"All that mankind has done, thought, gained or been: it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of books."
-Thomas Carlyle

A monthly magazine for truth, faith, and logic.

Issue 2,
October 2004

Contents:

Cover

Letters

By Their Fruits
by Paul Lytle

A Vision of the Logos
by Daniel Morgan

Shakespeare's Comic Universe
by Louis A. Markos

What Would C.S. Lewis Say?
by Harold Raley

Vote No Evil
by Paul Lytle

Unfamiliar Woods
by Daniel Morgan

Upon Thinking of Warwick
by Paul Lytle

Sip Iced Tea
by J.E. Heath

The Watchman's Song
by Daniel Morgan

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Primum Mobile Staff:

Paul Lytle
Publisher, Editor

Daniel Morgan
Publisher, Editor

Anastasia P. Lytle
Associate Editor

Louis A. Markos
Contributing Editor

Letters

Primum Mobile Magazine welcomes feedback from any of our readers, and will publish many reader letters here. If you wish to send a letter to our editors, please use our Respondere page.

On Our First Issue

Just wanted to congratulate "Primum Mobile" for a job well done. I believe we need this kind of publication and encourage you to keep it up!

-Santos Berrios

We did not want to fill up this page with just the letters congradulating us on the first issue (sorry, Mom), but surely one wouldn't hurt . . .

In Defence of Equality

In response to The Three Important Things, by Daniel Morgan.

The theory of hierarchy suggests that if men are left to their own, they will organize themselves into a hierarchy where superiors will rule over inferiors and there would be one man at the top ruling over them all. But when we look at history, we cannot find a time in which this actually happened. In every system of government that has ruled over men since the beginning of civilization, there has always been a natural check on power. Sometimes this check is subtle, but it is always enough to stop a tyrant in his tracks.

For example, in England the King was forced to sign the Magna Carta. How was a king forced to do anything? Well, he needed money, and a king, like the rest of us, will do almost anything for money when he is broke. In the English system, the king had to ask the barons he ruled over for money. In 1215, the barons decided they would not meet the king's request until he signed the Magna Carta that guaranteed the rights of the barons against the king. And here the seed of Democracy was planted. In England and other countries, the king was further limited because of the need to raise an army from the nobles. If the nobles feel that they are being abused, they can exercise their check on their "natural superior."

You see, the fundamental problem here is that a king without money is not a king, and a king without an army is not a king. A king that must ask his inferiors for money and an army is not a superior. A king gains and holds power with his army. Strip him of his army and he's just like the rest of us: weak and insecure. As individuals, we are all equals.

For a divinely ordained system, monarchy has never really helped the nations that have employed it. The inherent corruption of monarchy destroyed Rome, which was once the greatest republic in history. It bankrupted Spain, the vast empire that looted the Americas.

All groups need leaders. In the family, the husband is divinely appointed as the leader. But that doesn't mean he is superior to his wife. After all, man is born of woman just as woman is begotten of man (1 Cor. 11:12). The President is our leader, but he is not our superior. Just as a man is born of a woman, the President is elected by the people. This is Democracy. It keeps showing up in human society in one form or another. It is natural. It is divinely ordained. A Republic is the best system for defending the rights of man.

God is a jealous god. He wants our undivided loyalty. Anything less is not worthy of Him. Jesus said, "no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other." Jesus was talking about wealth here, but the lesson works for government as well.

Aren't we all sinners? Aren't we all in need of salvation? We are all dirt, literally, in God's eyes. How can one man be superior to others? It is blasphemous to suggest that superiority is possible.

All men are created equal. This is not an idea that was started by equal rights activists like Thomas Jefferson. This is a divine commandment. We are all made in God's image. We all need salvation. We all have free will. We even have the freedom to deny God and to kill each other. This is a freedom that even God won't step on. Why should a king? Does God place one man above the others? No. Hierarchy is artificial and must be maintained by force. Therefore, we are all equal.

Love each other. This is God's commandment. Live this way and you will be happy. God has granted freedom to men, but there can be no freedom without equality. If a man must obey his natural superior, then he is not free. In a perfect world, there would be no need for leaders. All men would do the will of God. If our aim here is to establish the perfect system of government, then hierarchy is a step in the wrong direction. Men must be free to discover the will of God.

-J.E. Heath

We will not make a habit of writing responses for our letters page, but when there is a misunderstanding about a position, as there is here, we will.

No one on the editorial staff of Primum Mobile subscribes to the theory that some men are inherently superior than another. That is not part of our belief in hierarchy. When Mr. Morgan wrote about such a structure, he was referring to the belief that every man has a place and a duty.

Take this example. If two of our editors, Daniel Morgan and Paul Lytle, were to join up with Michael Jordan to lead a discussion group or write a paper, one of them may take the leadership position, but it would not be inherently clear which man would do so. If we were writing about basketball strategies and techniques, our editors would happily step aside and allow Mr. Jordan to take charge. If the discussion was a political debate, Mr. Lytle may lead the group. If they were to write about world or church history, Mr. Morgan might be the best choice. Simply to have leaders and followers does not necessarily mean that the leaders are superior to the followers. It is just that one person is better suited for a certain position than another. One would be a better leader in a certain situation.

Seen in that light, we cannot think of a group of people who did not organize themselves hierarchically. Even in Democratic Republics there are many levels of leadership.

Now, this example is not perfect. After all, the three people we have mentioned are knowledgeable about these subjects because they have studied those subjects. Hierarchy suggests more of an inherent role for people. For example, Mr. Lytle would not be shirking his duties as a man if he stopped reading about politics. He would be negligent in his responsibilities if he stopped working to provide for and protect his household. That is his place, part of his duties as a man and as a married man.

As for Democracy being Divinely Ordained — the Bible only gives us one government that was literally Divinely Ordained. 1 Samuel 8 tells us that God, reluctantly, gave the Jews a King. Granted, it was because the people wanted one, but it was still a Monarchy that God established, not a Democracy. We do not believe that any one form of government is inherently good, though some may prove more easily turned toward good than others. But this topic will appear in detail in future articles, and is not appropriately argued in this forum.