Authority and Civil Disobedience Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 13
This part of Paul's letter says, on the surface, obey the local authority. A deeper reading shows that the authority has responsibilities as well. To start, Paul is often quoted that "authority has been instituted by God" but in fact, Paul says that "those authorites that exist have been instituted by God." Paul is not saying that the Presidency of the United States is one of God's institutions, but it is possible to argue the case.
The authority instituted by God is supposed to protect those whom it has authority over. This comes from Psalm 72, which I read this morning just before reading chapter 13 of Paul's letter to the Romans. I understand that there were political ramifications to the early Christian mantra "Jesus is Lord." Ceaser called himself Lord and Son of Heavan, and putting those titles where they properly belong (on Jesus) was an act of political disobedience. When I read Psalm 72 it started with "Give the King your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the King's Son." I don't read the Psalms and try to fit them into Christian prophecy, and I realize that this Psalm is a prayer for a just ruler of Israel. I don't live in Israel, I live in America, and as an Episcopalian I pray for our President to be a just and wise ruler. I tried to read this as a prayer about President Bush. This is partially wise and partially foolish.
The King should rule righteously, give justice to the poor, bring prosperity to all his people, deliver the poor who cries out in distress, help the oppressed, have pity on the lowly and poor, preserve the lives of the needy, redeem his charges from opression and violence, their blood shall be dear in his sight.
The King was not only the ruler of Isreal, but God, to the Psalmist. The parts I skipped over here in Psalm 72 were the promises of military victories. That's part of ancient Israel's mindset: When they follow God's word, they have military victories and defend their lands. This only happens when they are following God's commandments, which Jesus summed up nicely. When the state took care of the poor and oppressed, they had righteousness and they were protected. When Israel did not care for all of God's people, they were defeated and in extreme cases, exiled from their homeland. The prophets were all about staying on God's side, or face punishment from outside forces.
I think of our political situation. The oppressed are being trodden on by the Bankruptcy Bill and the Medicaid benefit reductions.
Our government is not acting as if it is on God's side, and still insists on running wars and claiming military victories where there are none to be had. Would Paul support the idea of obeying this authority? I don't think so. Civil disobedience, as we know it in the USA, is not prohibited by Paul in this chapter. Paul points to love as the way to fulfill the commandments. The commandments are usually negative things, don't kill, don't covet, don't steal. Righteousness becomes a matter of avoiding bad behavior and ignores doing good things. Jesus told us to do good. Paul tells us to do good. Love is the fulfilling of the law.
Of course, civil disobedience is resisting authority, but I can claim that the authority is not fulfilling its role, so we must stand up and correct them. We can do this as Christians. We need to stand up on national television and say "I am a Christian, and I cannot stand for legalized discrimination. I am a Christian, I cannot stand for letting people in this world go without health care. I am a Christian, and I cannot allow my government to oppress the poor."  ¶ 8:53 AM 0 comments

  New Pope condemns Spain gay bill The most frightening thing about this story (New Pope condemns Spain gay bill) is that the Pope is calling on Catholic officials in Spain to obey Church law over State law. Imaging the field day the right wingers in this country would have if Kerry had won the election. All of the fears we had about Kennedy would come back. This Pope has renewed the demand for political power centralized in the Vatican. Dangerous stuff.
He has also had a few meetings with the press, where apparantly only his supporters were allowed in, much like President Bush. Bush scares me to no end because I think he's personally trying to create the Rapture. According to a History Channel special on Armageddon, some Catholic mystic/prophet described all of the Popes before Doomsday, and according to his list, Pope Benedict XVI is the last Pope. Benedict will see the end of the world.
I'm just scared, so I need to give my fears to God.  ¶ 9:41 AM 0 comments

  The new Pope Pray for Pope Benedict XVI.
I worried that the lengthy illness of John Paul II would allow the cardinals to campaign for the throne, which is exactly what happened. Cardinal Ratzinger wanted the job, and that tells me that he probably should not be given that much power. I am wary of anyone who wants to lead.
Pray for Pope Benedict XVI.
As a Cardinal this man used John Paul II's death to tell Catholics and the Cardinals to go back to traditional beliefs. I worry that he will undo the progress of John Paul II made. I worry that he will do harm. He did not look humble on that balcony today, he looked victorious. HIs words of being an unworthy servant sounded empty. He wanted to be Pope.
Pray for Pop Benedict XVI.  ¶ 10:09 AM 0 comments

  The Gate This week the Gospel lesson was Jesus describing himself as the Gate, the shepherd, and the gate-keeper. I was struck by the idea that this passage can be used to promote Christian Exclusivity, and yet it is one of the images of Christ promoted by the Center for Progressive Christianity, a group that has decidedly denied Christian Exclusivity.
Another problem I ran into is that as a modern day city dweller, what do I know about sheep? In fact, what does Jesus know about sheep? He was a carpenter who lived in a city. Presumably his mother and sisters went out each day to collect food and bring it home to prepare while Jesus, with his father and brothers, worked. The only thing I can think of is that cities were much smaller and still connected to the land. It is possible that the city dwellers in the middle east 2,000 years ago knew more about where their food came from than we do now.
The apostles who won the title of "most important" were fishermen, and Paul was reportedly a tent maker (although why a tent-maker would be sent out to prosecute Christians is beyond me).
So where did the sheep metaphor come from? I'm willing to accept that it is from the voice of the community more than the voice of Jesus, but that doesn't make up for the fact that I don't know anything about sheep. I have heard that sheep are stupid and will do anything to kill themselves. I have also heard that sheep recognize familiar sheep by their faces, and they know their shepherds voice.
These facts make some sort of sense as metaphors. Human beings do stupid things: we smoke, drink to excess, drive to fast, commit suicide by fast food. We are afraid of the Other, and we flock to anything that promises to lead with certainty.
I have to let this ruminate a bit more.  ¶ 8:12 AM 0 comments