Convicted and Barred
In a ruling with major legal and political implications, Marine Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement by a French court earlier this week. Le Pen, a leading political opponent of France President Emmanuel Macron, was sentenced to two years of house arrest and two years of a suspended prison sentence, both of which will not be served until an appeal is heard. Perhaps more significantly, Le Pen is immediately barred from seeking public office for five years. The ban is in effect even as an appeal moves forward.
Analysis and eternal perspective: Once again, it is tempting to default to your instinctive view of the public figures in this story. But once again, that would cloud your judgement about the two competing-yet-significantly-important components of the story: a) The merits and strength (or weakness) of the embezzlement evidence, and b) The potential political advantage gained by the ruling party as a result of the verdict.
As we’ve discussed before, the ability to self-govern (the governing systems in our world today represent a broad spectrum of this freedom—from totalitarian to democratic) reflects the Creator’s character in that you were made for freedom (Gal. 5:1). As we have often discussed, the freedom for which you were created is significantly more profound than simply political freedom. Even so, one of the challenges of integrating the biblical concept of freedom into a governing system is that those systems are made up of fallen men and women with a natural instinct to defend personal power.
A ruling like this one should remind us of what can feel like opposing truths: 1) No person should be above the law, and 2) Restraint on power is essential for the survival of a self-governing system.
As a Jesus follower, events like these should not diminish your courage and boldness, because your God is with you (Josh. 1:9). They should, however, sharpen your commitment to processes of justice that apply equally to all (Pr. 11:1).
The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.