¨There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power?¨

Romans 13:1 ¨Obey the government, for God is the one who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power. 2 So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow. 3 For the policeman does not frighten people who are doing right; but those doing evil will always fear him. So if you don’t want to be afraid, keep the laws and you will get along well. 4 The policeman is sent by God to help you. But if you are doing something wrong, of course you should be afraid, for he will have you punished. He is sent by God for that very purpose. 5 Obey the laws, then, for two reasons: first, to keep from being punished, and second, just because you know you should.¨

2 Timothy 3:16 ¨All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.¨

If we take both of these scriptures as completely true and beyond question, we lose the ability to fight Hitler or dislike the President.  Is that where we are meant to be?  Martin Luther King Jr. would not say so, neither would Augustine.  Martin Luther King, in his famous "Letter from the Birmingham Jail," called on all Americans to actively but peacefully oppose laws that were morally wrong. King wrote:

"There are just laws and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that an unjust law is no law at all... One who breaks an unjust law must do it openly, lovingly...I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for law."

We have to think.  We can't just accept what we are told on the radio, church or by authority figures.  So unless we believe in the depths of our souls that Hitler was placed in power by God and disobedience meant punishment, we have to be willing, as Christians, to intelligently question scripture.