It cannot be true of GOD to say to obey civil authorities and then in the next breath say the civil authorities are wrong to obey.
Did you miss me saying that obeying the government is a general rule of thumb? Because that's the only thing I can think of that would cause your confusion, apart from willful ignorance of what the Bible says...
If the civil law concerning adultery (don't stone them) is against the Mosaic law, and therefore you should be obeying the Mosaic law of adultery because it is moral and the civil law is not moral; then you should be stoning adulterers.
I shouldn't be doing ANYTHING in regards to punishing criminals, because
I don't have that authority. I leave that to the government, because that is its proper role in society.
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. - Romans 12:19
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans12:19&version=NKJV
Paul then goes on to describe how governments are appointed (no, Arty, not "chosen") by God.
So again, what's the holdup of stoning adulterers since you claim one should do the moral thing per the Mosaic law even if the civil law opposes it?
No one but the government has the right to punish criminals. (And God on Judgment day, of course, but that's a different topic.)
Therefore, while I obey the civil authorities, the government, in that I don't punish criminals, I recognize that the current laws are corrupt, and do not reflect God's law, and so I advocate that man's law be changed to reflect God's law, so that criminals are punished justly.
You cannot use the excuse of obeying the civil authorities and not stone them to death if you truly believe GOD wants you to be doing the moral thing (stoning them)
Straw man. See below.
despite what the civil law says.
God doesn't want
ME specifically (or citizens in general) to be the ones to punish criminals.
Why this is so hard for you to understand is beyond me...
So is it still your contention that we must do the moral thing (stone them)
The moral thing to do is to advocate that the government punish criminals appropriately, not that we ourselves stone the criminals.
Please stop putting up this straw man argument.
since the civil law is not the moral thing to do?
Obeying the government is the moral thing to do. Except when the government says to do something that violates God's law.
That is the standard to use.
If so, be moral and stone them to death.
NOT stoning them would be immoral, right?
You're completely missing the point.
We don't have to take it to the extreme.
Sure we do.
It's the best way to test hypotheticals.
So please, could you answer my question?
Either you are being immoral by not stoning them to death (as the civil law says), or you can be moral and stone them to death.
False dichotomy.
God says that the government should execute those who commit adultery.
The GOVERNMENT, not the civilians.
When the government does not do its rightful duty in punishing criminals appropriately, then we the people have the responsibility to commit civil disobedience.
I feel like I'm repeating myself. I shouldn't have to, this is extremely simple.
Which should you be doing now --- being moral and stoning them to death or being immoral and not stoning them to death?
False dilemma.
I shouldn't be doing anything regarding criminal justice, except for advocating that criminals be punished appropriately
by the government.
You can't use the excuse of not stoning them per the civil law if you say you must do what is moral despite what the civil law says.
Man's law can be immoral. God's law was not, is not, and never will be immoral.
In the situations where MAN'S law contradicts God's law, we disobey man's law, and follow God's law.
A tangled web they weave for themselves.
One the one hand they say one should not obey the civil law if it is not moral.
Correct.
And that stoning them to death is the moral thing to do,
Correct.
and one should do the moral thing no matter what the civil law says.
Correct.
But then they say they don't do the moral thing (stone them to death),
Correct,
BECAUSE IT'S NOT OUR RESPONSIBILITY!!! It's the responsibility of the GOVERNMENT!!!!!
but instead obey the civil law that says not to while still insisting that one must do the moral thing no matter what the civil law says.
One can both simultaneously obey some laws while criticizing others, Tam.