Christians and Submitting to Government Authority

Group Project Question
As part of our group project, we were asked to examine Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 and think of a time when we or someone we know would be unwilling to submit to our government based on religious convictions. We were also asked to consider if we could think of any circumstances under which we would agree with the Revelation of John and characterize a totalitarian regime as worthy of God's judgment and destruction. And finally we were asked to consider what happens when Christians today have different views about how to respond to the policies of a particular government? Each of us has definite opinions about submitting to governmental authority, but they are astonishingly similar. Our Discovery

In Romans 13:6, we are instructed to “pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God.” We all found ourselves questioning why we should unilaterally submit to our government when we did not always agree with the way that our tax dollars were being. A big portion of our tax dollars go towards programs that are a result of what most Christians’ would consider immoral behavior. Our tax dollars are spent on welfare systems that support teen mothers and their pregnancies, medical treatment for people who have contracted sexually transmitted diseases and on treatment for people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol.

We also experienced some qualms with submitting to our government when our leaders do not obey the very laws that they pass. Some of our highest elected political officials have been the most corrupt. President Barak Obama for example was voted the most corrupt politician by Judicial Watch.org with some 60% of the vote five years in a row. The biggest example of his corruption to date, is the failure of what was “once known as the poster child for the Obama administration,” (Judicial Watch, 2011) a co...

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