Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Destruction and misery are in their ways:
And the way of peace have they not known
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
– Romans 3:15-18
Ever since a state/ church pact of blood first began – under Constantine in AD 325 – it has continued throughout the centuries and has been revived on many occasions.
But whenever deluded Christian leaders attempt to justify this, their true mission from God – to “seek and save that which is lost” – must be completely reversed:
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There are Biblical warnings that those spreading lies and false teaching will “bring on themselves swift destruction“. But those consequences are brought “on themselves” through reaping the harvest of their own deeds, should they persist in them.
Yet these and similar warnings, given to avert not cause disaster, have long been misused as propaganda to justify actively bringing evil and destruction upon those in ignorance or in error. If even the disciples of Jesus had to be warned of this – then how much more do Christians of today:
…the Samaritans …did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.
And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”
But He turned and rebuked them and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” Luke 9:52-56
In 1993, a pivotal incident of this sort took place with the horrible mass murder of men, women, and children at the “Branch Davidian” sect compound in Waco, Texas.
At the time, this was widely and publicly supported by many mainstream Christian conservative leaders – who were either blind to or unconcerned about the obvious government cover-up. To them, the end justified the means, and that means – the wholesale slaughter of women and children by government agents – was the holy wrath of God upon heretics.
The Waco events served as a key and very public moral decision-making process by Christian leaders and their followers, which soon proved to be instrumental in laying a groundwork of moral support for the “War on Terror”.
For this next bloodbath, the outright lies of propaganda again met with uncritical acceptance. Evangelism having failed in the Middle East, these lies provided all the justification needed for the wholesale invasion of countries belonging to yet another heretical group of non-Christians: The Muslims.
Under this ongoing “War on Terror” at least 150,000 innocent, non-combatant men, women, and children are estimated to have been killed – the actual figure may well exceed one million. Many, many more innocents have been grievously injured, maimed for life, or tortured.
Today, the killing continues with the blessing of mainstream Christian leaders, even as hell is unleashed from aerial drones down upon dwellings and gatherings – regardless of known innocents. Strikes are often based upon the flimsiest of hearsay evidence.
At the time of writing, the deaths of up to 10 innocent bystanders is considered acceptable per drone strike, with no need even for the routine, “rubber stamped” approval process.
In terms of doctrine, there can be no doubt that the single most important pillar of church-state support is to be found in the common understanding of Romans 13.
For example:
- In Caesarea Maritima, Israel, and other locations, there is archaeological evidence of the verses being embedded on stone floors in government halls of the Roman Empire.
- In his writings, Luther based his support for the slaughter of peasants around Romans 13.
- Many Protestant ministers used Romans 13 to urge support for the Nazis. Hitler himself made use of the scripture as propaganda while advising the few churches who opposed him to confine themselves to preparing souls for heaven – leaving earthly matters to him.
- More recently, the passage was used as propaganda even by the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe.
- Estimates vary as to how many hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children have been slaughtered in the “War on Terror”. Coldly detached through indoctrination, many Christians think Romans 13 somehow offers moral justification – even while they condemn the aborting of innocent babies in the womb.
- Romans Chapter 13 continues to be the doctrinal bedrock beneath widespread Christian support for the pervasive National Security military/police/surveillance state now visibly emerging within America, the UK, and Europe.
For some Christians, the logic seems to be that since moral standards have declined, national salvation and protection is now to be found in a kind of neo-puritan military dictatorship after the pattern of Cromwell.
Even under Obama in the US, to these believers, the fact that the military machine may have been in the hands of an anti-Christian political enemy took a back seat.
Their blind faith continues to expect that God will place more “godly” leaders in this martial order and so, as the enforcement arm of God, it should continue to rise. It was even widely reported that one Christian leader publicly prayed on the air for just that: a military dictatorship to overthrow US President Obama.
But this kind of idolatrous faith in the state is nothing new:
- Compared to modern secularized society, 1930s/40s Germany was much more overtly “Christian” and much more “socially conservative” – yet spoiled by evil doctrine.
- Likewise, God’s people of ancient Israel, after 450 years without a state, succumbed to exactly the same deception when they demanded government (see 1 Samuel 8).
- In the wilderness, even Jesus himself was specifically tempted in this area when offered unlimited state power by Satan. Of course, Jesus spurned it.
Such examples ought to serve as a warning today: Political support by Christian leaders, if embraced by their followers, is the equivalent of a covenant – of being a party to the deeds of those supported.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption…” Galatians 6: 7-8
Despite the wonderful grace and mercy of God which can always restore; if bad decisions are not renounced, there are still earthly consequences which derive from the basic principle of reaping whatever is sown.
Therefore, long before making any personal commitment to such support, it is highly advisable to make absolutely sure of a proper moral foundation. For sincere believers, that means looking again at Romans 13.