Caesar, Christ, Cordite & Clergy

Somehow I think the usual suspects who decry clergy involvement with government policy would have no problem at all with this:

...gun confiscation is exactly what happened during the state of emergency following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, along with forced relocation. U.S. Troops also arrived, something far easier to do now, thanks to last year's elimination of the 1878 Posse Comitatus act, which had forbid regular U.S. Army troops from policing on American soil.

If martial law were enacted here at home, like depicted in the movie "The Siege," easing public fears and quelling dissent would be critical. And that's exactly what the 'Clergy Response Team' helped accomplish in the wake of Katrina. Dr. Durell Tuberville serves as chaplain for the Shreveport Fire Department and the Caddo Sheriff's Office. Tuberville said of the clergy team's mission, "the primary thing that we say to anybody is, 'let's cooperate and get this thing over with and then we'll settle the differences once the crisis is over.'" Such clergy response teams would walk a tight-rope during martial law between the demands of the government on the one side, versus the wishes of the public on the other.

The real problem with mixing church and state is less the tendency towards 'theocracy' than it is the corruption of the function of the Church. Too many Christians today have been taught the parts of the Bible where we are told to submit to the secular authorities, but without the caveats concerning the requirement those authorities themselves be in accordance with God's law. The Church isn't meant to be a rubber stamp of approval regardless the direction of government. The Chinese have a concept called the "Mandate of Heaven," wherein the government can lose divine favor and popular obedience when it acts unjustly. Christian teaching is not far from this -- when the government abuses its power in a manner that forces people to disobey God's law, the Christian must respectfully refuse to comply. The more powerful the government, the more costly that choice can be for the individual Christian.

Granted, the Bible isn't the basis for the Second Amendment -- that lies in 6,000 years of recorded history showing what happens when only the rulers have firepower. Christians should be very wary of clergy coaxing them to turn in their firearms, regardless of the reasons the government asks for them. They may sound reasonable, but once they have the monopoly on force, nothing requires them to remain reasonable.

God, gunpowder and gumption--three essential elements for personal liberty in a fallen world. Surrender any of the three at your own peril.