The Mars Hill Society is an ad hoc affiliation of biblically committed people who enjoy open-ended discussions about theology, culture, the liberal arts and political reformation; and who enjoy the company of and interactions with skeptics of all persuasions. It is rooted in the ethos of the Mars Hill Forum series.

The Theology of the Mars Hill Society

The Six Pillars of Biblical Power – An Affirmation

1. The power to give: We believe that the Creator, Yahweh Elohim, the Lord God Almighty, our heavenly Father, employs his unlimited power to give to and equally bless all people as image bearers of God. The power to give is modeled in the faithful marriage of one man and one woman, in parenthood, and is the basis for trust in human society.
2. The power to live in the light: We believe that the Lord God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. As darkness and the prince of darkness flee the light, we embrace the power to live in the light of God’s presence, open and accountable to all people in all we believe, say and do. 
3. The power of informed choice: We believe that the Lord God gives us all the power of informed choice, to say yes to the good of freedom and life, and no to the evil of slavery and death. 
4. The power to love hard questions: We believe that the Lord God gives us the freedom and power to pose hard questions of him, and of one another, in Christian community. This is the power of sanctifying integrity. 
5. The power to love enemies: We believe that the Lord Jesus loved the world when we were yet enemies of the truth, drowning in a sea of broken trust. Now, as believers, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to love those who are, at present, enemies of the Gospel. 
6. The power to forgive: We believe that the power to give is restored to the broken world through the power to forgive, purchased in the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Thus, we as believers are called to extend this forgiveness to the broken world, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and in celebration of the mercy that triumphs over judgment in the second coming of Jesus.

The Politics of the Mars Hill Society

The Six Pillars of Honest Politics – An Affirmation

1. The power to give affirms that the unalienable rights given by the Creator belong to all people equally, and leaders in human government should serve such a gift.
2. The power to live in the light means that leaders in human government at every level should be as fully transparent as possible.
3. The power of informed choice is rooted in an honest definition of terms in political debate, providing a level playing field for all ideas to be heard equally, apart from which political freedom is not possible.
4. The power to love hard questions is in place when political leaders honor and answer those who pose them the toughest questions.
5. The power to love enemies recognizes that even the harshest of political opponents share a common humanity and are to be treated with respect.
6. The power to forgive recognizes the need to address our individual and societal transgressions against one another, and to work toward justice and reconciliation.

   These six pillars are by definition pre-partisan. In other words, they set the foundation for healthy partisan debates over public policy, in service to the consent of the governed. The deepest partisanship is the creation of a level playing field for all partisan ideas to be heard equally, where the pursuit of truth in any and all matters becomes possible.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Political Ideas (SCOPI) 

1. SCOPI’s purpose is to be sure that all ideas for political debate are discussed in an open-ended fashion.

2. SCOPI has no lawmaking purposes, but rather serves as an information resource for Committees that work on writing law.

3. On a chosen topic, SCOPI receives applications from partisans, prioritizes their testimonies, and works through them until all ideas have been fully and publicly aired.

4. Written presentations for SCOPI are a maximum 2,000 words, presented orally, there is no limit on footnotes and attachments, and are followed by open-ended dialogue in all directions until the partisan is satisfied that he or she has been fully heard.

  

   Alternately, the Commission on Political Ideas could be convened by the President or the House of Representatives; and at the state level, by the Governor, Senate or House.

The Mars Hill Society Political Platform

   The Mars Hill Society is based on trust in limited government. It is inclusive of any and all persons who celebrate limited government and the six pillars of honest politics. The Declaration of Independence gives the original definition to the scope of civil rights and the nature of a limited government to serve these rights:

   “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

   In the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, these rights are legally defined as the protection of persons from the deprivation of “life, liberty or property” without due process of law. In other words, these rights cannot be taken away from us by the power of the state, unless first we have taken one or several of these rights away from others.

   The word “men” as used in the Declaration is understood in its best literary sense as inclusive of all humankind – men, women and children. It was this commitment to unalienable rights, with the checks and balances on power in the consent of the governed that enabled the United States to overcome inherited evils. Especially, it allowed us to legally emancipate blacks and women to fully participate in our democratic and constitutional republic. And it should apply likewise to Native Americans.

   The basis for civil rights in the Declaration naturally follows the biblical order of creation where the subjects of God, life, choice and sex are introduced. In the beginning is God, and his highest goal in creation is human life, as he made man and woman in his image to be stewards of the good creation. Then man and woman are given the power of moral and aesthetic choices. The most important choice involves human sexuality, where in marriage and the establishment of a household, there resides the power to pass on the gifts of life, choice and sex, through procreation, to our children.

   The Declaration begins with God as our Creator who gives us unalienable rights. The first is that of life, followed by liberty that equals the language of choice and freedom. Then the language of “the pursuit of happiness,” equally with that of “property,” indicates the concern for human sexuality. Here, as man and woman join in marriage, they then establish a new household, which is their basis for property rights and economic productivity, which in total equals the basis for the individual and society’s power to pursue happiness.

   Rooted in biblical ethics, the Mars Hill Society affirms six pillars of honest politics that are universal in aspiration, and an excellent foundation for a healthy political order:

1. The power to give affirms that the unalienable rights given by the Creator belong to all people equally, and leaders in human government should serve such a gift.
2. The power to live in the light means that leaders in human government at every level should be as fully transparent as possible.
3. The power of informed choice is rooted in an honest definition of terms in political debate, providing a level playing field for all ideas to be heard equally, apart from which political freedom is not possible.
4. The power to love hard questions is in place when political leaders honor and answer those who pose them the toughest questions.
5. The power to love enemies recognizes that even the harshest of political opponents share a common humanity and are to be treated with respect.
6. The power to forgive recognizes the need to address our individual and societal transgressions against each other, and to work toward justice and reconciliation.

   As human life is protected, human liberty is established, and property rights and the pursuit of happiness are made possible.

   These three contexts for civil rights equal the scope of a limited government, at the federal and state levels. Their necessary and logical order equals the framework for defining good law. 

Life

   Apart from a definition of human life, questions of liberty, property and law are moot. The Mars Hill Society affirms:

1. All human life is made in God’s image, is of equal value in God’s sight, and for its entire natural duration, is to be protected by due process of law as the first order of human government.
2. The historic family unit, rooted in heterosexual, faithful and monogamous marriage, and the fullest possible presence of both father and mother in the raising of children, is the basic institution in society. It is based on the power to give and it is the cradle for human life. As such, it deserves unique cultural and legal affirmation.
3. Civil society can only exist when trust exists in human relationships, this is what the power to give yields, and is best learned in the intrinsic nature of faithful marriage and parenting.
4. Life can only be forfeit, after due process, when a person deprives another of his or her life.

Liberty

   All liberties are in service to human life, and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution sets forth the order of liberties necessary for a just society:

   “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

   The Mars Hill Society affirms:

1. The first freedom is that of religious liberty, and only when it is secured is there freedom of speech, press, assembly and redress of grievances. The “free exercise thereof” is secured as Congress gives no preference to one church denomination or religious organization over another; as it refuses to establish churches, and as it is free itself from being established by a church.
2. The goal is “free exercise,” which is to say that citizens of all religious or philosophical persuasions are invited to participate in the political process according to their express beliefs, to participate on a genuine level playing field.
3. Religious liberty celebrates the enfranchisement of all minority worldviews, guaranteeing the vote to all law-abiding citizens. Majority and plurality religious or political worldviews expect no more freedom to advocate their positions than the freedom minority worldviews have. By the same token, minority worldviews have no more freedom to see their positions morally or legally enfranchised, beyond what they can win through the persuasion of the consent of the governed.
4. For those who by choice, circumstance or the brokenness of adversity do not participate fully or partly as members of the historic family unit, they should be equally free from punitive laws restricting private associations. All persons, however, must accept accountability for the public consequences of their private associations and actions, and in no way deprive others of life, liberty or property.
5. The education of children is the primary responsibility and liberty of parents. As such, government must serve this prerogative, and serve local liberties to define the nature and relationship between private and public education. This freedom of choice in primary and secondary education is the foundation for a vibrant higher education, for this nation’s commitment to a genuine liberal arts discipline in all the sciences, and thus for preparation of leadership in all sectors of the culture.
6. There is a crucial liberty for people to choose their own means of health coverage, retirement provision and other “insurance” and “social security” type needs apart from government mandated means. By the same token, where government means have been mandated in the past, all such promises must be honored.
7. The liberty for citizens to disobey civil government is only applicable when and if the Bill of Rights were to be abridged by the force of a coercive and unconstitutional State power, thus seeking to force citizens to deny their religious or other beliefs in word or deed.
8. An immigration policy rooted in the identity of the United States as a nation of immigrants reflects the power to give; our future identity is rooted in the same power to give that welcomes legal immigrants.
9. In its international role, the United States should model its constitutional freedoms. Wherever religious, political and economic liberties are respected or sought after, the United States is free to join in mutually appropriate relationships. As well, the United States maintains its prerogative for national sovereignty and defense as the best means to be an agent for religious, political and economic liberty within the community of nations, respecting equally the same aspirations of all other peoples.
10. Liberty can only be forfeit, after due process, when a person deprives another of his or her rights.

Property

   Once life and liberty are secured, property rights and the pursuit of happiness become possible. The Mars Hill Society affirms:

1. The ownership and protection of private property, to keep what is honesty earned, to buy, sell, and trade based on the same; this is the liberty for all to pursue.
2. The reservation of rights to property belongs first with the people, and then within the local and state jurisdictions that are outside the scope of a limited federal government.
3. The jurisdiction of a limited federal government includes those areas where interstate cooperation is necessary for the common good; such as national defense, commerce and the protection of the environment; as well as the protection of life, liberty and property in capacities that transcend an individual state jurisdiction, or supersede it in concert with the unalienable rights to life, liberty and property.
4. The right for collective bargaining in labor matters, and the right not to participate in the same, are equally necessary.
5. Tax policies must support society’s dependence on the historic family unit, must be in fair proportion to government’s legitimate needs, must be derived from productive economic activity, and must encourage entrepreneurial ventures and capital formation for businesses and job creation.
6. The ethical commitment and logical order of a free market economy is: “Earn all you can, save all you can, employ all you can, and give away all you can.” Accordingly, it is understood that wealth, and the cognate power for charity, are produced by families and workers in the private sector, not by government. Government serves the free market economy in its constitutional role of protecting life, liberty and property.
7. The support of the historic family unit rooted in the faithful presence of both the father and mother, is the best deterrent to criminal actions that violate persons and property, and the best deterrent to substance abuse.
8. Property can only be forfeit, after due process, when a person deprives another of his or her rights.

   The Mars Hill Society affirms the above principles as a guideline for specific public policies. It believes that the government that governs the least governs the best, and accordingly is committed to reducing the complexity and amount of current local, state and federal statutes as much as possible.

Simplified State and Federal Constitutions and Statutory Law 

   James Madison stated: “If the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood,” then it does us little good to have an elected government. When laws are too complex for the society at large to understand, then government becomes the playground for various politicians, lawyers, bureaucrats, et al., whose purposes are other than the genuine consent of the governed.

   Thus, John Rankin has a proposal to start the discussion, detailed in his book: The Six Pillars of Honest Politics: The Biblical Nature of a Level Playing Field. Per Occam's razor ("reduce needless redundancies"), he has vastly edited and simplified the Connecticut Constitution, reducing it from twenty-five to nine pages (sans footnotes), and the General Statutes, reducing them from some 17,000 dense pages (with an additional 3,000 pages of index), down to nineteen pages (sans footnotes). It seeks to replace distrust with trust, complexity with simplicity, opaqueness with transparency; and thus it seeks to draw honest people into politics. John has also edited the United States Constitution and vastly simplified the United States Code from some 70,000 pages down to 15 pages of General Statutes.

Four Steps to Realize the Political Vision of the Mars Hill Society 

   The first step to realize this vision is to create ad hoc Mars Hill Society chapters..

   Second is to recruit pastors, churches, Christian organizations and other Christian leaders to sign three Affirmations – The Six Pillars of Biblical Power, The Six Pillars of Honest Politics and The Ministers Affirmation on Marriage, and publish them widely. The natural biblical unity on these three affirmations will prove quite universal among biblically rooted Christians.

   Third is the convening of Mars Hill Society Conventions, in each state and federally. In these conventions, the goal is to arrive at agreement of new and vastly simplified state and federal statutory laws, rooted in simplified and slightly tweaked constitutions.

   And fourth, out of these conventions, or by other means, the goal is to recruit biblically committed believers to run for office, and accomplish the same in the government.

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   The Mars Hill Society will serve such candidates regardless of their party affiliation, offering educational resources, but will not participate in actual political campaigns. In other words, the Mars Hill Society does not endorse any political party or candidate; rather parties or candidates may choose to endorse the six pillars and/or the platform.

   The defining partisanship of the Mars Hill Society, both theologically and politically, is the creation of a level playing field for all partisan ideas to be heard equally. Thus, churches can fully participate politically as well. They will never be asked to endorse candidates or parties, but rather are free to host forums where all candidates for a particular office, and/or other dissenters, are equally invited to be heard. This is above reproach in the sight of the Internal Revenue Service, even in view of the unconstitutional 1954 federal law that sought to restrict the political liberties of pastors and churches. But especially, it is biblical – the power of the level playing field.

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   The Mars Hill Society, sponsored by the Theological Education Institute (TEI), LLC. It is neither a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation, nor a political action committee (PAC), nor a political party, thus maximizing its own freedom as a voluntary association.