The greatest evils in human history were a direct result of blind obedience, & many of the most virtuous acts in human history came from those willing to disobey authority no matter the cost.
Much of the western world claims to worship a man who disobeyed authority & was killed for it, & somehow they still don't get it. They don't even know their own God.
Corinthians 15:
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
Critical question: obedience to whom? The authority on the local stage in spacetime can be very wrong, but the Author of spacetime is eternally correct. Natural law is above the laws of kings and governors. Sometimes, to obey the higher is to disobey the lower.
We are social creatures so we tend to personify most complex systems. But it's not always helpful to personify God/reality. I don't think it makes sense to refer to God as an authority. An infinite, ever-present system that gave rise to all that is, & contains all power & knowledge that exists, isn't really an authority.
I think the reoccuring idea that it is "wrong" to draw or to speak the name of God may be rooted in an effort to keep people from mentally shrinking God down to a dude in the clouds & misunderstanding everything as a result. And also why there are so many names. People were trying to describe or reference the laws or root of an infinitely complex existence, while others who miss the point entirely "follow the letter of the law" rather than the spirit of the meaning, by seeking to punish or chastise people for using God's name in vain or drawing God or whatever.
The point of my post is that there is nothing but natural law (God's law). These natural laws exist in the social realm just as they do in the physical realm. People can work to deny morality (natural law) in the social realm, but there is no way to eliminate the consequences or costs of such a denial of reality. Costs can be shifted around, but they are conserved & nearly always magnified by a sort of friction in the cost shifting process. There is no authority needed, the laws are just always there, always working. People whose actions deny these laws simply make life worse for themselves &/or others. They move humanity away from God, & thus away from heaven & toward hell.
God's law (reality) is the only authority & all human authority is illegitimate except to the degree that it teaches God's law. Only through the recognition of individual rights (recognizing the individual as prime) & refusing to violate those rights can men achieve any legitimate authority. All aggressive, violent, &/or coercive human authority is illegitimate & evil, obedience to such human authority is also evil.
What’s the point of calling natural laws God’s laws if you don’t believe in the personhood of God? This sounds like atheism with extra steps.
Whether or not there is a spiritual consciousness of some sort that you are communicating with is a separate issue. The laws are fixed, they are the body of God, not the spirit. I don't believe there is a consciousness that can change the laws of reality to help anyone. But the butterfly effect (the law of sensitive dependence on initial conditions) is real, & if there is a consciousness that can communicate with those who are willing & able to listen, then people are God's means of reshaping the world.
Followed #plebchain
