“In those days of hope the French nation manifested the chief defect but, likewise, the chief virtue of youth: inexperience, but generous enthusiasm…They had one belief, and an admiral one; they believed in themselves. Firmly convinced of the perfectibility of man, they had faith in man’s innate virtue, placed him on a pedestal, and set no bounds to their devotion to his cause. They had that arrogant self-confidence which prepared the soil for their own destruction.” 
Alexis De Tocqueville (On The French Revolution – 1856)

I think we are living in a very dangerous time. The danger we face is not because of the presence of unrestrained evil, but because there is an abundance of people who are convinced of their own goodness. There are certain groups of people who see themselves as incorruptible, they believe themselves to be truly good, and therefore they are above reproach. 

I am afraid that we may be on the brink of being ruined by these virtuous few.

To help explain this dire view, I want to introduce you to a man who in his time was considered to be one of the most moral people in the nation of France; and in the goodness of his heart, he had thousands slaughtered with the guillotine. His name, Maximilian Robespierre. Very quickly, France in the early part of the 19th century was experiencing a total cultural shift in every way: Those who were in authority were forced to give up their power to those who never had it before, the peasants and poor. The majority of France believed in and adopted the “Rights of Man”, humanistic ideals of equality – fraternity – liberty, which had become more important to the average citizen than living for God.

Robespierre championed the use of human reason over faith. He believed that the people of France were fundamentally good and no one was better than another. Therefore everyone should be equal, both in opportunity and outcome. He was a highly popular figure, and some even called him “The Incorruptible” because he lived simply and wouldn’t take bribes. As a result, he began to see himself as more virtuous than the rest of the politicians in France, including the King himself. 

Because of his unwavering belief in his own goodness, he convinced himself he was always right. He was sure his views on government and power were exactly the right views, and therefore any other view, in his mind, was inherently evil and must be destroyed. He took it upon himself to be the voice of the people protecting them from those who would threaten society – especially those who ever disagreed with any of Robespierre’s ideals.

Justice to Robespierre allowed for no mercy. He is quoted as saying, “Yes, the death penalty is, in general, a crime, unjustifiable by the indestructible principles of nature, except in cases protecting the safety of individuals or the society altogether.” With a few other zealous men, he became judge, jury and executioner for the people of France. He said, “To punish the oppressors of humanity is clemency; to forgive them is barbarity.”

From 1793-1794 Robespierre initiated the Reign of Terror where about 40,000 people were executed or murdered. A guillotine was set up in the Place de la Révolution in Paris. This wooden frame contained a sharp blade that dropped onto the victim’s neck. During these few short but bloody years, he became paranoid and started executing anyone who seemed dangerous. After so much bloodletting, people realized Robespierre was out of control and eventually had him executed by his own dear guillotine. 

One historian made this amazing statement about his motivation, “All Robespierre wanted was a ‘democracy for the people, who are intrinsically good and pure of heart; a democracy in which poverty is honourable, power innocuous, and the vulnerable safe from oppression; a democracy that worships nature—not nature as it really is, cruel and disgusting, but nature sanitised, majestic, and, above all, good.’” 

So in his angelic goodness, he became the devil.

I believe this is where our society is at. There is now a very significant group of people who believe they are good and their cause is right. They have become the defenders of the oppressed, the champions for the poor, the ones who see the clearest.

Often this group is young and zealous; as Tocqueville described the people of France they have ‘inexperience, but generous enthusiasm…They had one belief, and an admiral one; they believed in themselves.” 

Because of their assumed goodness, anyone they don’t agree with or doesn’t agree with them must be evil, and as a result, must be eradicated. So instead of engaging in debate, they want to wage war. Since they are always right they get to define who the oppressed and marginalized are, and anyone disagreeing must be an oppressor. 

Who are the oppressed? Homosexuals, minorities, poor, transgendered, non-gendered, gender fluid, women, and sexually deviant. Who are the oppressors? Of course the President, that’s a given; but it is also anyone getting in the way of the freedom of the oppressed, they must be villainized and castigated. “Resist!” they cry. Ultimately God becomes the greatest villain of all because he has ancient standards that the those who define themselves as good don’t agree with at all.

In 1 Samuel 24 & 26, David was being pursued by Saul, he was unjustly hunted down, and two times David had a chance to kill Saul. He could have taken the law into his own hands, he could have acted like Robespierre and played God. Even his men wanted him to use the sword of justice on Saul! But David restrained for this reason, “May the Lord be judge and give sentence between me and you.” Later he says, “The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness.” David realized true justice belonged to the Lord. In chapter 26 David almost took justice into his own hand against a foolish man named Nabal until Abigail stopped him from killing him and David said, “Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt.”

David knew vengeance was God’s (Romans 12:19), not ours to wield.

Sadly, society in general no longer allows God to determine justice because he is no longer seen as good. Those who think they are good have become our gods. In their defense of freedom we allow and even applaud them when they trample over the unborn, we tolerate and agree when they support lifestyles that are perverse, and we make no argument when they no longer lift up good gifts given to us by God like marriage, masculinity, and purity.

That is why I believe the most dangerous person in our society has become the person who thinks they are good apart from God. He is a threat to them and their ideals, and like Robespierre believed, he needs to be shown no mercy.

As C.S. Lewis once said, “God is now in the Dock!” and along with him, justice dies a thousand deaths.