SS1 CRS
2nd Term
CIVIC
RESPONSIBILITY
Responsibility simply means Duty. One’s
responsibility is what one must do or take blame for if anything goes wrong.
Life is full of responsibilities some of which are private and others public.
Whereas private responsibilities are duties one owes oneself, public or civic
responsibilities are duties one owes one’s community or state. Civic
responsibilities include the following: (1)Obedience
to law and order (2) Payment of
taxes (3)Prevention of crime (4)Environmental sanitation
Need
for order in the society
1.
(1)Sustainable
progress: the society needs orderliness for them to be able to sustain each
level of progress they have attained, and forge ahead.
2.
(2)Security:
people that live in a well ordered society have little or no fears of damages
to lives or properties.
3.
(3)Peace: the
society needs peace, and there cannot be peace where there is disorder. Thus,
the society needs orderliness for peace to reign.
4.
(4)Continuity:
a disordered society cannot be sure of continuity, but a well ordered society
is sure of continuity.
5.
(5)Values:
orderliness in a society reflects the society’s value system, thus the society
needs orderliness to enable new members of the society to appreciate their
values.
Submission
to those in authority (Rom 13:1-7)
All powers belong to God. Thus, even the power
of the secular government comes from God, and therefore deserves our respect.
Those in authority are there to maintain peace and order. It is the enemies of
the people that should be afraid of those in authority, not believers. Thus,
believers should not resist the government in its God-given duty. Whoever
resists the authorities resists God, and such person will face the consequence.
As far as you are good and law abiding, you should have no problem with those
in authority. Thus, we are encouraged as good Christians, to be law-abiding,
and pay our taxes and other dues.
People in
authority are to serve with the fear of God for the following reasons:
1. (1)To acquire wisdom: Leadership requires
wisdom, and the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
2. (2)To retain power: A person in authority
that lacks the fear of God cannot remain in power for long because all power
belongs to God who can bring down one and raise another. God gives power to
whomsoever he pleases. So, when a person
in authority is ruling against the will of God, he will be removed from power
and replaced by another person who will do God’s will. Hence, the people in authority
are to serve with the fear of God so that they would not be disgracefully
overthrown.
3. (3)To earn the people’s obedience: civil
disobedience is likely to occur when the people perceive that their rulers are
ruling against the will of God.
4. (4)To align legality to morality:
morality is based on the fear of God, so any state law that is contrary to the
will of God will be seen by the people as an immoral law, and they may refuse
to obey it.
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