An Open Letter from Metro Council Member Robert Bracewell

It would be most appropriate to begin with an introduction. My name is Robert Bracewell. I am nearly a native of Moore County, and indeed, all but a few of my childhood memories were made in these buildings, woods, fields, ponds, and creeks. I joined the Navy after graduating high school in 2006 to become a nuclear electronics technician and to see the world because I already knew where I wanted to live.

I left the Navy in 2016 after years of searching for the right property to come up for sale in Moore County. After working a few jobs, I ultimately began working for myself in the maintenance field. I thoroughly enjoy problem-solving. I was encouraged by my neighbor, an outgoing member of the Metro Council, to run for his seat, and that is how I came to represent the people of the Second District.

I have been asked to write a monthly article for another local printed paper, The Observer, addressing issues that have come before or will soon come before the Metro Council. I have committed to this, in part, as a means to inform as many in the county as possible but also to persuade as many as possible to adopt a similar worldview. Some might take that last portion and twist it, no doubt, to say that I want more people to think like me because I always think that I’m right. That would be a gross misrepresentation of my intent. Short of intentionally seeking to deceive people, no one puts forth ideas they believe to be false. In short, everyone thinks they’re right. True humility in dialogue is not ending sentences with ‘but I could be wrong’, but a sincere willingness to consider another’s position and alter your own when you become convinced that it does not comport with the facts.

This brings me to the purpose of this initial piece, which does not address any specific council business. My lack of what we have come to know as convention in the realm of politics and public discussion will make absolutely no sense unless the foundation of my positions is made clear. I am a Christian and a member of a local church. There is no conscious guile in the positions that I profess, and this often seems to throw people off, as they are used to seeing political figures use a little more cunning.

So here goes: There is only one true God, and He has revealed Himself to us in creation generally and specially in the 66 books of the Bible as three co-equal, co-eternal persons. He made all things, and thus all things are subject to Him. His rule over all means that opposition to Him is treason of the highest order. He is just and will punish that treason. Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ foretold by the prophets who would come. He lived a sinless life, suffered, died, was buried, rose bodily from the dead, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, where He lives to make intercession for all those who turn from that treason and trust that the work accomplished by Jesus is credited to them. He has all authority now, and by His Spirit, He is reconciling all things to Himself. He will return one day in the flesh, and He will judge the living and the dead.

The following conclusions are my own and not necessarily the views of the pastorate or leadership at my church. All authority is derivative and thus granted by God. The family, church, and state have no authority except that granted to them by God. Therefore, all men should submit to all rightful authority. Any attempt to exercise authority that exceeds the purview of that which was granted is tyranny. The initial response to tyranny should not be to cast it off, but to pursue peaceful persuasion and endurance, as the Founders of this nation recognized in the Declaration of Independence when they said, “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes…” I know that there are many people in this county who would affirm the same things, but do we govern ourselves as if we truly believe them?

A foundation for the concept of rights can only be established in the Christian worldview. Rights are given to us by God and are those things which we are justly owed, and must be observed by all mankind (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, personal property, business, etc.). Those rights should not be infringed upon unless an individual forfeits their rights by violating the rights of another, such as in the commission of a crime. A privilege, on the other hand, is something afforded to you due to circumstances. Privileges are subject to removal should the preconditions of their establishment falter. The precondition of rights is God, and thus they never falter. I see that many people conflate rights with privileges. Access to “affordable” healthcare, voting, fire and ambulance services are examples of privileges afforded to us simply by existing in the place and time that we do.

When it comes to personal property, we are all merely stewards of what God owns and has entrusted to us. However, the principle of stewardship entails assigning someone temporary ownership to act in the interest of the true owner. Thus, for the sake of argument, by virtue of me owning my property, you do not. No one else has a claim to it. Inherent in the command not to steal is both the explicit principle that it is wrong to steal what belongs to another, and the implicit principle of the establishment of private property rights that must be observed. This is why I am opposed, in principle, to property taxes as such.

I will not attempt to solve every issue in our culture here, although I believe the only answer to them is Christ. However, at the local level, I believe that the misunderstanding of rights and privileges and the prevalence of covetousness or envy can be identified as contributing factors to the financial strains in our county. Desiring what has not been granted to you and being willing to violate the rights of another to obtain it is where social programs, government grants, and frivolous spending originate. This is demonstrated locally by forcing people to pay property taxes to cover EMS calls, without compensation, for elder care, top-of-the-line equipment, search dogs, other people’s children riding the bus, medical care, school lunches, offsetting elderly/disabled people’s property taxes, funding charities, and the like. All of these are good things, but they are being funded in a manner inconsistent with the created order, and that is why they are breaking us.

I can already hear the “separation of church and state” argument and will address it briefly (though I can go into much greater detail if necessary). This is a Protestant doctrine and in no way relates to a separation of God and state. Nine of the original 13 colonies had state religions. In fact, the definition of “religion” used in the US Constitution was what we would now call a “denomination.” (Look up Samuel Johnson’s dictionary from 1755/1773.) The expectation in the state of Tennessee with the prohibition of religious tests for office was that we would not have a government-sanctioned denomination. As long as you were Christian, you could run for office. The recently repealed Article 9 Section 1 of the TN Constitution further confirming this fact.

The Tennessee Constitution, Article 9, Section 2 states, “No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this State.” Samuel Johnson’s 1755 Dictionary of the English Language defines “Religion” as “Virtue, as founded upon reverence of God, and expectation of future rewards and punishments” as its primary definition. If you still seek a separation of church and state, do you want a separation of morality and state? If law is defined as imposed morality, do you want moral representatives, or would you prefer them to adhere to no moral standard? If they are to adhere to a moral standard, which one? No other moral standard is consistent with our established system of government except the Christian one.

I’ll end this before I say anything too controversial in my first article. I hope this has at least given some of you things to consider, and my prayer is that through this format, more people will begin to work on ideas for doing things better and engage with their local government. I don’t believe that the conscious intent of any member of the local government is anything but the good of the people of Moore County. However, there is a proverb that is at least 1000 years old that says, “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions,” riffing off of Proverbs 14:12.

Your – not as humble as I want to be – servant,

Robert Bracewell
Councilman 2nd District | [email protected] | 931-434-0384