John Stonestreet interviews Dr. Alveda King and Father Frank Pavone on the Christian duty of civil disobedience, and how the time has likely come.

Listen Now | Download

The Bible tells us we should respect those in authority, including government. But there's a caveat: when such government places ungodly demands upon us. The HHS mandate fits that description. During this week's broadcast, you'll hear from Dr. Alveda King and Father Frank Pavone, as they explain the role civil disobedience plays in times like these.

The phrase "civil disobedience" can evoke images of the 1960s. You might think of riots of anarchy. But in fact, it can be handled with respect and sobriety. And it should be, when circumstances demand it. John Stonestreet and guests discuss that issue today.

Dr. Alveda King, whose father, Reverend A. D. King, and uncle, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the civil rights movement, knows what it means to disobey the government for a righteous cause. Having spent time in jail herself, and watched both her father and uncle lay down their lives for their cause, she understands that disobeying the ruling authorities and standing against the tide of culture can be very costly.

This kind of enterprise should only be undertaken, she believes, when conscience absolutely demands it. And as an avid pro-life activist and founder of King for America, she also feels that such circumstances outlived the Civil Rights movement. They challenge us today. None more so than the HHS mandate which recently went into effect.

As our second guest this week, Father Frank Pavone, argues, this edict is so serious because it not only protects actions in which Christian consciences cannot partake, but demands that we violate our cherished beliefs. Father Pavone, whose organization, Priests for Life, made headlines earlier this month when it announced plans to violate the HHS mandate, sees no solution but civil disobedience. By dispensing abortion-inducing drugs in compliance with the new healthcare law, Christians employers would be taking part in something God abhors.


"This," says Father Pavone, "was not a difficult decision to make." As Chuck Colson warned in the summer of 2010, the time for Christians to obey God rather than man has arrived. Caesar has demanded something to which he has no right: our religious freedom and deepest convictions before God.

And in the words of the Manhattan Declaration, which first stirred controversy with its hint of civil disobedience several years ago, "...we will continue rendering ungrudgingly to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. But under no circumstances will we render unto Caesar what belongs to God."

Listen to the rest of this week's broadcast for specific ways you can exercise civil disobedhttp://www.thepointradio.org/point-login/point-user-blogs/edit/czoyOiIxNSI7/czo1OiIyMDEwMiI7ience when you are called upon to do so.

---

Learn More...

We Will Disobey The HHS Mandate
Priests for Life | August 01, 2012

Civil Disobedience and Christians
Chuck Colson | Two-Minute Warning | July 20, 2010

Civil Disobedience
John Stonestreet | The Point Radio | August 17, 2012

Then and There, Here and Now: Standing for Christ before a Hostile Age
T. M. Moore | Christian Worldview Journal | August 19, 2012

Opposing Caesar: Gearing-up for the Conflict of Worldviews
T. M. Moore | ViewPoint

A Time to Resist
T. M. Moore | BreakPoint | July 07, 2009

Christian Patriotism: When is Civil Disobedience Justified?
Chuck Colson | BreakPoint | June 05, 2007

The Objections of Conscience
Patrick Henry Reardon | Touchstone