting on-the-job robbery, and not even the trillions of dollars stolen by the government in general which police uphold. Private criminals could never dream of matching the theft of governments, because government crime is legalized and legitimized in the eyes of the public.

Serving the political system is thus to take part in coercion, theft, and murder. Human government means nothing but corruption, lies, plunder, and a perversion of justice. 

The notion that police exist to protect public safety is a deception. This is made clear by explicit court rulings stating that police have no duty to protect. After all, the very name “law enforcement” reveals their true purpose: carrying out the agenda of the state, which involves punishing actual crimes as well as upholding a system of positive law that has little to do with preventing crime. In fact, many of these “laws” are themselves criminal, being invasive against non-invasive individuals, such as upholding tax laws and robbing men of their property.

“A heart that devises wicked schemes”

Since none of the violence inherent in the business of statism is done without being plotted in secret and hatched in offices before being taken to the streets and homes of our neighbors, devising wicked schemes is also an inescapable act of policing too. 

The whole job of policing and statism in general consists of ways in which to conspire and scheme against the public — to come up with various ways to set traps, catch men in nets, prey upon them, sting them, set up roadside checkpoints, invade their homes, entrap them in a crime, put surveillance on them as part of a pre-crime program to predict future criminals, etc.

Police are the people described in scripture: 

“He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless. He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; he lurks to seize the oppressed; he catches the lowly in his net. They are crushed and beaten down; the helpless fall prey to his strength” (Psalm 10:8-10).

Police are the people who plot conspiracies against men and seek men to fill up their local jails, where they run more schemes on their captives. These pre-dawn home invaders who serve on the SWAT team at their local Sheriff’s Office are “those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands” (Micah 2:1). They get sleep, only that they may turn around and prey upon their fellow man again. 

The whole operation of a local police or sheriff’s department is to come up with ways to extort the public, pack the courthouse for business each day of the week to bring in more money to the system makers, keep the jails and prisons full, ticket people for traffic offenses and lock them up when they can’t pay, throw poor people in jail for months who can’t pay the government fines, keep people trapped in the system with fees and fines, keep them locked in a cycle of court debt and reentry into jail, keep the money rolling to corporations who supply jails and insurance companies, take away your freedom to travel for not paying Pharaoh his money, rob people of their cash and property, steal from you without even charging you with a crime and use the funds to buy new police vehicles and build new jails with which to extort you more, make up for shortfalls in the budget by robbing people, etc.

The essence of policing is devising wicked schemes. 

“Feet that run swiftly to evil”

The work of a police officer involves enforcing the arbitrary laws of politicians, which regularly necessitates plundering the public. But beyond that regular duty, the very decision to become a police officer is a choice to run swiftly to evil — to have a great desire within to oppress other men. The very “calling” to become a cop is of the devil. While some may be well-intentioned fools who believe they will protect the public, many others recognize that they are joining a gang and seek it for that reason. Regardless of intentions, to fulfill the role of a police officer means that one must be willing to do evil. The oath to uphold “the law” is a pledge to use violence to enforce the edicts of the State.

The man-made governments of the world are organized spoliation schemes, and the very thought of becoming a police officer is a temptation to join in on this organized conspiracy to plunder the public with taxes, fines, fees, and laws that put them in cages. Those who join in with these men do so against the counsel and approval of God.

“My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them. If they say, ‘Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause, let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit. We will find all manner of precious goods; we will fill our houses with plunder. Throw in your lot with us; let us all share one purse’— my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path. For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood” (Proverbs 1:10-16). 

By accepting a job with the plunderous state and being anointed a figure of authority, police have thrown in their lot with a legalized mafia that exists for the sole purpose of extorting productive people and bringing back revenue and property for a class of non-productive, parasitic tax-consumers who call themselves “the government.”

Modern day police are the same as the wicked and evil men spoken of in scripture who plunder the rest of the people, keep the poor man down, and pervert the dealing of justice in society. When God looks down on His creation, he shakes His head seeing that men have turned their society into a plunderous police state. 

“For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men. Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich. They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy” (Jeremiah 5:26-28). 

The job of “law enforcement” is doing evil for a paycheck, eg., kicking in the door of some other family’s home and shooting them so that you can feed yours. They are not men who heed God’s words, saying “cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person” (Deuteronomy 27:25). The oath of a police officer is effectively, “In exchange for receiving money that you stole from taxpayers, I swear to use violence in the enforcement of the man-made edicts called ‘laws’ that politicians have created, up to killing a man if he resists me.”

“A false witness who gives false testimony”

A false witness is closely associated with lying. But a false witness has to do more with a lie about another person, especially one that leads to one being punished as a result. As one definition has it,

“A false witness is one who stands up and swears before others that something untrue is true, especially with the intention of hurting someone else or ruining his reputation.”

In the field of policing, a “lying tongue” and false witness can’t really be separated. Since police are necessarily associated with helping prosecutors and judges gain convictions, all police lies carry consequences with them for the victims of the lies. While we might ordinarily distinguish between lies and false witness as the former meaning a deceptive practice that doesn’t necessarily result in harsh consequences as prisons sentences, and the latter being more related precisely to things like giving a false testimony to courts and such which lead to severe penalties for the victims of such lies, there is really no such distinction among police. Police lies are false witnesses, since the nature of police lying—intimidating information out of men in traffic stops, coercing confessions in interrogation rooms, or telling lies under oath in courtrooms—always comes with great consequences.

It then makes sense why the Bible would relate false witness to a weapon. “A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow” (Proverbs 25:18). Policing lying has resulted in men being murdered in home raids, in men being charged with crimes they didn’t commit, and in thousands upon thousands of people being put in jails and prisons for many years.

The lies of police have thus been very dangerous ones. They are not like the lies of someone who, say, is telling Nazis knocking on their door that they don’t have anyone hidden in the attic. They are, to the contrary, the lies of the Nazis themselves used to punish and oppress other people. Many no-knock home invasions carried out by police departments—many which have lead to the deaths of the tenants—have been put forth because officers have lied to senior officers or judges about the credibility of evidence to go forth with the raid. As one article says,

“Officers have been known to fabricate consent to searches, invent probable cause, create fictional confidential informants, misrepresent whether Miranda rights were read, or lie about the location of arrests to circumvent Fourth Amendment protections. This type of lying is so commonplace that some officers have invented a name for it: ‘testilying.’”

The lying tactics they use force people into confessing to crimes they didn’t commit under the belief that they will be charged anyway. These lies often lead to unjust punishments of men. As one study found, 

“Of the 375 DNA exonerations the Innocence Project has recorded, false confessions contributed to 29% of wrongful convictions. In order to secure a confession, police often speak as if they already ‘know’ you are guilty during an interrogation. For example, a detective might start out an interrogation by telling a suspect that the results of their investigation clearly indicate that they are guilty, even when the investigation is not yet complete.”

Under such lies, suspects are tricked into false confessions and accepting plea bargains, believing they won’t change the minds of those who are already presuming them to be guilty. As the article went on, “Through such tactics, the police will try to convince a person that denials are pointless, and confessing is the only option.”

Another form of false witness practiced by police are the false charges they give that wind people up in courts in the first place, such as “resisting arrest,” “assaulting an officer,” “obstruction,” or “disorderly conduct” when they know these things didn’t happen and were used simply as an excuse to charge someone with a crime and arrest them. 

“One who stirs up discord among brothers”

This one is sort of a sum of everything else that we have already pointed out that police are involved in on a daily basis. By lying, being a false witness, plotting evil against others, signing up to put the boot in on people who violate Caesar’s decrees, and in general upholding the system of statism that is built on the backs of our neighbors who fund it through compulsory taxation, police are men who sow discord among the population. Their whole presence is one of stirring up drama and violence and making an uneven relationship between men of “authorities” and “civilians.”

Furthermore, using the “law” to punish others is surely not acting as a Christian brother, as we are told to love one another, not rob one another (1 Thess 4:9). They are acting as men who are still living in darkness, who hate their brothers (1 John 2:9-11).

Conclusion

As we see, everything that God says He hates in this one passage of the Proverbs are committed by police on a regular basis, as a routine part of their job.