Illegal Protest

From Gotquestions.org:

Question: “Do Christians have to obey the laws of the land?”

Answer: Romans 13:1-7 states: “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. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”

That passage makes it abundantly clear. We are to obey the government God places over us. God created government to establish order, punish evil, and promote justice (Genesis 9:6; 1 Corinthians 14:33; Romans 12:8). We are to obey the government in everything - paying taxes, obeying rules and laws, showing respect, etc. If we do not, we are ultimately showing disrespect towards God, for He is the One who placed that government over us. When the Apostle Paul wrote Romans 13:1-7, he was under the government of Rome, during the reign of Nero, perhaps that most evil of all the Roman Emperors. Paul still recognized that government’s rule over him. How can we do any less?

The next question is: “Is there a time when we should not obey the laws of the land?” The answer to that question may be found in Acts 5:27-29, “Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this Name,’ he said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.’ Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than men!’” From this, we can plainly see that as long as the law of the land does not contradict the law of God, we are bound to obey. As soon as the law of the land contradicts God’s command, we are to disobey the law of the land, and obey God’s law. However, even in that instance, we are to accept the government’s authority over us. This is demonstrated by the fact that Peter and John did not protest being flogged, but instead rejoiced that they suffered for obeying God (Acts 5:40-42).

Here is a good comment on the topic over at topix.com

amleht wrote:

If you have studied the bible and ALL you got from there is that God says don’t break the law…you need to go back and re-read it,Ask God for the answers and he will provide them for you, because God loves all of us, and if there is something to be learned from the bible is not to judge and to treat every single being with love and respect.

AquarianRealm responds:

Yes, the Bible says many things, so it we take and accept from it we must love and respect each other, must we also accept states on other issues, i.e., illegal immigration? Question: “How does God view illegal immigration?”
Answer: Romans 13:1-7 makes it abundantly clear that God expects us to obey the laws of the government. The ONLY exception to this is when a law of the government forces you to disobey a command of God (Acts 5:29). Illegal immigration is the breaking of a governmental law. There is nothing in Scripture that would contradict with obeying immigration laws. Therefore, it is a sin, rebellion against God, to illegally immigrate into another country. Romans 13:1-7 also gives the government the authority to punish lawbreakers, whether it be by deportation or imprisonment (in the cases of illegal immigration), or more severe penalties for greater crimes.
The vast majority of illegal immigrants in the United States have immigrated for the purpose of having a better life, providing for their families, and escaping from poverty. These are good goals and motivations. However, these reasons do not give a person the right to break a law. Those seeking to immigrate to the United States (or any other country), should obey the immigration laws of that country. While this will cause delays and frustrations, again, these reasons do not give a person the right to break a law.

What should the United States government do with all the illegal immigrants that are currently in the country? For the most part, this is not a Biblical question. The Bible does not command how governments should respond to every type of illegal action. The United States government has the right and authority to do as it sees fit, whether that be deporting millions of people, or granting them amnesty. Deporting millions of people is likely not a reasonable, or workable policy. At the same time, mass amnesty is completely unfair to those who are respecting the laws of our country by “waiting in line” to immigrate to the United States.

So, to all the churches who are joining this inane “sanctuary movement” - you have strayed from the path of God by doing so and personally I don’t think a church should be advocating breaking the law in any case whatsoever. If the churches want to help illegal aliens out by giving them a meal or shelter from the elements that is fine as long as the next thing they do is send them home where they belong and that home should be the country they came from.

I differ in opinion from AquarianRealm in that I believe millions of illegal aliens will “self-deport” when the job and social services magnets are removed. I believe our current immigration system is just fine and is not really all that backlogged because - well - we admit more immigrants into this country every year than the rest of the countries of the world combined.. so .. no .. I don’t think we need to speed anything up at all. In fact, as much as I think highly of legal immigrants and I have many friends who are legal immigrants.. I don’t see the need to *increase* immigration. We need to stop and figure out what we are doing as a country letting over 2 million immigrants in per year. We are losing our cultural identity and increasing our risk of terrorist attacks by courting “cultural diversity” to the point of our own cultural extinction. Not very smart.