The powers and authority of leaders rests on the support of their community. In tyrannical regimes the complicity of good people is what allows horrors to take place.
But does God require the support of His people?
He does, to some extent. Nothing we do or don't do will affect His standing. But without His people supporting Him the effects He works will go unnoticed or ignored. Many people refuse to acknowledge His existence and those with faith bicker about who He really is and what He's really said.
But it is still possible to profane His name. Profaning the name in Judaism has meant for thousands of years to commit a sin public ally and attach Gods name to it to give it weight and authority and make something evil be seen as Godly.
Blessing the atomic weapons that killed innocent and unarmed women and children in WWII to me is an obvious example. Our Savior said we should love our enemies. I don't see how murder qualifies as a loving act.
Or politicians constantly invoking the name of God as they govern according to the false gospel of Ayn Rand is another example.
But invoking the name of God to justify killing His children is to me the worst profaning that can be done.
Jesus was clear that His new commandment to love one another as He loved us was to be heard and followed.
Jesus gives us specific examples of what loving our brothers and sisters looks like:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. Matthew 25:32-46
Where in scripture does Christ offer justification for killing? When in His life did He ever take a life? He healed a soldier Peter had injured when He was arrested and taken to be beaten and crucified.
Jesus prayed for God to forgive the men who beat and crucified Him. He did not pray for retribution.
This is what He said of retribution:
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Matthew 5:38-39
Gandhi and Dr.King understood this teaching to be both literal and metaphorical. That understanding is where the tactics of non-violent resistance sprang from.
It speaks volumes about Hesus that though His home was under Roman occupation He never took a life in the name of a God, rather Ge gave His life in the name of God and glorified His name rather than profaned His name.
