Ho-kay. I write these general posts rather than just replying to a comment when I think the topic needs to be shared fully. So here goes, once again, with this whole idea of a Christian’s and a citizen’s obligation to respect authority.
As Ed, my estimable bro-in-law pointed out, “Obey them that have the rule over you” does not contravene “We ought to obey God rather than men.”
Also, something I thought about while reading his comment, the Romans 13 verse does NOT say, “Respect them that have the rule over you.” Christians were not being told that they had to respect Nero. I don’t know that would even mean—some kind of unbelievable mental contortion.
As I’ve said before, I have refrained from posting articles by people whom I do respect but who do indulge in what I consider to be name-calling. So Susan Wright over at RedState.com sometimes calls our President names that include the word “orange.” I post plenty of articles by her—but not those. I just don’t think her wording is helpful.
What about the word “idiot”? Erick Erickson used it to describe President Trump in the article that has generated a fair amount of pro-and-con commentary. Is that name-calling? I said that it wasn’t but that it simply states a fact. We have a President who is lamentably inept and ignorant. There is nothing to be gained by pretending that he’s some sort of genius. He’s not, any more than Nero was a great artist. People around Nero had to pretend that he was a great singer and lyre player or they’d lose their heads. People around President Trump have to pretend that he’s very, very smart and his brain is very, very big or they’ll lose their jobs. (So instead they leak embarrassing items to the press.)
Where does our respect for authority belong? As I have said before about half a dozen times. We are a nation of laws. We are ruled by our Constitution. Our elected leaders are in office to carry out the law.
And what about the whole “respect-the-office-if-not-the-man” idea? That’s just the thing: I do respect the office as outlined in our Constitution. So I want someone worthy in it. And, as I never tire of pointing out, the ever-Trump loyalists who are howling now over the criticism of the President were howling at the President back when he was a dastardly Democrat. Did the ETL’s ever post articles on Facebook about respecting authority during the Obama years? I think not.