Resisting tyranny

i) I think some Christian Americans suffer from too much defeatism in light of the Obama era. But Christian Americans still have tremendous political resources at our disposal. We've barely begun to fight back. We've barely begun to mobilize our legal and political assets. Christians in America greatly outnumber of the power elite. Defeatism can be a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom. 

There's too much talk about the church going into "exile." Or "God has removed his hand of blessing from America." 

That's presumptuous. We don't know what the future holds. This is not a time to be either optimistic or pessimistic. We don't know how events will turn out. We just need to do what we can every day–day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. 

Whether or not God has removed his hand of blessing from America is hardly something we're in a position to say. Maybe his hand of blessing was never on America. Or, more likely, maybe his hand of blessing was always selective. God blesses individuals–not indiscriminate collectives. 

Having said that, let's consider how Christians can or should respond to a worse-case scenario. Depending on the situation, there are different models of resistance to tyranny. Degrees of resistance to tyranny. Let's consider a few. 

ii) For a long time there was a standoff between Jews and Romans. The Jews were too weak to be politically dominant, but too strong to be easily subdued. The Romans had to put up with the Jews. Accommodate the Jews. So Jews enjoyed a measure of semi-autonomy in the Roman Empire. 

They were too belligerent to subjugate. The effort to do so would be too costly in terms of Roman manpower. So long as Jews didn't revolt against the overlords, Roman officials tolerated Jewish identity and the exercise of their religion. 

We have a similar example after the dust settled on the Reformation. Initially, European monarchs tried to impose religious uniformity on their subjects, in the belief that religious diversity was too politically unstable. However, the very effort to suppress religious diversity destabilized their nations. It provoked civil war. Destroyed national economies.

As a result, some European monarchs relented. Accommodated different religious groups. Instituted civil tolerance of religious diversity. 

iii) In Nazi Germany, some Christians openly dissented. They typically died in concentration camps. Classic martyrdom. Heroic virtue.

iv) During WWII, you had Christians who sheltered Jews. Cori ten Boom's family is the most famous case, but hardly the only one.

Rather than open dissent, this was quiet, low-profile resistance. It didn't publicly confront the evil regime. Rather, it defied the regime by silent, private actions to the contrary. 

And it required the complicity of neighbors. The neighbors were aware of what the ten Boom family was doing. But they didn't rat them out. Even if the neighbors weren't sheltering Jews, they cooperated with the ten Boom family by keeping a secret.

v) Compulsory membership in the Nazi party or Hitler Youth was paradoxical. The problem with compulsory membership is that it dilutes ideological commitment. People belong, not because they believe, but because they have no realistic choice. (And of course, many volunteered simply for the social benefits.)

Due to compulsory membership, you had "Christian Nazis." There were two kinds of "Christian Nazis":

a) Zealous Nazis who were nominal Christians

b) Zealous Christians who were nominal Nazis

There were undoubtedly some devout Christians who were technically Nazis. Who worked for the Nazi regime. But in effect they functioned as double agents.

They were secretly opposed to Nazi ideology and Nazi policies. And there were a multitude of modest, unobtrusive ways they could counter the regime. Just by practicing Christian virtues like honestly and kindness. Or by letting Jews slip through the sieve. For instance:

As one of the OSS’s most experienced operatives, this first SEAL planned and executed a parachute mission deep into the Third Reich in the fall of 1944. After Taylor and his team were captured far behind German lines in Austria, he found himself with other high-level prisoners in Gestapo headquarters in Vienna. 

During Taylor’s arrest, the officers twisted his arm backward until the cartilage and tendons in the elbow joint were “torn loose.” It took five weeks for him to be able to move his arm enough to button his pants. Despite the pain, Taylor and his fellow prisoners brought a ray of humanity and Christmas spirit into their spartan cells. They obtained a small wreath and candles from a guard who was a former police officer and secretly opposed the Nazis. 

www.nationalreview.com/article/395352/christmas-americas-first-seal-gestapo-prison-patrick-k-odonnell

If you have enough people inside the system who oppose the system, that's a very insidious. They can weaken the system from within. Indeed, the "enemy within" can damage the system ways an external adversaries cannot. 

vi) A final example is how the Chinese underground church has managed, not only to survive, but thrive despite existing in a police state, despite suffering official persecution. God can cause roses to bloom in the desert.

Resisting tyranny takes many creative forms, both large and small.