Scott Tibbs
A simplistic "question" and a political agenda
By Scott Tibbs, January 17, 2022
Were the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto justified in violent resistance against the Nazis trying to exterminate them? I would hope that the vast majority of people would say "yes." When the government is openly trying to wipe out an entire ethnic group, rounding them up and sending them to camps for extermination, that ethnic group has the God-given right and responsibility to defend itself against the butchers.
This really should not be a partisan issue, but the legacy media is trying to use the question - completely detached from American history and basic human rights - as a political wedge against Republicans. That is why the
Washington Post was
trying to alarm people about how "dangerous" Republicans support political violence. For the last year, this has been the primary political weapon Democrats and the legacy media have tried to use against Republicans: That we are dangerous, violent extremists.
But no one with any sense would say that violence against the government is
never justified. The question is not whether violence can ever be justifiable, but under what circumstances violence is morally justified. In fact, this nation was founded on violent resistance against the civil government. Had our Founding Fathers not been willing to go to war with the British Empire to secure our independence, this nation would not exist at all. The very freedom of the press that the
Washington Post used to push this simplistic poll was secured by the fact that the colonists spilled the blood of the British army.
Not only that, but today we honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., a man who engaged in non-violent civil disobedience himself and led others to do the same. Had Dr. King not been willing to break the unjust "Jim Crow" laws mandating racial segregation, ending that unjust system would have been a much slower process. The law is not and has never been something we should always obey without question.
So how do we determine when civil disobedience and even violence is justified? That is a complex question, and the answer to that question could fill many books. Some examples, like the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto defending themselves against the occupying Nazi army, are easy to answer. Other examples are clearly wrong, and others are in more of a gray area. Such things must be thoughtfully considered and with a great deal of prayer and counsel from wise people.
The vast majority of the time, those who bypass the normal political process and engage in political violence are not justified. As I said a year ago, January 6 was
a sad and embarrassing day for America. This breaks not only man's law, but the commandment of Scripture to honor the civil authority God has placed over us. This does not mean we cannot use our free speech rights and our votes to hold politicians accountable, of course, but it does mean that our basic orientation should be one of respect and obedience.
a sad and embarrassing day for America.
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