Recently, Dr. Albert Mohler wrote a blog post entitled “The Floodgate is Now Open – President Obama and the Vulnerable Embryo” in which he explains that through the President’s decision to allow federal funds to be put forth towards research that involves the destruction of human embryos, the floodgate has been opened to devaluing the sanctity of human life. In the blog post, Mohler states that, “Those wondering when President Obama would make a clear move on a matter that involves the sanctity of human life now have their answer – and its consequences.” And he goes on to say, “The vulnerable human embryo is now at greater risk than ever before. And this, inevitably, means that every single human life is devalued by this decision.”
When reading this, the first thought I had was what Christians should do in the matter and whether, or what kind of, civil disobedience is required. These are obviously serious issues we’re dealing with and a time for action is necessary. In saying this, I am directly speaking to myself (and for the latter part of this blog entry). To help determine the answer to this question of what should be required and when civil disobedience should be implemented, I turned to Francis Schaeffer’s book, A Christian Manifesto in which one aspect of his discussion involves the use of civil disobedience (chapters 7-9). In this blog entry, I will briefly summarize Schaeffer’s points on civil disobedience, and then add one bit of commentary and challenge related to the matter.
Francis Schaeffer’s View on Civil Disobedience
“The bottom line is that at a certain point there is not only the right, but the duty, to disobey the state.”
–Francis Schaeffer
First, it is obvious within scripture that we must obey the government that is set up and that we are under. It is clear from Romans 13 that all authority is established by God. However, God and Caesar (government) are not equal, for God is above Caesar and if a government is contrary to the word of God, then that government is not to be obeyed. Stated simply, God’s word is the final authority, not any form of government. Schaeffer states, “The bottom line is that at a certain point there is not only the right, but the duty, to disobey the state.” Schaeffer goes on to provide solid proof that in all cases where the Reformation had success, some form of civil disobedience was in place. Perhaps the most convincing example is in the case of Samuel Rutherford, author of Lex Rex which translated means “the law is King”. Schaeffer summarizes his thesis by saying, “that citizens have a moral obligation to resist unjust and tyrannical government.” Tyranny is ruling without God’s sanction.
If some sort of disobedience or resistance is necessary in the setting of tyrannical government, then what does that look like? Schaeffer summarizes Rutherford’s levels of resistance as: “First, he must defend himself by protest… second, he must flee it if at all possible; and, third, he may use force, if necessary, to defend himself.” Schaeffer then argues that protest is the most viable option at this time (or at least at the time of his writing) and focuses his concern on the issue of federal funding going towards abortion. Schaeffer rightly challenges us with the statement that, “At some point protest could lead some Christians to refuse to pay some portion of their tax money.”
What is our bottom line?
While some could argue that there are other issues that should be focussed on in addition to the issue of abortion, I have chosen to focus the rest of the blog entry on the the issue of abortion. Above, I summarized Schaeffer’s argument that civil disobedience is necessary in a tyrannical government. My question is, have we reached that point in America’s current state? I honestly think that if Francis Schaeffer was alive today, he would be shocked by the state of America in the 25 years since his death. I do not want to put words into his mouth, but I wonder if his decision to put protest as the most viable option would be replaced by the force defined by Rutherford.
We must acknowledge that federal funding is going towards abortion. President Obama has already reversed the “Mexico City Policy” and in doing so has allowed federal funds to be given to non-governmental organizations that perform abortions. Also, as I have already addressed above, federal funds are now going towards the destruction of human embryos. If the floodgate has been truly opened as Dr. Mohler states, then what can we expect next? If the bottom line is not federal funding of abortion clinics and destruction of human embryos, then what is? What will be your level of civil disobedience? Will it be nothing, or will we rightly obey God’s word rather than the edicts of man.
9 Comments
I think we are focused on the wrong thing in this post. Often we as Christians are led by our political and religious/political leaders down a political path that helps them in their quest for money or power or fame or whatever. We lose focus of those things that really matter. In this particular case the problem is not government funding of stem cell research. If you believe that the procedures to produce stem cells for research are just as reprehensible as abortion, then the problem is the Stem Cell Research. Christians should be trying to stop the research which is going on all over the country without government help.
Another example is the actual abortion debate. Politicians have been running on their opposition to abortion for years. But look at the statistics, polling, and results, in the 40+ years since Row v. Wade abortions are up, the number of people who think a woman should have a right to choose has grown tremendously, and we as a nation are no closer to outlawing abortions than we were 40 years ago. While the politicos have been pulling the wool over our eyes, the real blame for this situation is the church (by that I mean Christians individually and as a collective)
We do not need Civil Disobedience we need Civic Responsibility. We live in a Democratic-Republic, which means we are the government. We have revolutions on a regular basis, they are called elections. It is our duty, both as Americans and as Christians, to get out of our homes and converse on a regular basis with friends, family, neighbors, and the rest of our community. In those conversations we must be polite and respectful, but our task is to convince our fellow citizens that what we believe is the best path for our nation. Just as we go out and make disciples for Jesus Christ, we are all called as Americans, equal shareholders in this Social Contract called the United States, to come together and reason with each other untill we can find common ground.
Well said, Paul. I definitely think you’ve hit upon some important/good points. When you running for office? ;)
So would you argue that no level of civil disobedience is ever appropriate? If not, what’s your bottom line?
My argument is that civil disobedience is for those who have no alternative, those under some dictator type government or like blacks in America in the sixties who had no actual voice in the government and therefore had no other way to bring about change but to find innovative ways to have their voices heard. In today’s America you are responsible for your community, neighborhood, metropolis, region, nation. Your world is what you make of it.
Paul, I would agree with you on that. It is definitely hard to argue that Americans don’t have the ability to change things in our culture. However, some would disagree with that as America is quite different from the way it was originally established. I think you know what political party I’m speaking of.
This being said, I wonder how slippery of a slope we are on with things. This was the main purpose of this post. I think we should be aware that at some point, maybe sooner than we think, we might have to decide civil disobedience is the most appropriate measure, just as the early Christians had to disobey the Roman empire and not worship Caesar.
Of course, if the government we are living under prohibits the worship of God, or requires the worship of something other than God, then like in the time of Daniel, civil disobedience for a christian is unavoidable.
On the other hand, not paying taxes, or unlawful protesting is probably not justifiable. Jesus did pay taxes after all to the unholy Roman government as an example. Others might argue that they are against a war, or against funding a certain program, so they would want to hold back taxes.
Not a good idea unless you are prepared for a fine or prison time or both.
A larger question might be: Is God about to judge America? Or is He already in the process?
So many times 2Chronicles 7:14 is quoted; “if my people, who are called by my name,will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and heal their land.”
Do we really believe this promise? If we do, isn’t God saying, the problem is with the people who call themselves by His name-christians, not the politicians.
Are there enough of God’s people living godly lives, praying and seeking His face?
If there are, is what is happening now in the economy an answer to prayer, or is it a fulfillment of this promise, if we don’t turn away from our wicked ways then God will do this:
“Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them - that is why he brought all this disaster on them” 2Chron 7:22
Adrian Rogers used to say that he believed God’s justice is furiously pounding against the great dam of His mercy. I personally believe that God may have lifted His protective hand from the nation called America.
The hedge is gone.
Maybe His dam of mercy is about to give away to His justice?
There is hope, it is only in revival, in all our lives.
I read recently that the number of people who call themselves christians in this country is on the decline, especially in the evangelical denominations. The author of the article wondered if the evangelicals have been focusing too much on cultural issues and not on faith.
Someone once asked Billy Graham what sins he preached against. Dr.
Graham said, ” I don’t preach against any one sin, but I do preach against the one sin, which is rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The battle is spiritual and always has been.
Paul, you may know this-I wonder what percent of Evangelical Christians or otherwise voted democratic in this election, despite knowing the views of the democratic ticket on abortion rights.
Also, I wonder what percentage of christians actually even voted in the national election. So many are not even registered to vote i have heard!
Exit Polls say 74% of those who call themselves Evangelicals voted for John McCain
As much as my nature (flesh?) would love to be a part of a revolution against the government I don’t see the place for it now. At the end of my generation’s life expectancy I believe we will see evidence of a traditional revolution - i.e. the “French Revolution.
I’m with rb. I don’t see much in Jesus that was really anti-government. He had more negative things to say about the rich than he did positive things to say about heaven. He had 114 verses to say about the poor and widowed and none about the government’s responsibility to care of them. Maybe my priorities are wrong, but I think more about my money going to pay for some “injured” man to be lazy than I do about it going to an abortion clinic. I think few would disagree that our nation is in bad shape.
Aaron - I read a few of Time Magazine’s, “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now.” One of them spoke of how we really don’t have any idea how to measure the effects of the environmental choices we make now. In many ways it’s the same governmentally. We can vote until we’re blue in the face but we don’t really know what they stand for - or if they’ll change their minds. Sure the government makes some major decisions but really we rely too heavily on them. Like movie stars we forget they are real people with real lives. The government is run by real people with real sins and few, it seems, follow Christ in any way. Really. What do we expect?
Tyler,
I agree but at the same time,
I’ll have to confess that I don’t lift the leaders of my country or state or city enough in prayer. Even though I know we have this promise from scipture:
“The king’s heart is like channels of living water in the hand of the LORD, he turns it wherever he wishes: Proverbs 21:1
I forgot who it was that said most if not all of our failure could be attributed to a failure to pray.
It’s hard to pray, it takes discipline, and we don’t always see immediate results, Sometime we don’t know if our prayer has been answered until months or years later.