9 hours ago
Christians, let’s stop abusing Romans 13
https://www.christianitytoday.com/2026/0...nneapolis/
EXCERPTS: What people reference when they say “Romans 13” is the argument the apostle Paul makes in that chapter: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed” (vv. 1–2, ESV throughout). What some Christians draw from this, then, is that whatever the state does in using lethal force (or bearing “the sword” as Paul put it in verse 4) is morally legitimate and those who question it are wrong.
[...] Romans 13 is about refusing to become what oppresses you, not about baptizing whatever the oppressor does. And Romans 13 puts moral limits around what authorities can and cannot do—it tells them to use the sword against “the wrongdoer,” for instance. Paul wrote Romans 13 not to protect the state from critique but to shield the church from vengeance... (MORE - missing details)
The God They Preach at the Pentagon
https://sojo.net/articles/opinion/god-th...h-pentagon
INTRO: On Dec. 17, 2025, evangelical minister and Republican political activist Franklin Graham led a Christmas worship service at the Pentagon, where he preached about God being a “God of war.” I find it to be one of the most bizarre Christmas sermons ever given, but it was telling. In fact, it telegraphed the foreign policy of the U.S.
A few weeks later, President Donald Trump would order the kidnapping and extradition of Nicolás Maduro to the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges. Now is the time for Christians to reclaim the message of peace that is at the heart of the gospel, and to resist imperialism.
While there are undoubtedly many root causes of this violation of international law, one of them is Christian nationalism and its insistence that the U.S. is a country chosen by God. Once a country’s chosenness has been established, all things become possible, from invading foreign countries so that the U.S. can “run” them and control their oil reserves to acquiring Greenland by force.
While this idea has no bearing in scripture, it does represent the apotheosis of one of the U.S.’s most sacred beliefs: American exceptionalism. That hubris has often led to disastrous results for both the U.S. and the world. From the Cold War to the War on Terror, the U.S.’s self-conception as a global police force has led to death and misery, with at least 80 people being killed in the attack on Caracas, Venezuela as the latest example.
That exceptionalism, perhaps best embodied by this administration’s “America First” doctrine, manifests as unlimited power that ignores both international law and the U.S. Constitution... (MORE - details)
https://www.christianitytoday.com/2026/0...nneapolis/
EXCERPTS: What people reference when they say “Romans 13” is the argument the apostle Paul makes in that chapter: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed” (vv. 1–2, ESV throughout). What some Christians draw from this, then, is that whatever the state does in using lethal force (or bearing “the sword” as Paul put it in verse 4) is morally legitimate and those who question it are wrong.
[...] Romans 13 is about refusing to become what oppresses you, not about baptizing whatever the oppressor does. And Romans 13 puts moral limits around what authorities can and cannot do—it tells them to use the sword against “the wrongdoer,” for instance. Paul wrote Romans 13 not to protect the state from critique but to shield the church from vengeance... (MORE - missing details)
The God They Preach at the Pentagon
https://sojo.net/articles/opinion/god-th...h-pentagon
INTRO: On Dec. 17, 2025, evangelical minister and Republican political activist Franklin Graham led a Christmas worship service at the Pentagon, where he preached about God being a “God of war.” I find it to be one of the most bizarre Christmas sermons ever given, but it was telling. In fact, it telegraphed the foreign policy of the U.S.
A few weeks later, President Donald Trump would order the kidnapping and extradition of Nicolás Maduro to the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges. Now is the time for Christians to reclaim the message of peace that is at the heart of the gospel, and to resist imperialism.
While there are undoubtedly many root causes of this violation of international law, one of them is Christian nationalism and its insistence that the U.S. is a country chosen by God. Once a country’s chosenness has been established, all things become possible, from invading foreign countries so that the U.S. can “run” them and control their oil reserves to acquiring Greenland by force.
While this idea has no bearing in scripture, it does represent the apotheosis of one of the U.S.’s most sacred beliefs: American exceptionalism. That hubris has often led to disastrous results for both the U.S. and the world. From the Cold War to the War on Terror, the U.S.’s self-conception as a global police force has led to death and misery, with at least 80 people being killed in the attack on Caracas, Venezuela as the latest example.
That exceptionalism, perhaps best embodied by this administration’s “America First” doctrine, manifests as unlimited power that ignores both international law and the U.S. Constitution... (MORE - details)