Joel Jack, protest is a form of free speech

01.MAR.11

EDITOR: As I read Joel Jack’s article in last week’s Midweek newspaper, I saw how deceitful he is in painting a picture that bares lies. I have never said that a Christian in a civil society should not pay their taxes, or adhere to the law of the land.{{more}} However, what I showed and will continue to show is how, as the pillar and ground of the truth, the church/Christian has a right before God to speak out against the wickedness that Government does to oppress its citizens. How readest thou, you are quoting scriptures showing wrong and framing them as right? The scripture in Romans 13:1-3 speaks about powers doing the will of God, correcting evil with social penalties, not docile submission to any wrong done by a government that becomes a tyrant.

If obedience to government when in wrong was good, then the Hebrew boys should have obeyed the king when they were told to bow down to idols. Daniel should not have prayed to his God, when the government law demanded to pray to the king only. Jeremiah should have obeyed the king of Judah and not preached against Judah and the king for aligning themselves with Egypt and wrong political forces against the counsels of God. The issue is not about submissive obedience to government. We all agree we should do that. The real issue is, should we obey government laws that are destructive to the rights and freedoms of the people, or should we obey God and speak against and protest (protesting is a form of free speech), against such destructive government policies?

Jeremiah did so and ended up in jail for it. Isaiah also did and was sown asunder for it. Many prophets in the past lost their lives because they protested the abuses of governments that were against the God- given rights and freedoms of the people. In fact, had Rahab the harlot followed the law of the government of Jericho, she would have reported the Israelites’ spies to the authorities, causing their death, and she would not have become an heir of salvation by faith, nor would she be a part of the lineage that produced Jesus. The Sanhedrin government in Judah forbade the apostles Peter and John to preach in Jesus’ name and locked them up in jail when they refused to obey this government’s law, but God made them disobey government laws. He sent His angel to release them from jail and commanded them to go back and stand in the temple and preach the gospel.

This biblically ignorant writer does not seem to understand that Paul was beheaded, Peter was crucified upside down, James was killed with a sword, and John the apostle was cast in boiling oil; and when a miracle of God saved his life, he was exiled on the island of Patmos, all because they obeyed God rather than man- Acts 5:29.

The point is that we should all have submissive obedience to government, but when the laws and policies of this government are destructive to the rights and freedoms of citizens, which is something that God did not establish government to do, we must all speak against this and protest, which is a form of free speech.

The diatribe of this writer betrays his ignorance of how government works in the eyes of God and how far God expects the citizens to go. This is the reason why God has allowed the rise of republicanism and civil and political rights, because he knows that as the earth gets older, man will become even more sinful, and therefore we will all need civil and political rights and freedoms to stop government from harming the people, bringing suffering to the people. But alas, it is your false idea that “God’s will for us in this age (what he wants us to do) is found in the new testament” why you are used by Satan to help corrupt this nation.

Karima Parris