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Edward Snowden. Permanent Record. Read by Holter Graham. New York: Macmillan Audio, 2019. Audible edition. https://www.audible.com/pd?asin=1250622689&source_code=ASSORAP0511160006

In his autobiography, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden lays out stimulating discussions on education; identity and privacy; the Internet; whistleblowing; government power, contracting, surveillance, and abuse; cloud storage; and encryption.

Alter ego

Snowden makes an interesting case for using alternate identities and anonymity online, which can make people more willing to learn, admit when they’re wrong, and change their view; whereas using real identities tends to defensiveness and obstinacy in order to preserve reputation. He blames government and business for the Internet’s shift towards the latter. Anonymity, however, is a double-edged sword that just as easily emboldens people to be vicious and wicked (needless to say, much online behavior reflects this) and to shirk responsibility/accountability.

Growing Up…Online

Snowden’s upbringing sheds light on a number of issues. In some ways the young Snowden reminds me of my younger self, an obsessive, all-or-nothing kind of guy, diving headlong into whatever captured my attention, rarely coming up for air. Growing up, especially through puberty, Snowden spent most of his time playing video games and going online, learning as much as he could on messaging boards, without hardly any moderation or supervision. He advocates this kind of activity as a way of self-discovery, of growing up and finding identity; and sees hacking as a way of becoming equal with adults, since technical skill and acumen matter more than age. Somewhat similar to Snowden, however, several mass shooters spent lots of time in the Internet’s sewers, messaging boards like 8chan:

https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/8chan/

The truth is that the Internet, video games, and media in general are often too much for young impressionable minds to handle, especially without close parental supervision. They’re highly addictive, even for adults, and much of the content is inappropriate for youth. They foster impatience, heighten irritability, fuel tempers, destroy self-control, the list goes on and on:

https://www.frictionlessfamilies.com/technology-in-the-family

https://www.drkardaras.com/research.html

Parents need to wake up and stop overexposing their kids to technology and media.

Snowden’s life is also a sad but all too common object lesson of the devastating impact of divorce on children. It affected Snowden deeply when his parents were no longer together. He rightly describes it as both becoming a parent—maturing too quickly by being overexposed to adult problems—and as losing a parent, at the same time. Divorce is a vicious cycle that harms the children the most, including, but not limited to, the separated parents outdoing each other by buying the nicer gifts for their kids, and using the kids to spy on the other parent’s love life; kids having to choose which parent to stay with, and having to “be the parent” with their own parents when they become unstable; and, one of the worst consequences, kids constantly blaming themselves for the divorce. Even though his parents eventually “reconciled” by agreeing to flourish separately, the damage is done and requires supernatural intervention to truly overcome.

Cyber Religion

It’s interesting how Snowden uses overtly religious language to describe the early Internet, what he calls the most successful anarchy he’s ever experienced, which is consistent with his general distrust of authority, and thinking people are better off raising themselves in an online world that’s free of government corruption and corporate greed. He claims that the nascent Internet was more forgiving of online transgressions, and gave people the freedom to start over. The Internet was his idol, and the online communities he frequented his church, an attempt to find community and a sense of belonging. It reminds me of the documentary Ringers: Lord of the Fans, which shows real people forming cults that practically worship Tolkien’s fictional characters. One woman claimed The Lord of the Rings saved her life. Ian McKellen, the actor who played Gandalf, made the stupefying assertion that The Lord of the Rings is true and the Bible is false. John Calvin rightly said the human heart is a perpetual idol factory. It’s sad to see even conscientious individuals, who want justice to triumph corruption, idolize the most ridiculous things, exchanging “the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans‬ ‭1:25‬); rather than worship Christ Jesus, the real God-Man, “the way, the truth, and the life” (‭‭John‬ ‭14:6‬)‬‬, the only One who can truly forgive all our sins and give us, not just a fresh start, but a perfect record of righteousness based on Christ’s perfect life and finished work on the Cross. No works required, just faith: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John‬ ‭5:24‬).

“Homo contractus”

Snowden levels sharp criticisms against the Intelligence Community’s (IC) government contracting, a way of “hacking” the federal head count limits placed on each agency. The black budget he leaked implies that the IC employs just as many contractors as government employees. Due partly to rapid advances in technology, the government turned to the private sector to hire contractors, sidestepping the established vetting and hiring process. Employees often start working for the government to get clearance levels and then jump ship to the highest bidding contractor the first chance they get. IC directors and Congresspeople land cushy jobs with the contracting companies they hired for the government, a blatant conflict of interest. What passes off as “innovation” is more like governmentally assisted corruption. This in part made it possible for Snowden to gain access to all the NSA’s secret documents as a contracted sysadmin fairly quickly.

The Cloud of centralized servers

I appreciated Snowden’s criticism of “cloud” storage, which is regressive technology that stores our data in untold racks of servers consolidated in large data centers, euphemistically pitched as “the cloud.” Consenting to these cloud services means that companies do whatever they want with our data: read it, scan it, sell it, delete it. We don’t really know where our data is and what cloud companies are doing with it. And who knows what parts of the cyber world our data has traveled.

Overall, this is an important book that deals with many pertinent issues affecting us today, though I would’ve liked for Snowden to add VPNs to the discussion, but he didn’t mention them; or to treat some of the controversial fallout resulting from his leaks, such as Operation Socialist:

https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/48/

He gives an excellent discussion of the need for encryption to permeate our online activity and for users to take advantage of anonymous browsers like Tor and messaging apps like Signal, which will reform the Internet back to the “purer” form that Snowden reminisces about:

http://reformedlibertarian.com/articles/politics/simple-online-privacy-measures-everyone-should-be-taking-but-arent/

Disclaimer: The book has some salty language, which was a little unexpected because it starts relatively clean.

Mass shootings.  What are Christians to make of them?  But before we answer this question, perhaps we should sharpen the question a bit, asking instead, What are American Christians to make of them?

The obvious motive for my writing on this subject is the report from El Paso, TX, where another mass shooting has left many dead and injured, not to mention many other traumatized by the sinful violence of the event. 

If that weren't enough, I woke up this morning to hear of another mass shooting, this time in nearby Dayton, OH which reportedly has left 9 dead. 

Oddly enough, both these shootings in far apart places - Dayton and El Paso are over 1,500 miles apart - both have a personal connection to me.  El Paso is the home of several friends of mine from ThornCrown Ministries, while I personally know a man who currently serves as an officer on the Dayton police force.  My friends are all safe, but clearly there are many people in both places who have suffered great loss. 

The response from the news media and other Second Amendment foes is predictable:  Guns are the problem and must be more strictly regulated.  The ultimate goal of these people seems to be the complete disarmament of the American people. 

As Christians, what are we to say to this?  Certainly, in the wake of such tragedies it is tempting to go along with the anti-gun rhetoric.  But we must ask, What does the Bible say about the right of private citizens to bear arms?  Does Scripture prohibit private citizens from owning weapons, or does it support their doing so?

Another question related to this is what does the Bible say about criminal justice?  Does the Bible call for crime punishment or crime prevention?  How we answer these questions will serve to guide us as we evaluate the statements we see in the news concerning the El Paso and Dayton shootings.      

The short answer to the first question is, yes, the Bible allows for private citizens to own weapons.  To the second question, we answer that the Bible calls, not for crime prevention, but for crime punishment.  

The Bible and Self-Defense

Very clearly, the Bible supports the right of self-defense.  This right, as are all rights, are imputed to us by the law of God.  The law of God says, "Thou shalt not murder."  It is from this commandment that we derive the right of self-defense.  That is to say, we have a right to prevent out own murder, or for that matter, the murder of others. 

Exodus 22:2-3 speaks directly to this issues.  "If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed.  If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed.  He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft."

Commenting on this passage, John Gills notes that,

...and be smitten that he die be knocked down with a club, by the master of the house, or any of his servants, or be run through with a sword, or be struck with any other weapon, to hinder him from entrance and carrying off any of the goods of the house, and the blow be mortal: there shall no blood be shed for him: as for a man that is murdered; for to kill a man when breaking into a house, and, by all appearance, with an intention to commit murder, if resisted, in defence of a man's self, his life and property, was not to be reckoned murder, and so not punishable with death: or, "no blood" shall be "unto him" (a); shall be imputed to him, the man that kills the thief shall not be chargeable with his blood, or suffer for shedding it; because his own life was risked, and it being at such a time, could call none to his assistance, nor easily discern the person, nor could know well where and whom he struck.

In short, the law of Moses allowed men to defend their homes, up to and including the use of deadly force. 

Another passage that supports the self-defense is Luke 22:36.  Here, Jesus tells the disciples to take with them a knapsack, a money bag and a sword.  Some commentators, going back to at least John Calvin have argued that Jesus is speaking metaphorically here about a sword.  In the opinion of this author, this is incorrect.  If Jesus was speaking metaphorically about the sword, this implies that he was speaking metaphorically about taking basic provisions including money.  But is it reasonable to think that the disciples were to fulfill the Great Commission and bring the Gospel to all nations without basic provisions?  This hardly makes sense.  And if Jesus command to take with them basic provisions was literal, why are we to consider his command to take a sword as anything but literal? 

There are some who argue that Jesus saying "turn the other cheek" to the one who strikes you abrogates any notion of self-defense.  John Gill's comments here are helpful.

He writes,

Not but that a man may lawfully defend himself, and endeavour to secure himself from injuries; and may appear to the civil magistrate for redress of grievances; but he is not to make use of private revenge.

In other words, Gill holds that a man has the right to defend himself for the purpose of brining the offender to justice, but not for the purpose of seeking private revenge. 

Other commentators hold that the "slap on the right cheek" of which Jesus speaks in Matthew 5:39 is a back-handed slap - for a right hander strike someone on the right cheek, he must use a back handed striking motion - meant as insult, not as a threat to one's life. 

The Bible and Defense Against Tyranny

Another circumstance in which the Bible approves the use of deadly force is in the lawful defense against tyranny.  This doctrine has come to be called the Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate, which was famously articulated by John Calvin in Book IV, Chapter 20, Paragraph 31 of his Institutes of the Christian Religion.  Wrote Calvin,

But whatever may be thought of the acts of the men themselves, the Lord by their means equally executed his own work, when he broke the bloody sceptres of insolent kings, and overthrew their intolerable dominations. Let princes hear and be afraid; but let us at the same time guard most carefully against spurning or violating the venerable and majestic authority of rulers, an authority which God has sanctioned by the surest edicts, although those invested with it should be most unworthy of it, and, as far as in them lies, pollute it by their iniquity. Although the Lord takes vengeance on unbridled domination, let us not therefore suppose that that vengeance is committed to us, to whom no command has been given but to obey and suffer.

I speak only of private men. For when popular magistrates have been appointed to curb the tyranny of kings (as the Ephori, who were opposed to kings among the Spartans, or Tribunes of the people to consuls among the Romans, or Demarchs to the senate among the Athenians; and perhaps there is something similar to this in the power exercised in each kingdom by the three orders, when they hold their primary diets). So far am I from forbidding these officially to check the undue license of kings, that if they connive at kings when they tyrannise and insult over the humbler of the people, I affirm that their dissimulation is not free from nefarious perfidy, because they fradulently betray the liberty of the people, while knowing that, by the ordinance of God, they are its appointed guardians.

Any challenge to the king, or the central government for that matter, must be made by the lesser magistrates, that is to say, those men to whom formal governing authority has been given.  Rebellion is not the right of private citizens. 

In history, we see examples of  this such as the Elector of Saxony protecting Luther from the Emperor Charles.  The American Revolution was such an event.  It was not a private revolution, but was one that occurred as a last resort and declared by the elected officials of the colonies.   

Missing from Calvin's argument is a specific appeal to Scripture.  But it seems to this author that such examples can be found.  In the 1 Samuel, we read how the Philistines ruled the Israelites, yet the Israelites rebelled against them and threw off the foreign yoke.  If rebellion against unjust rule was always sinful, as some argue, then Israel's rebellion against the Philistines was likewise sinful.  Yet Scripture never states explicitly or implies that there was anything sinful about the actions of Saul, Jonathan or David in driving the Philistines out of Israelite territory.  They were lawful government magistrates defending the nation against the unjust oppression of a foreign power. 

If the lesser magistrate is to interpose himself between the greater magistrate and the people, this implies the possible need for physical force, which implies the need for weapons.  This is why tyrants always go for the gun grab at the first opportunity:  They do not want the people to be able to resist their evil actions.  In Scripture, there is at least one good example of this.

Government Gun Grabbing In the Bible

Worth noting in all this is that, during their occupation of Israel, the Philistines had made a policy of disarming the Israelites.  In 1 Samuel 13:19-20, we read, "Now there was no blacksmith to be fund throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, 'Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.' But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man's plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle...."

Here we see that that the Philistines attempted to render the Israelites defenseless by taking away, not just their swords, but their means of producing them.  It was illegal for an Israelite to work as a blacksmith under Philistine occupation. 

This "gun ban" was so effective that, as 1 Samuel 13:22 notes, "So it came about, on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan.  But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son."

As it happened, God, through the heroic leadership of Jonathan, still delivered a great victory to Israel that day.  Yet we can see in the example of the Philistines the same sort of thing that tyrannical governments have done to people throughout history, attempt to eliminate the ability of subject people to defend themselves by removing their access to weapons of war.   

In light of this example, Christians in 21st century America should be very skeptical of any government official, or wanna be government official, who seeks to use mass shootings as a reason to restrict, and to eventually eliminate, the private ownership of guns.

Crime Prevention or Crime Punishment?

One of the reasons some politicians give for attempting to limit the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is crime prevention.  This assumes that it is the government's job to prevent crime.  But nowhere in the Bible is the government called to do this. 

Writing to the Romans, the apostle Paul says that the civil magistrates job is to punish those who practice evil.  That is to say, the job of the government is to punish criminals, not prevent crime.

Crime prevention is really another way of saying "let's punish everyone in the hope of stopping future crime."  This is unjust on the face of it.  If a man has done no wrong, why should he have his rights restricted in hopes of preventing someone else from doing something wrong?  The Scriptures clearly teach that father are not to be put to death for their children, not are children to be put to death for their parents.  Rather, each will die for his own sin (Deuteronomy 24:16). Applying this principle more broadly prohibits governments from employing punitive regulations on society, in order to prevent the wrong doing of the few. 

The Biblical theory of criminal justice is one of crime punishment, not crime prevention. 

Closing Thoughts

When faced with obvious horrors such as what occurred in El Paso and Dayton, the knee-jerk reaction from the press and from many politicians is to cry "there ought to be a law!,"  when, in fact, there already are many laws on the books, none of which prevented the crime from taking place.  Will placing new, more restrictive gun laws on the books stop future crimes?  Apart from what was noted above, that the Christian theory of criminal justice is one of crime punishment, not crime prevention, from a practical standpoint, the answer is, not likely.

Private citizens have a God-given right to keep and bear arms, both for their own defense and for the defense of their nation's liberties.  Tyrannical governments throughout history have opposed this ideas for obvious reasons.

For those who seek to use tragedies such as El Paso and Dayton to call for more restrictive gun legislation, ask yourself, what happens when government officials have a monopoly on the possession of guns?  Are not government officials also sinful men, and have not government officials used their monopoly on power to oppress and even murder their own people? 

In his book Death by Government, R. J. Rummel estimated that, in the 20th century alone, governments accounted for approximately 169,198,000 murders.  Those who seek to strip private citizens of their right to keep and bear arms and turn over all gun ownership to the government need to explain why we should trust governments with a monopoly on deadly force.  In the opinion of this author, they will find this an impossible task.   

For Christians, mass shootings of the sort we've too often witnessed are a stark reminder of the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the desperate need of our unbelieving fellow citizens to hear the Gospel of Justification by Belief Alone.  Jesus called us to be salt and light.  Let us be about our business.