I'm a true Romans 13 Christian, so I would most likely surrender my right to bear arms before getting in an armed conflict with the authorities.
Oh, you'r eone of THESE types:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj0g2KS2inE&feature=related
So maybe you mean Romans 13:8:
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
Oh, wait, that would mean that G*d has commanded us not to live under debt, and since our ENTIRE government's financial existance is debt-based, it must be against G*d's word. So I guess you don't mean THAT verse...
Well, maybe you mean Romans 13:10:
Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Oh, wait a minute, under the Federal program called InfraGuard, businessmen, teachers, executives, politicians, and even CLERGY are tasked to spy on and report on any "suspicious" activities of their neighbors. Things like hanging Gadsden flags, or handing out copied of the Constitution, or wearing camo out of hunting season, or handing out pro-2A materials. I guess you probably didn't mean THAT verse either...
Well, maybe you meant THIS verse, Romans 13:11,12
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Oh, well, probably not THAT one either, because our government pretty much runs on lies, duplicity, espionage, and greed. Yeah, I guess when the government is openly endorsing torture, is actively involved in the international heroin trade, there is rampant sexual misconduct among elected officials, and the American public is being fed a daily diet of lies, propaganda, and disinformation, and we are currently the most heavily drugged (with LEGAL prescription psychotropic drugs) population on the planet, then maybe you're not talking about that one either...
Maybe you meant this one, Romans 13:1, 2 & 3:
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.
Well, the problem here is that this verse sort of sets up the assumption that the government is G*dly, and has been blessed and ordained by G*d. One could infer, that if a government was in fact, FUNDAMENTALLY EVIL, that it is not something that is endorsed, ordained, or sanctioned by G*d, and therefore this verse does not apply.
I don't know about you, but I have a little difficulty believing that G*d, even the vengeful, jealous god of the Old Testament (let alone the forgiving and merciful G*d of the New Testament) would actually want to take credit for a government that is actively engaged in the rape, pillage, and robbery of ALL the wealth of the planet.
I find it a little hard to square with scripture that a government that routinely lies to it's people, falsely imprisons it's own citizens, starts wars and kills TENS of THOUSANDS of foreign civilians over a little oil and lithium, engages in the international sex-slave trade, and abducts hundreds of children a year from stable families to place them in privately-owned prisons FOR PROFIT would have the blessings of G*d's hands.
But that's just me...
You see, I'm all for "rendering unto Caesar what it Caesar's", as long as Caesar isn't a lawless, evil, lying, raping, murderous thug. But when Caesar starts robbing, raping, and stealing, the way I see it, the deal is off. Respect and compliance is ONLY due if BOTH parties are upholding their part of the "social contract".
And the way I see it, "Caesar" dropped his side of the deal about 60 years ago, and is only getting worse and worse.
So if YOU want to buy into the whole "Romans 13" line of mind control (which, BTW, was a tactic for social control instituted within the last decade or so through the "Clergy Response Team Program", a joint venture between FEMA and DHS set up to "control dissent and social unrest" in the wake of 9/11...) then you can just go on ahead.
Personally, I'll read my scriptures like I read the Constitution--NOT as a "Chinese menu" where I can pick and choose only the parts that are convenient, or easy to do, but as fully integrated, cohesive, and interconnected bodies of work...
If we want to get into a Bible-verse-slinging contest, perhaps you'd like to consider this little gem, from Matthew 6:24:
You cannot serve both God and Money.
So I wonder which side of THAT equation our current government falls?
Can you say
Goldman Sachs, boys and girls?...
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
(Mark 10:25)
(which BTW, is an INCORRECT translation because the people writing the Greek version, which was the source of the King James English Bible didn't understand the subtleties of Aramaic, and translated the original Aramaic "gamle"--which can mean "camel", or "harness", or "rope"--as "camel". Even though there probably weren't a lot of Camels wandering around on the banks of the Galilee where this was supposedly said, but there probably WERE a lot of ropes laying around, being a major fishing and shipping port and all. What does a camel have to do with going through a needle? Doesn't it fit the "parable style" of teaching MUCH better to say it would be hard to shove a ROPE through the eye of a needle? And of course, this SAME parable structure has been documented using the "rope and needle" metaphor in other pre-Christian Mediterranean and Arabic cultures going all the way back to Sumeria, Babalonia, and Crete...)
Biblical translation, like ALL forms of translation of lofty poetry and prose--is TREASON, and will, by its very nature, befoul, discard, and eviscerate most of the original meaning and beauty of the texts--and that is BEFORE political agendas come into play (like happened with King Jame's edition, which the record shows, was fundamentally done for reasons of political and social control...)
If you believe in G*d, then know this, there is only ONE law:
"For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14)
Anyone who tries to bind you spiritually through the application of ANY OTHER LAW is not telling you the Truth...
Remember THAT one, the next time you hear some InfraGuard/Clergy Response Team whore in a pulpit telling you that fighting against tyranny is wrong...
15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. (Mark 11: 15-17)
