Kerby Anderson

I think most Americans believe we have too many government regulations. But I suspect most don’t have the faintest idea of the extent of these government regulations.

Last month, President Trump issued an executive order with this introduction. “The United States is drastically overregulated. The Code of Federal Regulations contains over 48,000 sections, stretching over 175,000 pages — far more than any citizen can possibly read, let alone fully understand."

This should be a problem for a Christian right there. We are admonished in Romans 13:1 that “every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” How can I possibly obey the government when it is clearly impossible for me to know and thus obey all the laws on the books?

The problem gets worse if you read further in the executive order. Because it warns “that no one — likely including those charged with enforcing our criminal laws at the Department of Justice — knows how many separate criminal offenses are contained in the Code of Federal Regulations.” Therefore, it concludes that this makes it difficult for the law-abiding citizen to even know they are breaking a law.

Sadly, many of these regulations are so obscure and convoluted that most Americans cannot even understand them. They can also enable abuse and even weaponization against American citizens.

We obviously need to reduce the size and scope of government and reduce regulations that serve no purpose. But it will take a long time to work through 175,000 pages. This executive order calls for the government to post all existing regulations on the internet with their respective standards and penalties. This is a good first step in the right direction.