Civil Disobedience

Civil Disobedience

Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey laws as a way of forcing the government to do or change something. It is usually a symbolic violation of the law, rather than a rejection of the system as a whole.

There are various forms of civil disobedience: illegal boycotts, refusal to pay taxes, draft dodging, sit-ins.

Electronic civil disobedience includes web  site defacements, redirects, denial-of service attacks, information theft, and data leaks.

Riots are situations in which large groups of people behave in a violent and uncontrolled way.

Protests can show strong disapproval of something at a public event. It is usually an organized public demonstration.

What does the Bible teach about civil disobedience?

The Bible encourages us to obey the government unless the government requires us to disobey God’s laws.

Paul taught that believers should be submissive to the government because authority is ordained of God.  Resisting the government was resistance to God.

But when government commands believers to go against God’s commands, they must obey God rather than the government.