Is it OK for Christians to protest against their political leaders?

tulc

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https://peteenns.com/is-it-ok-for-christians-to-protest-against-their-political-leaders/
Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer: Yes, of course, silly person. Just don’t break things.

I’ll go a bit further. It is the Christian’s duty in civic affairs to hold powers to account when they see injustice done. There is more than one way of doing that, of course, and participating in or organizing massive protests is one of those ways.

Christians should never say to someone like that, “If you don’t like it, move to Denmark,” or “He’s your president and you owe him your allegiance.”

It is not a trite Sunday school lesson to say that Christians owe their deep allegiance to God, not to whoever is in office. And when we see injustice being done—the systemic mistreatment of others supported by the regime—Christians have a duty before God to speak up somehow.

And one thing that most certainly should never be said is that protesting against our political leaders is simply a form of protesting against God.
tulc(interesting!) :oldthumbsup:
 

Thedictator

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tulc

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Yes, as long as it is legal to do so, if you live in a country where it is not legal do not do it then it becomes a sin. Romans 13.
So...hiding Jews during WWII was a sin? That was illegal. Holding bible studies in some countries was/is illegal is that a sin? Sharing the gospel is illegal in some countries, is that a sin also? I'm just trying to find out where the line on the whole "I can't do something I think is the right thing to do, if it's illegal it's a sin." is. :wave:
tulc(likes to know those sorts of thing) :)
 
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Actually it is a Christian obligation.
How do we know that? I know that Jesus had a lot to say about the Jewish religious leaders, but He never criticised King Herod - although John the baptist took him to task because he married his brother's wife. Neither Jesus nor Paul ever protested against the Roman authorities at any time. Early Christians were persecuted because they politely refused to offer the pinch of incense in worship to the emperor, but they never staged any protests against the political leaders. So there is no support in the New Testament for it.

Some Christians protest against political authorities, especially those in Communist countries and they are persecuted, but I think they bring it upon themselves, because, without Scriptural authority they do it in the flesh.

Jesus' and Paul's response to the pagan practices of the time was to heal the sick, cast out demons, and get people converted. They did not employ any "rent-a-crowd" protests against the government of their time. This is why I believe that Christians today who arrange and support protests against the government are doing it in the flesh and not the Spirit and God won't support them.

This is different to the Jesus marches of the 1970s, because they were marches for Jesus and not against the government of the time.
 
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tulc

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(snip) This is why I believe that Christians today who arrange and support protests against the government are doing it in the flesh and not the Spirit and God won't support them.
(snip)
...or they aren't and He does. :wave:
tulc(just thought that should be pointed out) :)
 
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...or they aren't and He does. :wave:
tulc(just thought that should be pointed out) :)
There is no precedent in New Testament Scripture, even though the ruling government was totally pagan. When Paul got to Athens, he did not criticise the pagan government, instead, he drew attention to the altar to the "unknown God". Then he explained who that God is and how He sent His Son who rose from the dead.

Jesus never said, "Go into all the world and protest against the governments of the world."
 
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tulc

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There is no precedent in New Testament Scripture, even though the ruling government was totally pagan. When Paul got to Athens, he did not criticise the pagan government, instead, he drew attention to the altar to the "unknown God". Then he explained who that God is and how He sent His Son who rose from the dead.

Jesus never said, "Go into all the world and protest against the governments of the world."
If you feel like that I think you shouldn't protest. I don't agree and I will. :wave:
tulc(thinks that seems like an easy enough solution) :)
 
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If you feel like that I think you shouldn't protest. I don't agree and I will. :wave:
tulc(thinks that seems like an easy enough solution) :)
I don't think that God will stop you protesting, and you won't go to hell because of it; but you may have to accept the natural consequences of it. If you ended up behind bars because you went too far and cried persecution, I can imagine the Lord coming to you, wagging His finger, and saying, "Silly boy. Don't blame Me. You brought it all upon yourself!" Then He will bail you out and you will have learned a very valuable lesson! :)
 
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RDKirk

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There is no precedent in New Testament Scripture, even though the ruling government was totally pagan. When Paul got to Athens, he did not criticise the pagan government, instead, he drew attention to the altar to the "unknown God". Then he explained who that God is and how He sent His Son who rose from the dead.

Jesus never said, "Go into all the world and protest against the governments of the world."

I have to agree.

Here is the thing: What is the goal of the protest? What is the intent? What do you want to make happen? It was never the goal of Jesus or the goal He gave to His disciples to fix the Roman empire.

Ultimately, protesting the government is an attempt to control the government, and that's not different from Christian Dominionists, who are totally wrong in their idea of what the Body of Christ should be doing.

What is the mission of the Body of Christ? To make disciples in every nation and to take care of one another. Fixing the Roman Empire is not implied anywhere in scripture.

But what's going to happen as we make disciples? The dichotomy between the culture of the Kingdom we present and the culture of the world will become apparent.
 
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JIMINZ

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I believe it's possible. Some people will say that it goes against Paul's command to obey authorities when they forget that the Roman Empire didn't allow protests without violent results.

.
Scripture verse?
 
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