Kingdom Principles

Kingdom Principles

because the absence of law leads to chaos, and you can’t run a coun try or maintain a stable government on chaos. The laws of a nation reflect the culture of that nation and vice versa. Culture and law each affect the other. Every nation also utilizes specific and unique symbols to repre sent it and to help inspire unity, patriotism, loyalty, pride of nation, and a strong sense of national identity. The most familiar symbol of any nation is, of course, its flag. A nation’s flag symbolizes its history, the sacrifices, suffering, and triumphs of its people, and what the people have constituted themselves to be. All of these things relate also to culture. Few national symbols are more pow erful than the flag. Another element that all nations share in common is a constitu tion . As we saw in Chapter Six, a constitution is a contract between the people and their government. In many ways a constitution is a cultural document because it contains in codified form the laws, ideals, and values of the people (or of the king, depending on who wrote it). Furthermore, all nations have a moral code . A nation’s moral code embodies the moral standards under which the people have agreed to live and by which they have chosen to govern themselves. In most cases, a moral code consists of both written and unwritten standards. The written standards are expressed through laws and statutes while the unwritten standards are transmitted primarily through traditions, customs, and culture. Respect other people’s property; do not bear false witness in court; do not steal; do not murder; do not commit adultery—all of these are part of the moral code in virtually every nation and government on earth. A seventh common characteristic of all countries is shared val ues. In order to have a country that runs effectively, the people must share the same values in common. The people as a whole must agree that they all value the same thing, such as life or peace or freedom.

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