Obey God, Not Men: Marijuana Speech #4

Speech to the Josephine County Commissioners, 06/10/09.

I continue my dissertations on the Bible and substance prohibitions in support of  A Resolution Regarding Marijuana with the civil disobedience of Jesus and his apostles:

Jesus was not known for obeying the Law:  he openly worked on the Sabbath, both to heal others and to feed himself; and he sometimes ate with unwashed hands, and argued when anyone pointed either out.  His point was not that it is not good to rest or to wash, but that it is not a proper subject of law; that major laws, like not paying tribute to foreign kings and gods, were being ignored while minor matters of holy days and hygiene were being harshly punished.  When he beat the moneychangers out of the Temple, he had been proclaimed the King of the Jews just days before, and was acting on that authority—which was not challenged.

After Jesus was executed by the Romans, Peter and the apostles laid low for a while, but then started preaching the resurrection and continuing kingship of Jesus the Christ.  The Pharisees arrested them repeatedly and told them to stop.  “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.’” (Acts 5:29) 

Once Saul stopped killing Christians and changed his name to Paul, he was arrested many times for blasphemy, and either escaped or talked his way out of captivity.  But in the end, the Romans killed him, too, just as they killed Peter, most of the apostles, and thousands of less famous Christians, for refusal to pay tribute to Rome.

In Romans 13:1-7, Paul tells us to obey the governing authorities.  But he says that rulers are not a terror to good works, and to give honor to whom honor is due.  It would not do to obey and give honor and tribute to so-called “rulers” like Hitler, Stalin, or Caesar.

In Romans 8-10, he says, “Owe no one any thing except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.  For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.” 

In Arizona, I was arrested, convicted, and imprisoned for loving my neighbors; our government is a terror to good works like growing and sharing good herb.  I was not accused of harming anyone, just peaceful cultivation and commerce; my neighbors were glad to be able to buy their medicine.  In Grants Pass, some women filed false reports that I gave them pot cookies at my protest, without telling them that there was pot in them.

Those women were facing trouble with the same set of bad laws; in trying to avoid punishment and losing their children, they committed a real crime, perjury: bearing false witness, for which they were not punished.  Good laws are broken to enforce bad laws.

Rycke Brown, Natural Gardener         541-955-9040         rycke@gardener.com