The death of Eric Garner at the hands of Staten Island Cops is a good example of somebody not knowing when it is right to disobey orders. The Cops were ordered by their superiors (who were ordered by their superiors) to do something about Garner and his selling of individual cigarettes. As that order ran downhill people at several levels missed the opportunity to tell their superior giving that ridiculous order that the superior could go “beggar themselves,” because they were not going to obey a illegitimate order to arrest a guy simply because he was horning in on the Mafia State’s piece of the action. The State, via that illegitimate and confiscatory Tax law, was running a protection racket and Eric Garner got in the way of their profits and so like all protection racket “businesses” the Cop thugs, following the orders of the Statist Mafia Dons, took Garner down.
One thing one learns when working for Corporate America is that “you don’t touch the money.” Eric Garner was touching the money of the State by selling individual cigarettes (Loosies) and so the Statist Government Mafia, “made an example of him.” Think about it … how many people do you suppose will be selling Loosies in light of what happened to Garner? Everyone knows now that in NYC you can kill your unborn babies, you can purchase your high brow hookers, you can libel in the News Studios that dot New York, all with relative safety, but don’t you dare get caught selling Loosies or it could be your life.
Every legislator in the State of New York who voted to put an confiscatory sin tax on cigarettes in the State of New York, by all that is just, ought also to be charged with involuntary Manslaughter in the death of Eric Garner. Why only see the Cops fingerprints on this? Why not hold accountable the Statist Politicians and bureaucrats who pass and enforce the kind of dumb-ass laws that eventually find Cops choking to death people for selling single cigarettes? Eric Garner was murdered by Statists. The Cops were merely the executioners employed to that end.
Somebody along the chain of command should have stood up and said to whatever link in the chain that was passing on the order, “This is a illegitimate order and I’m not enforcing it.”
Disobedience to Tyrants is obedience to God.
This needs to be reiterated often. The complete blind willingness to follow orders, regardless their legitimacy, is a curse that is causing the ever growing loss of life, liberty, and property. Be it a cabal of armed thugs enforcing compliance with the cigarette extortion tax, or a band of government sanctioned pirates kidnapping newborn children from the arms of their loving parents, armed and dangerous mindless minions are an increasing menace to a moral and peaceful society. The victims are real, and their numbers are growing exponentially.
The greatest outrage in all of this is the silence (or even worse, the endorsement) of such thuggery from the pulpit. Disobeying unlawful orders must first start with ignoring the ungodly, antinomian rants of cowardly, weak-kneed, lily-livered, pusillanimous, judeo-christian government agents posing as ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Amen to that Eddie.
“Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.” -St. Peter (Acts 4:19)
“We ought to obey God rather than men.” – St. Peter (Acts 5:29)
It seems to me that we need a church/churches type of effort. One individual disobeying will always be squashed. Do you see this as a role for the church to take on?
In the right circumstance it could be.
In the right circumstance it could be. Correct Bret.
Read Heiland by Franklin Sanders. Though fiction it is a good
book and has a interesting theological debate when they make
the decision to go to war against the state.
I’ve read it Graham. Great read.
Disobeying unlawful orders equals obeying lawless orders.
Correction: I meant to say: Not disobeying unlawful orders equals obeying lawless orders.
How much”loosies” could the late Mr. Garner have possibly sold to put a dent in their “monies” to render his death inexorable? I’m curious..