You say, “I agree with the pastors involved – obey the government.” Did you read Mr. Baldwin’s article? In it, he says this:

“Do our Christian friends who use these verses to teach that we should not oppose President Bush or any other political leader really believe that civil magistrates have unlimited authority to do anything they want without opposition? I doubt whether they truly believe that.

“For example, what if our President decided to resurrect the old monarchical custom of Jus Primae Noctis (Law of First Night)? That was the old medieval custom when the king claimed the right to sleep with a subject’s bride on the first night of their marriage. Would our sincere Christian brethren sheepishly say, ‘Romans Chapter 13 says we must submit to the government’? I think not. And would any of us respect any man who would submit to such a law?”

More food for thought, I suppose. I would say that we’re already in a place and time where the Constitution is “simply a paper we give lip service to.”

But I will staunchly insist on this point: any man who is in a situation like post-Katrina New Orleans, who has a wife or daughter and willingly hands over his firearm(s), thus choosing to provide no protection for them against a violent intruder? That man is worse than an unbeliever.

As for your comment/question regarding how a pastor should respond… that’s a great one. I agree with the pastors involved – obey the government. On the other hand, I suspect that, as we submit in this arena, we will simply be falling right into the government’s plans (albeit maybe not this or the next administration’s) of slowly creating a government that controls the people, not of the people, and the Constitution will become simply a paper we give lip service to. I know it sounds crazy, but as I watch the Star Wars movies, I see that stuff happening, slowly but surely, in our country. Maybe not in my lifetime, but what about my sons’? So, I wonder if you’re right, too. The bottom line is that we must obey what we believe God’s calling us to on this one.

This doesn’t even consider the question of non-violent response vs. the one of the reasons our Founding Fathers wrote our 2nd Amendment in the first place. How does that fit in to your theology. I haven’t yet figured out how it fits into mine.