I used to be a christian, and when I was a kid, we'd go to sunday school or youth bible study, depending on how old we were, and every week, it was stories about how this prophet or that was defying a king and getting their head cut off or being thrown into a pit full of lions.
But in the U.S., every christian I meet is -some- kind of pro-government cultist. Like, they never read the bible, or maybe they forgot it all. Like, you -believe- that shit? Then ACT like it, ok? Here, here's a good verse, from when the isrealites were all sad because the other kingdoms had kings, and they just had literally the word of god to guide them.
10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.
--1 Samuel 8:10-18
Literally, he's right there, saying "hey, look, god says you can have a king if you really really want one, but it's a BAAAAD idea", and if you read the bible from that point, it started out kind of ok, but started to go downhill after about a generation.
Plus, how can you justify your support of political murder, theft, coercion, etc that the government puts forth? I thought Jesus was love, right? Didn't he say something about turning the other cheek? Loving your nieghbor? Loving your enemy?
Whatever. Final thought, here's a quote from Larken Rose about you guys.
"You call yourselves Christians, or Jews, or claim to follow some other religion, but the truth is, what you call your religion is empty window-dressing. What you truly worship, the god you really bow to, what you really believe in, is the state. ‘Thou shalt not steal.’ ‘Thou shalt not murder.’ Unless you can do it by way of the government. then it’s just fine, isn’t it? If you call it ‘taxation’ and ‘war’, it stops being a sin, right? After all, it was only your god that said you shouldn’t steal and murder, but the state said it was okay. It’s pretty obvious which one outranks the other in your minds. Despite all the churches, synagogues, and mosques we see around us, this nation has one god, and only one god, and that god is called ‘government’."
--Larken Rose, The Iron Web
agreed, I believe the true message of Jesus Christ is one which is consistent with the NAP ^_^ / a true message of peace. So when I too come across Christians who aren't anarchist.. it's rather confusing... it just shows that they haven't spent a lot of time pondering the things they actually claim to believe..
Yup. It's bizarre. But maybe Christians will get there one day. Remember, only a few hundred years ago The Divine Right of Kings was considered an important part of the Christian faith.
I'm planning to write a series soon on Christian Anarchy. I want to address the concerns many Christians have with anarchy and also argue as strongly as I can that it doesn't make moral sense to be anything but an anarchist.
Well, this is certainly a disputable issue, but it is not from failing to read the Bible.
It is true that 90% of self-identifying Christians are guilty as charged - they know little Biblical Truth to the point of not even qualifying as Christians. Jesus' ultimate response to them will be "Depart from me, I never knew you."
But for those who take their Bible's seriously, here are a few of the reasons they tend to obey the governing authorities (except when they can find a suitable loophole):
Paul's words from his letter to the Romans 13:1-7:
Peter said essentially the same thing (1 Peter 2:12):
Ponder that.