Faithful Politics

On January 18th, much of the Internet went dark due to two strange-sounding acronyms practically no one had heard of before: SOPA and PIPA. Those letters stand for “Stop Online Piracy Act” and “Protect Intellectual Property Act,” legislation currently being debated in the House and Senate, respectively. Major websites, including Google, Wikipedia, and Facebook, made public statements explaining reasons why such legislation would – contrary to the lofty language of the bills – be detrimental to business and the flow of information on the Internet.

Twitter logged 3.9 million tweets about SOPA in one day, Google collected more than 7 million signatures in two days, and over 500,000 people “liked” Mark Zuckerberg’s status on the subject. The result of all that digital noise? Besides thousands of people realizing that the frat boy from college actually cares about policy, at least half a dozen congressmen changed their minds on the issue. That’s impressive impact. But a key question remains: What difference does all this make to a Christian?

Some may say that certain issues are neutral, that Christians and the Church don’t need to take sides. However, if the Bible is the manual for everyday life, there has to be some kind of application to an issue that has millions talking about it. Plus, thoughtful responses from believers from a biblical worldview can go a long way when talking with others trying to grasp the issue.

Proponents of the bills say that they help to nip piracy in the bud. In actuality, they hardly impact piracy (merely putting a band-aid over an unsightly issue), and they use a sledge hammer rather than a strategic and careful tweak. Basically, the government could cut off your Internet access to entire sites simply because someone pastes a link to an allegedly fake product in the comments section.

SOPA and PIPA are supposedly intended to support individual creativity and protect one’s unique ability to find a need and meet it with a product, yet they would do so by dramatically limiting access to the single greatest source of information and creativity in existence. The bills are about as counter-productive as a guy saying to his friend, “Let me take that speck of dust out of your eye first, then I’ll have the experience to take out the plank in my own eye.” As the Bible clearly illustrates, that logic is dramatically flawed (Luke 6, Matt. 7).

What’s more, infractions under the bills are treated as guilty until proven innocent. If someone’s site receives a complaint, under the proposed laws, it will be shutdown without an opportunity to defend his or her case. The fact is, we already have a legal system that addresses copyright. These laws just provide blunter instruments to restrict behavior more rapidly. Under the U.S. Constitution, that’s a violation of due process, which is a way not only to limit false claims (which experts say would abound under both proposed laws) but also to respect an individual’s ability to present his or her perspective on an even field. Under the Bible, it’s a violation of God’s command to not show favoritism (Lev. 19:15), to present just cause (Deut. 19:15), and to prevent special and/or biased interests from prevailing (Num. 35:30).

It is hard to imagine big companies not filing complaints against their competitors under false pretence, in essence stomping out start ups, entrepreneurs, problem solvers, or small businesses – i.e. the little guys. These bills would silence millions of voices at the will of the established and connected. This is decried throughout the Bible, while we are admonished to be wary of those who come with lofty ideas but who may be motivated by ulterior motives (Mat. 7:15). If anything, the weak and unconnected are to be given greater latitude and benefit of the doubt.

There is, of course, a biblical framework for encouraging honest work and holding cheaters accountable (1 Thes. 5:12-16). But this framework includes the application of grace and due process (Jam. 3:17). This prevents hasty decisions based on one-sided accusations.

The issue isn’t that protecting against piracy is a bad thing. The problem is that SOPA and PIPA create a new protocol that leapfrogs due process (supported by both the U.S. Constitution and the Bible) and risks harming more than it helps.

Certainly, freedom necessarily ought to function in tandem with responsibility, but when any group decides to apply their values over another’s freedom, the whole system is corrupted. Christians are prone to flatly apply biblical standards to others’ lives rather than allow them to come to the truth on their own, but that usually has negative repercussions that don’t help the unbelievers come closer to salvation. Perhaps this is why Jesus asked questions of the woman caught in adultery rather than condemn her (John 8), why God gave Adam choice in the garden, and why Peter gave Ananias and Sapphira the opportunity to come clean (Acts 5).

Society might not function as it would if the Bible were the universal standard. But then again, this world is only temporary and is the platform to reach out to others, not to constrict them against their will. It’s clear that Jesus understood this. Maybe we ought to do the same when it comes to politics.