Title: Spirit of Law in the Wilderness Community
Contents
1. Celebrating Constitution Day
Today is the 46th anniversary of Constitution Day. On July 17, 1948, the first constitution of Korea was enacted, and 46 years have passed.
The two fundamental principles and essence of the Constitution are the protection of human rights and the separation of powers. Our constitution was also enacted in the spirit of a democratic constitution by combining these two principles with the idea of the right to live. Unfortunately, however, our constitutional history has been tragic from the outset, a product of struggles and compromises between political forces. The constitutional article, initially presented as a power structure of the cabinet responsibility system, was amended in just 30 minutes due to Syngman Rhee's claim that "we will not receive any position under the cabinet responsibility system" and submitted and passed through the presidential system. In addition, the so-called round-trip constitutional amendment in 54 years, which made a rule to abolish the limitation on consecutive terms only for the first president and prayed for the life time of Syngman Rhee, and the Yushin Constitution, which dreamed of a permanent dictatorship by reinforcing the dictatorship development logic in 1972 and the peaceful unification logic for national security. Looking at examples such as enactment, I think that the phrase "a constitution is the product of struggle and compromise between various political forces" fits our constitutional history very well.
In our history, when our constitution was first enacted, it was a very important moment for our people. It was time to create a source that could provide an infinite new vision for the future of the nation and provide the fundamental power to create a just and righteous political history by establishing a just and democratic law. However, the background of our constitutional enactment has lost its place as a driving force for national political development that can silence the lust for power and correct distorted political behavior. However, the position that gives us such strength can only be obtained from the history of the struggle against constitutional amendment.
2. The Spirit of Law in the Bible
Our reality and the Bible story are in stark contrast. In the Bible, there are many law codes centered on the Pentateuch. Focusing on the early code of law, the Code of Contracts, the law of the Bible is strictly for the protection of the weak. The weak in the Bible are slaves, the poor, orphans, widows, and strangers, and God is their supporter. Even taking the Sabbath law as an example, it was a law for the rest of slaves. This is because the master can rest as he pleases, but slaves cannot rest without the legal system. Male servants, female servants, livestock, and even the guests are all to rest. This Sabbath law developed into a sabbatical, and finally a jubilee law, enacting the Emancipation Act.
However, the motive for enacting this protection of the weak in the Bible is very unique. In fact, almost all of the ancient Near East had protection of the weak, but Israel's laws are unique because of their historical and theological motives. In other words, Israel protects the weak because of their experience of slavery in Egypt. "You must never make your brother a slave, because you were a slave in Egypt, and that brother was also the one the Lord had set free from slavery in Egypt." "Take care of the stranger, for you were also a stranger in Egypt," was God's word. Israel's ethic-based laws are strictly severing the repetition of their unfortunate past. The structures of domination and domination of the Egyptian society, the majority of the people experienced exploitation and oppression by certain classes, and the unfair treatment of immigrants and slaves. It was expressed with the will not to repeat.
In light of this, our history is very different. Despite experiencing the history of oppression under Japanese imperialism, instead of breaking the structure of domination and rule, he rose to the position of a fellow oppressor and acted as a repressor of his own people.
3. Hometown of the Israeli court god
In fact, Israeli law is largely of later enactment. In other words, laws enacted while living under the monarchy. But beware, when they discover social contradictions and enact new laws, they always give the ideals of their laws to the old wilderness days. If we call the Israeli community from the escape community, to the wilderness (roam) community, and to the settling community, they are reflecting the ideals of their wandering wandering days.
The wilderness is not a place to make good laws. Rather, it was a place of intense conflict between survival threats - thirst, hunger, and disease - and leadership. It is also a place where we realized the grace and love of God who cares for them in the midst of this. However, if you look at the life in the wilderness from a sociological point of view, it becomes a place of great significance. This is because they formed a vision for a new community during their wilderness life after they came out of Egypt. The early community of Israel is called the early egalitarian community because these ideals are contained therein.
The problems they agonized over to form an ideal community while living in the wilderness are how to unite each tribe well to form a united community, how can those who are firmly established in Pharaoh's system improve their constitution and stand as autonomous and responsible beings? How can people who were under the control of coercive leadership, heroic leadership, create autonomous leadership in the absence of coercive state power, and how to put the newly emerging women's leadership into public leadership, unstable economic situation It was a practical problem, such as the necessity of economic action for self-sufficiency in the country, and adequate sanitation in situations threatened by diseases, disasters, and population shortages. Laws enacted to solve these problems are listed in the Pentateuch. In other words, the transition to a paradigm that 'includes' the experiences of various members, the creation of ideal leadership, and the pursuit of social and economic equality.
If we take the Jubilee Act as an example, it is a law that seeks to guarantee economic equality and human rights. It seems that this law was enacted at 687-642 B.C.597-586 B.C., but the spirit of this law is based on the thought of the Sabbath law and the Code of Contracts enacted during the wilderness life. In other words, Israel escaped from slavery in Egypt and settled in the land of Canaan, and based on their past hardship history, the dream and vision of a society of absolute equality is strongly reflected in the Jubilee Law.
4. The meaning of today
The Wilderness Community - We are in stark contrast to Israel, which recalls the spirit of the law of the early egalitarian community. When history goes wrong, it is our constitutional revision history that the law, the institutional device to correct it, has rather taken the side of power. Now, like Israel, we need to create a source of the spirit of righteous Korean law that our descendants can use as a mirror when they want to correct the distortion of history. Also, our church today is like a community in the wilderness. This is because it is a time when we have been through a lot of trial and error and are struggling to find a vision for an equal and reformed church amidst the realities of conflict and tension. In order for the beginning here to become a fundamental place where future generations can reflect on their community, it is necessary to reveal how much a community that loves people and lives a Christian life with vitality rather than the system itself.
Going one step further, I hope that each of us can have a place that serves as a source of introspection in the level of our lives. It will be a place of secret communion with God, and a place of life where you can always reflect on yourself and find the source of richer spirituality from your relationship with God.