Ethical Dilemmas: Submission to Authority

I Have Issues . . . 

But let me preface them with two quick reads of scripture. I will quote from them, but you will have to read the entire texts yourself. I can't do everything for you, you know.

Read Romans 13:1-6. . .   . . . in which St. Paul writes about submission to the authorities. [I'm using the NIV by the way.] This has been for some time an astounding text to me, because I'm pretty sure that St. Paul is writing to Christians in Rome who are beginning to feel the early sting of Nero's persecutions. If not, Nero, it was an earlier Roman emperor who has begun to establish the cult of emperor worship, which of course will lead Christ-professing Christians to be seen as traitors to the state & legitimate targets of persecution. 
          Yet St. Paul is bold to write, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God (v.1)." He continues in v. 5 to say, "Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience." And he ends this section by writing, "This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him:  If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor." (vv. 6-7). [emphasis added]

Now read 1 Peter 2:13-17. . .  . . . in which it's St. Peter's turn to write about submission to rulers & masters. If scholars are correct in attributing this epistle to this apostles & dating it's writing correctly--& I am confident in these scholars--St. Peter was definitely writing to Christians under persecution, almost certainly by Nero. What does St. Peter have to say? Well, he starts off in v. 13 by saying, "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men . . . " & concludes his thought in v. 15:  "For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men." Then he caps this section by writing, "Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone:  Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king." [once again, emphasis added]

So (finally) here are my issues. *
*Bet you thought I forgot!

• Our President has professed to be a Christian; or maybe I should say, at least one of his apologists has written that there is no doubt that he is a believer in Jesus as his Lord & Savior. We are warned in Scripture not to judge what's in the heart of a man, lest we be judged by the same measure. I think in other posts I've noted that I cringe when I see & hear others question our President's Christian faith.
• He attended a Christian church in Chicago for many years, although his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has been documented to have said some outrageously hateful things about America. It seems logical to me that if you attend a church regularly & listen to hate speech regularly, you can't help but be influenced by this type of theology. Then again, see my previous comment.
• When Rev. Wright's controversial statements because public knowledge, President Obama quickly distanced himself from his church & pastor. That bothered me at the time & still bothers me, because this action seems a matter of politics, not principles, with the emphasis being on seems.
• President Obama has aggressively advocated a reaching out to Iran, a radically Islamic regime & sponsor of radical Islamic terrorist groups. His current promotion of a treaty that is arguably a huge benefit to this regime while rendering few if any benefits to either our country or our allies is mystifying to me. [SEE my most recent Political TUE blog post.]
• He has repeatedly spoken out on behalf of the Islamic faith, assuring the whole world of its peaceful intent, even going so far as to greet them & congratulate them in their own tongue.
• He has repeatedly refused to acknowledge ISIS as an Islamic-theological phenomena, despite their repeated claims that they are fueled by their desire to do the will of their God.
• While he has seemed to go out of his way to praise the Muslim faith, I recall little to no outrage on his behalf, at least not consistent, expressed toward the horrific persecution & atrocities perpetrated against our Christian brothers & sisters--HIS Christian brothers & sisters--by ISIS & other Islamic regimes.
• When criticism arises against actions perpetrated by "so-called" Islamic groups, he is quick to bring up actions by Christians--committed against Muslims in the Crusades CENTURIES AGO! [I could go on about his shallow grasp of the two-sided nature of atrocities committed during that period of history for which I've heard few if any Christians proclaim their pride, but I sense that I am losing control of this entry.]

Put all of these things together, and I am baffled. I mean, really, really baffled, perplexed, and bewildered. Not to put too fine a point on it, I HAVE ISSUES! My conscience becomes greatly bothered at times, because we are encouraged, no, commanded by two apostles, speaking by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to respect & honor authorities . . . those authorities having been put over us BY GOD. And I see no caveat excusing us from honoring & respecting those authorities whose policies we cannot abide. [Well, policies I cannot abide.]

And, by the way, should not abide, right? "We ought to obey God, rather than man." [Sorry, you'll have to look up that reference yourself. I'm growing wear, as are you, I suspect.] Isn't our duty to take a fellow Christian to task when his behavior clearly falls outside God's boundaries? [There I go again, making a judgment call & skating on thin theological ice.]

Or am I working too hard to find specks in the eyes of others when there are plenty of beams that I could & should be attending to in my own eyes? [Yet another reference you will have to search out yourself.]

Concluding issue:  [I know. What a relief, eh?] I thoroughly, probably all too thoroughly, enjoy taking this President to task for his seemingly hypocritical stance toward Islam, [keyy word "seemingly"] especially serving as an apologist for a faith that leads to damnation--a contradiction of his own professed Christian faith. I want to take my God-given responsibilities seriously, but my dilemma would seem to hamper at least a fair amount of my musings in my Political Tuesday ramblings & elsewhere. Right? How to go about offering criticism while still offering Christian honor & respect to my President.*
* And don't give me any of that "He's not MY President crap. Sorry.

I'm not--at least I hope I'm not merely looking for validation. I'm looking for insight, commentary . . . I'm looking for HELP!

Thank you. Thank you very much.