Christianity and Civil Disobedience

PRESIDENT OBAMA issued an executive order on March 16, 2012, for NATIONAL DEFENSE RESOURCES PREPAREDNESS at this White House link http://goo.gl/ET5zy . It is being called a peacetime Martial Law, and some regard the executive order as preparation for WWIII. It seems appropriate at this juncture to discuss civil disobedience and its implications for Christians. That is the topic in this article, which has sixteen(16) active url links and three(3) photos. Is it ever appropriate for Christians to disregard and even actively resist governments' dictates? You can also listen to this article at Blogtalkradio, taped July 6, 2014, during a "MaryLovesJustice Prayer Meeting."
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nnia1/2014/07/07/marylovesjustice-prayer-meeting

The Bible gives solid advice on every situation that confronts mankind. When I was in elementary school, we had daily devotional services at school every morning. However, I agree with separation of church and state for three reasons: (i) public schools should teach all religions or none; (ii) hypocrisy, and (iii) Clergy Response Teams. Pastors across the country have been called on by The Department of Homeland Security to join “Clergy Response Teams.” Their function is to placate and control the people in the event of national or local emergencies, including Marshal Law. Clergy Response Teams are expected to use Romans 13:1 to make Christians compliant to government dictates even if obeying means facing harm. The verse commands: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." There are two reasons why Christians are free to protest and resist oppressive laws without offending God.

NOTE TO STALKERS: Freedom of press, free speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances are our rights. Nazis have NO right to control either of those. Tyranny deserves strong opposition from Christians. I plead the blood of Jesus against your interference.

EMPLOYERS ARE THE "HIGHER POWER," NOT EMPLOYEES

To walk in obedience with Romans 13:1, we must first define who the “higher power” is in earthly relationships. In a government of, by, and for the people, We the People are the “higher power,” not the government itself. I believe it is for employees (government officials) to be subject to citizens. The employee is always subject to the employer. Officials are employees of The People. That is how the term “public servants” came about. Elections are held at regular intervals so that the “higher powers” can fire and replace dissatisfactory public servants. Let us not confuse who is subject to whom in the USA. Therefore, the entire Clergy Response Teams program is built on an obvious fallacy.

"POWER" WAS MISTRANSLATED IN ROMANS 13:1

A second term in Romans 13:1 that must be examined is the word “power.” According to His Holy Church at this link http://goo.gl/sGPaX , in a message entitled "Essential Precepts of a Free Government," here is the truth that makes Christians free to resist oppression: The Greek word that was interpreted "power" in Romans 13:1 does not refer to the government's power but to the power of personal liberty. Theologians at His Holy Church state, "The word used in Romans 13 by Paul is 'exousia,' which is defined: power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases." Theologians explain that the very same word "is translated [to mean] 'right' in Hebrews 13:10 and Revelations 22:14, and it is even translated 'liberty' in Paul's 1 Corinthians 8:9." Therefore, Paul did not say that God's people are subject to the power of government but to the power of liberty. Christians are not subject to unjust governance; otherwise, Nazi war criminals would have an excuse for crimes against humanity they did during WWII, since they were "obeying orders." God never expected people to obediently board boxcars to camps, strip, fold their clothes, then quietly walk into Hitler's ovens in obedience to the government like many Jews did in the 1940s. God's instruction to His people is to "RESIST EVIL." James 4:7.

TO OBEY GOD IS TO RESIST EVIL

Christians might interpret Romans 13:1 to mean that government employees are subject to their employers, the citizens, or agree with theologians who say the word "power" in the verse actually means "liberty." Either way, Christians are free to resist oppression for ourselves and others. In fact, we are specifically commanded to do so in Proverbs 31:8-9: "Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy."

Some of the people who acted under Hitler's orders did atrocious things with a clean conscience because they were "just following orders." They spied on their neighbors and snitched on people who had done no crimes to get them arrested and killed. They engaged in torture, invaded countries without provocation, enslaved and murdered millions of fellow countrymen because they were physically and mentally handicapped or Jewish, blacks, homosexuals, or dissidents. They who were not abusers but let it happen without protest are also offenders in God's eyes. Please share this article with military service personnel and police officers so they will understand it is correct to disobey orders to steal, kill, and destroy people and property if those orders are unjust. Share also with religious people who seem apathetic to human suffering caused by unrighteous governmental dictates. It is God's commandment that we stand against evil always. It is Godly to resist oppression.

One Christian's gift to the world was a lesson in overcoming oppression through civil disobedience. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. led thousands of people to resist evil during his lifetime, and millions throughout the world have employed methodology that he practiced for nonviolent social change. Reverend King's final speech inspires people of all religions, races, and cultures to unite and resist oppression. As he prepared to lead a march in Memphis, Tennessee for striking sanitation workers, Reverend King spoke to a large crowd on the night before his assassination. See two of his quotes below:

“If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand some of these illegal injunctions. Maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they haven't committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. And so just as I said, we aren't going to let dogs or water hoses turn us around. We aren't going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on."

"An unjust law is no law at all. And when we find an unjust law, I think we have a moral obligation to take a stand against it."

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE was correct in the 1960s, and it is the appropriate response anywhere and anytime governments infringe on people's God-given human rights. The Holy Bible says, "So Jesus said to them, 'Give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's'" (Mark 12:17). There is clearly, in Jesus' mind, a line that Caesar must not cross regarding governments' control over His people. When governments cross that line, God's people have no duty to "give unto Caesar" their obedience.

JESUS CHRIST AND HIS TRUE FOLLOWERS ARE RADICALS. Jesus is against capital punishment (Psalm 102:19-20), prisoner abuse (Hebrews 13:3), victimizing people of lesser strength to deprive them of life, liberty, and property (Matt. 25:40), all forms of discrimination (Gal.3:28), war without provocation (Rom.12:18), trying and sentencing children as adults (Matt.18:6), and serving another god in His stead (Luke 10:27; John 10:27). He has no tolerance for moderates (Rev.3:15-16), but Jesus expects us all to be actively involved in His Father's business (Luke2:49). Christians are instructed to be doers of the Word and not hearers only (James 1:22). In every situation where a choice must be made, we are to choose to be moral, without consideration of possible harm to ourselves, whether financial or physical (Matt.16:25-26). We are to turn a deaf ear to ungodly orders (John 10:5). Learn more about the real Jesus in the Holy Bible, which is available online at numerous sources. I usually use Biblegateway at http://www.biblegateway.com/

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. ~ Romans.12:18

EIGHT(8) SUGGESTED ARTICLES AND A VIDEO

1. "Avoid Slavery - Support H.R.3785" http://justicegagged.blogspot.com/2012/02/avoid-slavery-support-hr3785.html

2. "End Game Reports by Mary Neal" http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/end-game-reports-by-mary-neal.html

3. "Christian Persecution for Opposing NDAA" http://marylovesjustice.blogspot.com/2012/01/christian-persecution-for-opposing-ndaa.html

4. "American Holocaust" http://marylovesjustice.blogspot.com/2012/01/american-holocaust.html

5. "My Flag, My Country, by Mary Neal" http://marylovesjustice.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-flag-my-country-by-mary-neal.html

6. "Come with Me to Golgotha, by Mary Neal" http://www.nowpublic.com/world/come-me-golgotha-mary-neal

7. "Justice Mountain" http://maryneal.hubpages.com/hub/Liberty-Mountain

8. "MTV Martial Law Video on YouTube at http://youtu.be/P2ZhQrWQj7k

*****

This is another Christian advocacy article by "America's Most Censored: Mary Neal" http://goo.gl/eWMCy
director of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI) http://aimi-humanrights.blogspot.com - an online human/civil rights organization at Facebook, Google+, Care2 Network, and "Dog Justice for Mentally Ill" blog http://DogJusticeforMentallyIll.blogspot.com .

Thanks for your interest in justice issues from this laywoman's perspective. See a complete list of my blogs and radio shows at http://marylovesjustice.blogspot.com/2014/03/marylovesjustice-blogs-and-radio-shows.html . God loves justice, and so must we. That is the topic in this article, which has sixteen(16) active links. You are invited to select more articles in FreeSpeakBlog's index to read and share, some of which have fascinating videos. Please Google "Mary Loves Justice" for more articles that might interest you in several more of my Blogger blogs or Mary Neal's Care2 Sharebook, and at HubPages. I also published at NowPublic.com, at numerous Internet news sites, and in social media. If you have questions or comments, please try to enter them in the comments field below or email me at MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com, and add my address to your mailing list if you publish human rights news. IF I am allowed to receive your email, I will respond within a couple of days.

Blessings!

It's always the right time to do what is right. ~Rev. King
.