.
[Patriotism] is fulfilling our duty as Christians to do justice. Micah 6:8
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to
walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8).
Indeed, we must
do justly, must
render to all their due, according as our relation and obligation to them are. Question:
To whom have you obligated yourself?
Who is your God?
You are confusing pledging allegiance with patriotism.
They are the same. The U.S. Pledge of Allegiance is widely described and practiced as a form of patriotism.
Do you realize you have a choice? Even groups such as Jehovah’s Witnesses have historically opposed mandatory participation as a form of
idolatry, leading to landmark
U. S. Supreme Court rulings protecting the right of students to opt out of the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance.
Scripture makes it clear Jesus loved Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was not
United States Inc.
Jesus did not say loyalty to a conqueror but give him his due.
Incorrect.
Jesus himself was accused of forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar at his trial (Luke 23:2). Notice these were
not false witnesses who accused Jesus of not paying taxes, because every time a false witness accused Jesus, the scripture tells us it was a false witness (Mark 14:57-59). Where did Jesus forbid to pay taxes to Caesar?
In Mark 12:13-17, Jesus was asked if it was lawful to give taxes to Caesar or not. A silver coin, with Caesar's inscription on it, was shown to Christ. In this example,
the Lord's answer requires everyone to make the determination as to what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God;
Mark 12:17, "...Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's..."
Who did this silver coin belong to? Since the Scripture says, "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts" (Haggai 2:8), that means that the silver coin shown to Jesus belonged to God. However, those who live, move, and have their being in the image of Caesar, as the disciples of the Pharisees did, will believe this coin belongs to Caesar instead. We are not to be deluded by the image of Caesar, but built-up in the image of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 11:7; 15:49, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Colossians 3:10).
Your dilemma is that you have chosen to serve two masters.
Indeed, the majority at large are rendering their obedience to Caesar, that ungodly pretender, that other master, that usurper. And push is coming to shove these days, in a very tragic way. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."
Romans 13 implies we also owe loyalty to those civilian authorities acting as servants of God.
Incorrect. A bondman of Christ owes NO THING to ANY THING "civilian" (
unless he agreed to the solicitation, which you obviously have). The 'governing authorities' are supposed to be from among
us, from among the body of Christ. IOW, there is no such thing as 'the separation of church and state.' We're to come out from among the ungodly so-called governments and be separate and not touch that unclean thing; then God will receive us. We're not to be making excuses to continue in ungodly lifestyles in obedience to ungodly government.
Likewise, "civil rights" are created by man, and can be changed or abrogated at will by the creator of those rights (which is man). You will not find "civil rights" in scripture. Also, note that the word "civilian" does not appear in the Holy Bible; it's another invention of men ala
civil idolatry.
Today, citizens, persons, residents, and others of like spirit are "voluntarily serving" Caesar and his "civil" world. Their inner hearts and genuine love for God are missing. Jesus quotes from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 29:13) to show that worship is meaningless ("in vain") when people prioritize human rules over God's commands. "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me." (Mat. 15:8)
But the bondmen of Christ Jesus choose to be an obedient slave of and to the Prince of Peace.
...those civilian authorities acting as servants of God.
Name one who is a believing servant of God. "...Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar." (John 19:15)
A prisoner doesn't go to the guards to ask them for an escape plan. God didn't command believers to settle for a bible study in the basement of the brothel; he commanded us to set our own city atop a hill.
As you yourself have called it (from your profile):
Jesus didn't say to serve Caesar but giving him his due. How do you reconcile these commands from Christ?
Why are you carrying a "due" to Caesar??? What godly man would even consider such a thing? But if you are sharing obedience due to God with Caesar, then Caesar is another master of yours. And if Caesar says you owe him, then yes you must render unto Caesar. (Why did you choose to sign on with such a pagan program that would require such a rendering to its ungodly leader?)
God is my leader, and he does not extract taxes from me.
You are setting up a Strawman, suggesting those in civilian authority act at odds with the will of God. This simply isn't so.
Wake up, bro, and smell the coffee;
it's obvious man's "civility" is at odds with godly authority!
If you hadn't signed on for Caesar's program(s) in the first instance, then there would be no basis for any claim of disobedience, and you would be truly free (Mat. 17:26). But alas, you
did sign on, and so unto Cae$ar you must go...
So what has all this misguided "patriotism" to the godless "civilian authorities" of the soulless
United States Inc. accomplished for us? As it pertains to the OP:
593BC:
"And [God] brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and
they worshipped the sun toward the east." (Eze. 8:16)
"MAGA" means "worshippers of the sun god.
2012AD:
Donald Trump conceived and adopted the exact wording "Make America Great Again" in November 2012. He applied for a trademark on the phrase shortly after and later popularized it as the central slogan for his 2016 presidential campaign, associating it with the red-and-white MAGA hats. While Trump claimed he invented the phrase himself, he later acknowledged Ronald Reagan's prior use (1980).
"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." Ecc. 1:9)
