Monthly Archives: July 2015

Romans 13

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Having spent many years of my life in a Baptist church which was notorious for it’s extremely dogmatic views, it has taken a long time to shake many of the tenets I once considered correct. That combined with the years of pledging my allegiance to the Flag in government school was a powerful elixir. Thankfully my innate sense of right and wrong (that got me in more trouble than it seemingly should have with the “authorities” at school) prevailed and the truth became apparent to me.

One thing that is still particularly bothersome even today is that church had an American Flag and a Christian Flag at the front of the church and we would regularly pledge our allegiance to the American and Christian Flags concurrently. In hindsight, that was an egregious example of the teaching of Matthew 6:24. Jesus said you cannot serve two masters. How can you pledge allegiance to a government whose function is to murder, steal and lie and then in the same breath pledge allegiance to God who clearly condemns these activities. YOU CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!

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Serving Two Masters?

According to the prevailing (and incorrect) admonition of the evangelical right supported by a flawed interpretation of Romans 13, Christians are to unconditionally obey the government and dutifully pay their tribute as demanded or be under the judgement of God. What is interesting about this concept when arguing about the validity of this interpretation, proponent’s arguments fall flat when the US government (which is supposedly exceptional) is substituted with Hitler or Stalin or ISIS.

If you’re going to argue that Romans 13 is a blanket exhortation to obey the government du jour, then clearly those seeking to avoid capitulating to Hitler’s SS were in the wrong. However, very few would admit that is the logical end of arguing that Romans 13 requires us to submit to the government. This seems to be a contradiction, but if you’re like most Christians, you believe the Bible to be inerrant, so there must be an answer.

I have done my own research regarding this and the conclusions I’ve arrived at have satisfied me, but I’ve never written about it because I haven’t had the time or energy to devote to it. Today I ran across an article and a subsequent linked article by Paul Green which I believe to be a fairly accurate representation of my views regarding the subject, so I’m sharing them with you.

Jesus was an open critic of the government. He opposed paying taxes to Caesar, regarded property rights as inherent, placed an prodigious value on life, overturned the money changers tables (think bankers), opposed punishment for victimless crimes and generally opposed the use of force. It’s his example we should follow.

Independence Day?

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July 4. A federal holiday. That should be your first clue.

What are we celebrating? Independence from whom? Or what?

Yes, yes, we all know. We’re celebrating our independence from the British. Problem is, our “independence” resulted in a much more overreaching and powerful central government than the distant British who’s taxes and restraints on the colonialists were minuscule compared to what we got in return.

History is rife with examples of armed revolts against governments simply transferring power to an even worse government. The US is one of those examples.

Not long after we declared our independence, a few lawyers meeting in secret decided we needed to scrap the Articles of Confederation which effectively neutered Federal power for a “better” document. As a result of specious language that was designed to be “interpreted”, the Federal Government was granted powers eclipsing anything the Brits had over us.

This “better” document, if followed by the criminal class who claim to represent us in Washington, would still ensure our most basic rights, however it is relegated to the scrap heap and replaced by the opinion of 5 political hacks in black robes with lifetime appointments.

This is all by design, so we should not be surprised. Propaganda, particularly through the government schools, has given the majority of US citizens a skewed view of our freedom. Most people who claim to know the constitution believe that it grants us our rights. I trust you know our rights are inherent and the document is supposed to restrain the government. Too bad it doesn’t work.

The South wanted to be independent from the oppressive Northern States. By a show of military force, the loss of 750,000 lives, mass destruction of private property and countless men maimed for life, the nation that revelled in independence from oppression, forced those seeking their own independence to capitulate to their oppressive power. The precedent that the Federal Government owns you was set. That is hypocrisy at it’s finest.

We live in that aftermath and still celebrate? Think that through for a moment and then go about your celebration. If you can.

There are some things to celebrate. You’re only a slave five months of the year, the rest of your labor is yours to keep. That’s good, right?

Gary North has a great article that is apropos for today. You should read it.

Happy…. 4th of July?