Teach the Children Well

You gotta love childrens' books.

In Tiny Bear's Bible, we read a perfect example of godly resistance to tyrannical, ungodly government. On the pages which tell the story of Daniel ("God Protects Daniel in the Lion's Den") we read these lines: "The king said to Daniel, 'You'll pray just to ME!' / But Daniel loved God, so he couldn't, you see."

Daniel loved God, so he couldn't obey the king's unbiblical decree. I see. . . . .

So we must love God enough to obey Him rather than man? Sounds a little like Acts 5:29 to me. And how then can Christians argue that Romans 13 means we need to obey the government always, even if we don't like it (say, for example, paying taxes which support the abortion movement)? Why didn't Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego simply bow down and worship Nebuchadnezzar's image? Wasn't it illegal to disobey? And yet they did anyway? I see. . . .

There's a lesson in this story, and it's not just for kids: anyone who says we need to obey the government regardless of its immoral and unlawful decrees isn't paying attention to scripture.

But what is "immoral"? And what is "unlawful"? More tomorrow. . . .