Civil Disobedience Needed

Catholic League president William Donohue issued the following call to action to California public school teachers:

"Now that U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton has said he would sign a restraining order banning the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in some California school districts, the time has come for patriotic teachers in those schools to practice civil disobedience. They need to lead their students in the Pledge, bellowing the dreaded words ‘under God.' But nothing should be done until the television cameras are in place—the sight of teachers being handcuffed by the police would be an invaluable teaching moment.
"Settling this issue in court is fine, but it is inadequate: it's time to shock the conscience of the nation by bringing this matter directly into their living rooms."


My question to all of you is this: Are we called as Christians to ever practice civil disobedience?

1 comment:

Shaun Pierce said...

Sean: you have a great point. But where do we draw the line? Are we not called to submit to authority?

I know we are not to go against the word of God, but this case is not as clear. Should we have burst in to save Terri Schavio, do we force women to give birth that do not want to, do we tell our children not not obey the rules when they recite the pledge of alliegnce in school? How do we deal with all these issues?