Resistance to Tyrants, Obedience to God

Resistance to Tyrants, Obedience to God
Author: Dustin A. Gish
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2013-08-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 073918220X

Both reason and religion have been acknowledged by scholars to have had a profound impact on the foundation and formation of the American regime. But the significance, pervasiveness, and depth of that impact have also been disputed. While many have approached the American founding period with an interest in the influence of Enlightenment reason or Biblical religion, they have often assumed such influences to be exclusive, irreconcilable, or contradictory. Few scholarly works have sought to study the mutual influence of reason and religion as intertwined strands shaping the American historical and political experience at its founding. The purpose of the chapters in this volume, authored by a distinguished group of scholars in political science, intellectual history, literature, and philosophy, is to examine how this mutual influence was made manifest in the American Founding—especially in the writings, speeches, and thought of critical figures (Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Charles Carroll), and in later works by key interpreters of the American Founding (Alexis de Tocqueville and Abraham Lincoln). Taken as a whole, then, this volume does not attempt to explain away the potential opposition between religion and reason in the American mind of the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth- centuries, but instead argues that there is a uniquely American perspective and political thought that emerges from this tension. The chapters gathered here, individually and collectively, seek to illuminate the animating affect of this tension on the political rhetoric, thought, and history of the early American period. By taking seriously and exploring the mutual influence of these two themes in creative tension, rather than seeing them as diametrically opposed or as mutually exclusive, this volume thus reveals how the pervasiveness and resonance of Biblical narratives and religion supported and infused Enlightened political discourse and action at the Founding, thereby articulating the complementarity of reason and religion during this critical period.

Tyranny and Resistance

Tyranny and Resistance
Author: David Mark Whitford
Publisher:
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2001
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

Examines the confession as a statement of the God-given right to resist unjust rule. Follows Luther's insights and practice.

On Tyranny

On Tyranny
Author: Timothy Snyder
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2017-02-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0804190127

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “bracing” (Vox) guide for surviving and resisting America’s turn towards authoritarianism, from “a rising public intellectual unafraid to make bold connections between past and present” (The New York Times) “Timothy Snyder reasons with unparalleled clarity, throwing the past and future into sharp relief. He has written the rare kind of book that can be read in one sitting but will keep you coming back to help regain your bearings.”—Masha Gessen The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. On Tyranny is a call to arms and a guide to resistance, with invaluable ideas for how we can preserve our freedoms in the uncertain years to come.

The Checklist to End Tyranny

The Checklist to End Tyranny
Author: Peter Ackerman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 150
Release: 2021-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781943271504

Today the deadliest conflicts are not between states but rather within them, pitting tyrants against the populations they oppress. Over a century of data shows that civil resistance campaigns-employing strikes, boycotts, mass protests, and many other nonviolent tactics-are the most powerful means for societies to confront authoritarians. The Checklist to End Tyranny is dedicated to enabling dissidents to become more strategic in their thinking and therefore more skillful in their quest to achieve democracy and human rights. This volume is also a unique resource in helping professionals in the foreign policy and democracy promotion communities to understand at a granular level what it takes for pro-democracy activists to end the dictatorships they are living under. The stakes could not be higher. If the world is to have a Fourth Democratic Wave expanding freedom over oppression, then civil resistance campaigns will lead the way.

Small Acts of Resistance

Small Acts of Resistance
Author: Steve Crawshaw
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2010-10-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1402783868

Remarkable, mischievous, inspiring—the eighty-odd stories in Small Acts of Resistance bring hidden histories to life. The courage of the people in these stories is breathtaking. So, too, is the impact and imagination of their actions.These mostly little known stories—including those written from eyewitness experience of the events and situations described—reveal the role ordinary people have played in achieving extraordinary change. “In the real world, it will never happen,” the skeptics love to tell us. As this book so vividly shows, the skeptics have repeatedly been proven wrong.Stories in this include how:· Strollers, toilet paper, and illegal ketchup helped end forty years of one-party Communist rule· Dogs (and what they wore) helped protestors humiliate a murderous regime· Internet videos about cuddly animals infuriated a repressive government which tried—and failed—to ban the craze· Football crowds found ways of singing the national anthem so as to defy a junta of torturers, now in jail· Women successfully put pressure on warlords to end one of Africa’s bloodiest wars· The singing of old folksongs hastened the collapse of an empire sustained by tanksIf you think individuals are powerless to change the world, read this remarkable book and you’ll surely change your mind.

The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates

The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates
Author: Matthew J. Trewhella
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2013-08-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781482327687

America has entered troubling times. The rule of law is crumbling. The massive expansion of Federal government power with its destructive laws and policies is of grave concern to many. But what can be done to quell the abuse of power by civil authority? Are unjust or immoral actions by the government simply to be accepted and their lawless commands obeyed? How do we know when the government has acted tyrannically? Which actions constitute proper and legitimate resistance? This book places in your hands a hopeful blueprint for freedom. Appealing to history and the Word of God, Pastor Matthew Trewhella answers these questions and shows how Americans can successfully resist the Federal government's attempts to trample our Constitution, assault our liberty, and impugn the law of God. The doctrine of the lesser magistrates declares that when the superior or higher civil authority makes an unjust/immoral law or decree, the lesser or lower ranking civil authority has both the right and duty to refuse obedience to that superior authority. If necessary, the lower authority may even actively resist the superior authority. Historically, this doctrine was practiced before the time of Christ and Christianity. It was Christian men, however, who formalized and embedded it into their political institutions throughout Western Civilization. The doctrine of the lesser magistrates is a historic tool that provides proven guidelines for proper and legitimate resistance to tyranny, often without causing any major upheaval in society. The doctrine teaches us how to rein in lawless acts by government and restore justice in our nation. "Use this sword against my enemies, if I give righteous commands; but if I give unrighteous commands, use it against me." -Roman Emperor Trajan, speaking to one of his subordinates This is the first book published solely addressing the doctrine of the lesser magistrates in over 400 years. Matthew Trewhella is the pastor of Mercy Seat Christian Church. He is a graduate of Valley Forge Christian College. He and his wife, Clara, have eleven children and nine grandchildren, and reside in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. His research and teaching on the lesser magistrate doctrine is reshaping the thinking of Americans. He was instrumental in publishing the Magdeburg Confession in 2012 - the first English translation of the document since it was written in 1550.

Arbitrary Rule

Arbitrary Rule
Author: Mary Nyquist
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 436
Release: 2013-05-10
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 022601553X

Slavery appears as a figurative construct during the English revolution of the mid-seventeenth century, and again in the American and French revolutions, when radicals represent their treatment as a form of political slavery. What, if anything, does figurative, political slavery have to do with transatlantic slavery? In Arbitrary Rule, Mary Nyquist explores connections between political and chattel slavery by excavating the tradition of Western political thought that justifies actively opposing tyranny. She argues that as powerful rhetorical and conceptual constructs, Greco-Roman political liberty and slavery reemerge at the time of early modern Eurocolonial expansion; they help to create racialized “free” national identities and their “unfree” counterparts in non-European nations represented as inhabiting an earlier, privative age. Arbitrary Rule is the first book to tackle political slavery’s discursive complexity, engaging Eurocolonialism, political philosophy, and literary studies, areas of study too often kept apart. Nyquist proceeds through analyses not only of texts that are canonical in political thought—by Aristotle, Cicero, Hobbes, and Locke—but also of literary works by Euripides, Buchanan, Vondel, Montaigne, and Milton, together with a variety of colonialist and political writings, with special emphasis on tracts written during the English revolution. She illustrates how “antityranny discourse,” which originated in democratic Athens, was adopted by republican Rome, and revived in early modern Western Europe, provided members of a “free” community with a means of protesting a threatened reduction of privileges or of consolidating a collective, political identity. Its semantic complexity, however, also enabled it to legitimize racialized enslavement and imperial expansion. Throughout, Nyquist demonstrates how principles relating to political slavery and tyranny are bound up with a Roman jurisprudential doctrine that sanctions the power of life and death held by the slaveholder over slaves and, by extension, the state, its representatives, or its laws over its citizenry.

DIY Resistance

DIY Resistance
Author: Anthony Alvarado
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2018-07-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1609808134

DIY Resistance celebrates the power of the people and shows how readers can take inspiration from the actions and words of leaders, activists, and historical heroes; how we can learn to take care of ourselves physically and emotionally in troubled times, and do our part to look after the larger community around us. Our fight is not a new one. It has been going on continuously for thousands of years, as individuals and movements have stood up to despots and demagogues. DIY Resistance recalls the successful actions people's movements use to defeat tyrants: defend free speech, look after your community, fight racism and misogyny, organize, protest, network, publish. The lessons of successful resistance are rich and they are everywhere around us. Take note, find your inspiration and your strength, and join others around you who share your commitment.

The Middle East Crisis Factory

The Middle East Crisis Factory
Author: Ahmed Gatnash
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2021-07-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1787386147

Why is the Middle East a crisis factory, and how can it be fixed? What does the future look like for its 500 million people? And what role should the West play? Iyad El-Baghdadi and Ahmed Gatnash tell the story of the modern Middle East as a series of broken promises. They chart the entrenchment of tyranny, terrorism and foreign intervention, showing how these systems of oppression simultaneously feed off and battle each other. Exploring demographic, economic and social trends, the authors paint a picture of the region’s prospects that is alarming yet hopeful. Finally, they present ambitious and thoughtful ideas that reject both aggressive military intervention and cynical deals with dictators. This book, written by two children of the region, is about the failures of history, and the reasons for hope. The Middle East Crisis Factory offers a bold vision for those seeking peace and democracy in the Middle East.

Resistance to Tyrants

Resistance to Tyrants
Author: Gordan Runyan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 80
Release: 2013-01-27
Genre: Bible
ISBN: 9781480220089

Hayek spoke of nations travelling a road to serfdom: This book points to the only real exit ramp. If you're like most Evangelicals, you've been taught that Romans 13:1-7 gives you, the Christian citizen, a blanket duty to "render unto Caesar" an unqualified obedience. Modern teachings on the sticky relationship between God and government, church and state, seem to be little more than restatements of what any dictator would want you to believe. It hasn't always been that way within Christianity. Does even an antichrist government have a right to command your meticulous fidelity? Did you sin against God when you broke the speed limit? Or is it possible that Thomas Jefferson got it right when he said, "Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God?" American society is sliding into political ideologies like socialism and raw democracy. The Bill of Rights is under assault, both in the court of public opinion, and through nightmarish government maneuvers like domestic drones, NDAA indefinite detention, a Presidential "kill list," ever-increasing assaults on Second Amendment rights through gun control, and attacks on religious liberty inherent in Obamacare. it's more important than ever that those who claim to be sent into the world as salt and light have a solid foundation in Scripture. And, let's be honest, the over-reaching big government bullies, the would-be icons of Orwell's Big Brother, could have no greater friends among the citizenry than supposedly Bible-believing pastors who urge their flocks to comply, and submit, and stand for nothing. But, thankfully, there is always a remnant that has not yet bowed the knee. In this 79 page book, Christian pastor, author, and patriot, Gordan Runyan brings his conversational, often humorous style and characteristic clarity to bear on these issues. The reader will feel both challenged and encouraged to stand up for true liberty. The first section of the book is a close examination of the controversial text of Romans 13:1-7, which many have used to teach unconditional obedience to tyrants and despots. Is that what it really says? This commentary on Romans may surprise you. In the next section, common objections to the concept of resisting wicked government are answered. (e.g. Shouldn't we give Caesar what is Caesar's? Shouldn't Christians avoid entanglement in politics?) Finally, "Resistance to Tyrants: Romans 13 and the Christian Duty to Oppose Wicked Rulers" concludes that Christian resistance ought to be recognizably Christian in nature. Not bloodthirsty, or vicious, etc. He gives some suggestions for Christians who want to fight wicked government in the here-and-now, which a lot of Romans 13 commentaries are content to avoid discussing. This book is a joyful volley against the walls of the God-hating establishment, from Happy Siege. Arm yourself with the truth of the Word of God. Join the Resistance.