Committing treason is worthy of punishment. It is against the established law. US citizens are obligated to follow the law. They owe allegiance to the United States. Allegiance is owed to the United States government because, as the Declaration of Independence says, it is only through the consent of the governed that the government receives its power to protect the safety and happiness of the governed. (14.1) The United States establishes in its Declaration of Independence that the government should protect all men’s unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. (14.2) When an …show more content…
Levying war applies to “internal insurrections directed against the government by persons in the United States.” (9.1) If a collective group of people gathered for a treasonable purpose executes or attempts to execute the treasonable purpose they have gathered for, they are levying war and are charged with treason. (9.18,19) If said group does not attempt to execute the treasonable purpose that they have gathered for, they may not be charged with committing treason. Levying war is worthy of punishment because the criminal tries to destroy or harm the United States, the protector of its citizens’ inalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The next element of the law against treason is “giving aid and comfort or adhering to their [the United States] enemies.” Giving aid and comfort to the enemy is different from levying war in that it “is generally committed in connection with a war waged against the United States by a foreign power.” Espionage can be a form of treason in the cases where the criminal acts against his own country; stealing vital information from the US and giving it to the enemy. In those cases, espionage is considered as giving aid and comfort to the enemy, which is a punishable …show more content…
Giving aid and comfort to the enemy is different from the Christian standard of loving your neighbor. It is not loving to your neighbor to feed the enemy with weapons by which those weapons will be used against said neighbor.(9.9) In fact, it is the opposite of Christian because the criminal is putting his neighbor’s life potentially in jeopardy. Once the neighbor’s life is in jeopardy, it also harms the neighbor’s right to liberty, and happiness. Therefore, it follows that giving aid and comfort to the enemy is harming your neighbor. The Declaration of Independence says that because people may commit crimes, like treason, against the United States and its citizens, it should be in the United States power to punish the offense. (12.1)
Levying war is also against biblical standards. Romans 13:1-7 says that Christians should submit to their governing authorities. The government is a God appointed institution (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-14) and those who resist the government, the entity that safeguards the inalienable rights of its citizens, or those who try to harm its people will be punished. The government is the entity who will punish those who commit crime. Punishing evil is the government’s duty.