tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post2848442875275295833..comments2023-10-24T07:03:42.942-05:00Comments on vtmbottomline: CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE THAT IS REALLY CIVILPaul Burlesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17021178307705707423noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-49440702942835302702008-12-22T13:48:00.000-06:002008-12-22T13:48:00.000-06:00Bobby,Some might say that Jeremish [Maybe Isaiah a...Bobby,<BR/><BR/>Some might say that Jeremish [Maybe Isaiah and others] used a form of protest. Jeremiah certainly used some odd means to get his message across. [He was famous for using props to demonstrate things.] There is no doubting the different circumstances but even if one admits his was a form of protest, the thing that strikes me is that all were willing to pay the high price for their protest. [Usually death or imprisonment.<BR/><BR/>In the NT Jesus is usually quoted as He drove out the moneychangers but that is a case by itself in my judgment. It was the Temple and it was the religious zealots whose ations He protested rather heatedly. [Ours would probably lack that kind of pure Righteousness I'm sure.]<BR/><BR/>Paul protested his arrest as a Roman citizen and appealed to the Highest Roman authorities. But, again, he was willing to bear the consequences. <BR/><BR/>I think the nearest modern protest to that would be those who, by conviction, refuse to serve in the military. They are generally willing to do what ever is required as consequences when it is a true convictional thing.<BR/><BR/>But if the idea is that as citizens a christian is NOT SUPPOSE to protest in ANY fashion because of a silence in the NT I generally, take an argument from silence as meaning, since there is no biblical command OR prohibition, each christian is free and responsible to be guided by conscience and the Spirit in making their decisions as citizens of their country. [Think pastoring in Nazi Germany and the death camps or a law making late term abortions legal in America.] I also think when a christian, by conviction, protests it would NEVER be a protest method that violates the clear Word of God or would involve anger or hatred of human beings no matter how evil one might perceive them to be.<BR/><BR/>I also believe a christians FIRST responsibility is to his/her citizenship in heaven and would NEVER do anything that would negate the ability or desire to share the gospel with a lost world. That MUST remain our priority it seems to me. <BR/><BR/>God may work differently in different situations. So I guess...no easy answer. Shoot..I like them easy.Paul Burlesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17021178307705707423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-16681932504792060752008-12-22T11:55:00.000-06:002008-12-22T11:55:00.000-06:00Question. Did New Testament Christians (Bible ch...Question. Did New Testament Christians (Bible characters)protest?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-74503181732325263412008-12-22T11:52:00.000-06:002008-12-22T11:52:00.000-06:00I am a salesman. When we protest we are or should...I am a salesman. When we protest we are or should be, in my opinion, trying to make a sale. Making a sale is a form of argument. In order to win a argument you must impower the other person to continue the argument because if they get mad, offended, hurt, etc. and quit arguing then we loose the argument because they never become of our opinion. We impower the opponent to argue by being respectful of their opinion, listening carefully to their views, agreeing when we can etc.. Therefore when we protest we need to do it in a manner that the argument can continue until our opinion is accepted and the matter protested against is corrected or we loose the protest. Civil protest is more likely to be heard address' that issue. It is not only more likely to be heard but more likely to win the argument and correct the matter protested against.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-71292646018705787442008-12-21T11:04:00.000-06:002008-12-21T11:04:00.000-06:00A VERY good word Kate and an exceptiona quote. Tha...A VERY good word Kate and an exceptiona quote. Thanks for commenting and Merry ChristmasPaul Burlesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17021178307705707423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-29515504212909461092008-12-21T08:06:00.000-06:002008-12-21T08:06:00.000-06:00I also wanted to share this quote...He who passive...I also wanted to share this quote...<BR/><BR/>He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. - Martin Luther King Jr.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-71558818815807192212008-12-21T07:42:00.000-06:002008-12-21T07:42:00.000-06:00Thank you for this post. And thank you for your ho...Thank you for this post. And thank you for your honesty about maybe being too silent way back when... and one of the things I love about your son's blog is his determination to protest in a civl and thoughful manner.<BR/><BR/>I think there are many ways to protest. Some are verbally and some are behaviorally and some are both. What I mean by that is that we can sit back or we can say something or we can do something (or a combination). I believe I protest against ill treatment everytime I give a seminar to a church body on abuse and helping those in need. I believe I protest whenever I speak out against abusive treatment of one another in the family. I believe I protest through educating others on how to minister. Others may not see it as a protest, but for me it is. It is protesting against all that was done to me, and all that was/is done to others. It is living out Rmns 8:28 and redeeming what was meant for evil and letting God use it for His good, which ultimately is also my good. It has given me a voice, this educational protest, and I pray I never lose it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-83496582162910004872008-12-19T17:34:00.000-06:002008-12-19T17:34:00.000-06:00Bob,You absolutely got it.Bob,<BR/><BR/>You absolutely got it.Paul Burlesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17021178307705707423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28605099.post-83434413033571319362008-12-19T16:30:00.000-06:002008-12-19T16:30:00.000-06:00Paul,If I take some of those thoughts to some far-...Paul,<BR/><BR/>If I take some of those thoughts to some far-out conclusions, I might also conclude that God keeps after us, trying to get us to conform our lives to that of Jesus, not out of anger at us for getting it wrong, but from love which wants the best for us, and knows how to achieve it.<BR/><BR/>Yup. I think so. Would that all protests were similarly motivated and conducted (I am well acquainted with some that are).<BR/><BR/>:)Bob Clevelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06110395869562328309noreply@blogger.com