Romans 13:1-3 says, "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. Whosoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Will you then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and you shall have praise of the same." This is an interesting passage because it has been open to interpretation in many ways. Facing unjust leaders who were repressing the apostles from religious free speech in Acts 5:29, Peter and the other apostles said, "We ought to obey God rather than men." So what gives?
We must obey God over men. We also must understand that government is necessary to protect people from evil. In America, we give up a little liberty for this protection. George Washington explained in his 1796 farewell speech that respect for authority and compliance with its laws are enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. He said, "The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposed the duty of every individual to obey the established government." He said, "
All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency."
He said these obstructions "serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests." Let's fast forward to today's Congress where the Democrats are trying to force socialist measures on Republicans, and are trying to silence moderate Democrats who oppose this extreme socialism.
Politico reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) held a meeting with House Democrats to not allow Republicans to use procedural votes to water down or hinder the progressive (interpret: communist) agenda. It appears that moderate Democrats have voted with Republicans to add common sense provisions to a gun control bill and an anti-Semitism bill. Politico says Pelosi, echoing her communist comrade Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), told reporters that she thinks Democrats should simply vote against the GOP motions, saying to do so otherwise gives Republicans "leverage." In a time where America faces tremendous challenges, this is an example of obstructionism and how faction is so destructive to liberty. They are doing exactly what Washington warned against. They are like the Sadducees in Acts. Who do we obey?
