Bible sanctioned excuses for ignoring rogue governments.  

Johnny Reb:  I can’t stand it anymore.  What’s a Romans 13 loophole that protects MY rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness?

Dead Ringer:  Are you sure you want to know?  Remember, in Post 012 we discovered from 1 Peter 2 that God gives extra credit for those who cheerfully put up with unjust laws:

Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer,if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.

Johnny Reb:  Yes, yes, I get it.  I already started obeying the speed limit religiously (while gritting my teeth) just for that reason.  But if I’m going to be judged on how I live my life, I don’t need some godless bureaucrat second-guessing my every move.  How do I keep them under control?

Dead Ringer:  Well, let me ask you this:  What if two levels of government, say state and local, pass conflicting laws. Which do you obey?

Johnny Reb:  I suppose the one immediately over me.  If I obey my boss while she disobeys her boss, I’m in the clear. She’s the one who gets in trouble!

Dead Ringer:  Well, I guess that could be a rational policy, if that’s what your conscience is really telling you.  But do you remember the Nuremburg war trials?  Claiming, “I was only following orders” was not generally considered a valid excuse.

Johnny Reb:  Yeah, but I don’t really care what fallible humans “generally consider” to be right.  I just want a valid excuse in God’s eyes that will provide maximum insulation from intrusive government laws...  How about this policy: “Whenever two levels of government conflict, I get to pick whichever position I like best!”

Dead Ringer:  Well, again that might pass the “because of conscience toward God” test.  But we do have at least one example from Acts 4:20 where Peter and John chose to obey the higher power (God) rather than the more local power (the Sanhedrin). 

Johnny Reb:  I don’t like where this is going.  Are you telling me we can’t use our local governments to defend us from the states or use state governments to defend us from the feds, or use federal government to defend us from the United Nations?

Dead Ringer:  Not at all.  Precisely the opposite!  You’ve got an upside down view of the proper God-approved hierarchy of (American) government!  What is the highest level of American government under God?

Johnny Reb:  Well, I suppose it’s the Supreme Court, or maybe the president… No wait! It’s the three co-equal branches of the sovereign federal government!

Dead Ringer:  So you’re saying God delegated power to the federal government that then delegated some of its power to the states, counties, and homeowners associations?

Johnny Reb:  Yeah, that sounds about right…

Dead Ringer:  No, no, NO!  As John Adams put it, “We are a government of laws, not men!”  And what is the highest Law of the Land?

Johnny Reb:  Uh … the Constitution?

Dead Ringer:  Bingo!  It’s the Constitution that authorizes, delegates (and limits) those federal powers.  And it’s the Constitution that reserves all other powers to the states or to the people!

Dead Ringer:  So, working up from the bottom of delegated power, we have: the UN and other international laws and treaties, the federal government, the states, the counties and local governments all authorized and ordered under The Constitution.

Johnny Reb:  I guess I never looked at it that way…

Dead Ringer:  And who delegated power to the Constitution?

Johnny Reb:  Uh, nobody.  You just said it was the highest human power.

Dead Ringer:  No, no, NO!  It says it right there in the first three words of the Constitution:

Dead Ringer:  We the people, with God’s blessing, created this government and reserved the right to alter or abolish it if it became destructive to the ends of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!

Johnny Reb:  Wait a minute, how do you know that God has sanctioned this form of upside-down government?

Dead Ringer:  Because it exists.  Remember Romans 13:1…

For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

Dead Ringer:  The founding fathers took a big chance when they attempted to form a new “upside down” government.  If God didn’t want it that way it would not have happened.  But it did!

Now unless and until We the People change it, the Constitution is the highest human power, and if some lower level of government violates the constitution, we can in good conscience (not necessarily safely) thumb our nose at it.

An early ruling of the Supreme Court clearly spells this out:

"An unconstitutional act is not law;
it confers no rights;
it imposes no duties;
it affords no protection;
it creates no office;
it is in legal contemplation,
as inoperative as though it had never been passed."

            -- Norton v. Shelby County, US Supreme Court Decision 118 US 425, 442 (in 1886)

Dead Ringer:  So, if a much lower level of delegated power (like the President or Congress) violates your rights under the Constitution, you can in good conscience before God disobey them.  Furthermore, it may be your duty to do so, if you have ever taken the following oath of office:

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will
support and defend the Constitution of the United States
against all enemies, foreign and domestic;

Unless of course, you want to go for that extra credit:

For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully…

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