"The South did not succeed peacefully. They attacked first and forced a military solution." This is not true. They Union, by attempting to reinforce Fort Sumter, was the initial aggressor. Every Southern seceding state seceded peacefully by due process according to their respective constitutions and laws. The war was started, as "Honest" Abe declared, to preserve the revenue. The South had been subsidizing the North, both by internal taxes and by taxes collected on imports coming into Southern ports. The North was unable (or unwilling) to stand on its own feet financially. The Confederacy fought ONLY to secede, not to invade and conquer the North. Almost all the war was conducted on the soil of seceded states. Maryland's governor and members of its assembly of the secession party (the majority) were arrested by Lincoln to prevent their voting to secede and to apply for admission to the CSA. Lincoln authorized his generals to suspend habeas corpus. They responded with enthusiasm, having thousands of suspected secessionists and personal opponents imprisoned without charges, without habeas corpus. Kentucky seceded and was promptly invaded without having fired a shot at the US. A capital was established at Bowling Green, but the conquerors established an unelected (military) pseudo-legislature and state government. Other states were on the verge of seceding but the Lincoln regime acted quickly to remove the secessionists from their constitutional, legal offices and substitute impersonators in their place. The present government of the USA (the United State) is an illegitimate occupation government of a conquering power. Goes to show what Lincoln believed (as evidenced by his conduct): Shot and bayonets trump moldy old scraps of parchment. The same regime is in effect to this day. Northern Californica is not a separate state. It is a group of counties of Californica, themselves administrative subdivisions of Californica. The Confederate States of America was composed of separate states formerly of the USA. Only "West" Virginia was separated from its state, and that in violation of the US constitution.

It is the job of the supreme court to adjudicate the case before them. The supreme court is not supreme over the government or the constitution. It is supreme, within its constitutional limitations, over the lower courts established by congress, the states or their assemblies. Marshall usurped power not granted when he promulgated the doctrine that if the supreme court found a law unconstitutional it erased that law from the book. In constitutional reality it erases the law as pertains to the case immediately before them. This false doctrine has caused much harm. It has elevated the supreme court from the least of the 3 branches of the federal government to the superior. Ruling a law unconstitutional as pertains to a particular case MAY send a message to congress that if any more cases come under the same law and similar facts before the court the court will rule likewise. But maybe not. The naturally superior branch of the federal government is the president (executive). It is he who commands the guys with the guns, chains and prisons. That is why each officer who exercises enFORCEment power is required to be SWORN (or affirmed) to support the consitution. Each one is personally responsible for abiding by the constitution from which they obtain all legitimate power. The constitution, not the supreme court, is the king of America.

Jesus was dealing with a "catch" question. So He refused to answer the question, instead responding with a poser for them. Jesus did not in this passage teach us to render anything to "Caesar" (civil government). He posed the LAWYERS a choice: Render to Caesar, or render to God. Render to Caesar that which is Caesar's, and UNTO GOD that which is His. The earth is the LORD's (the Eternal's) and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. That is, EVERYTHING belongs to its Creator! "Caesar" belongs to God! Everything "Caesar" has is God's. Jesus knew what was in their wicked hearts: "We have no king but Caesar!" they shouted to Pilate, chief revenue officer of Rome for Judea. So, if Caesar is your king, render to him what is his (in your view). And, if GOD is your King, render to Him what is His! Apostle Paul taught that for expediency's sake Christians should pay tribute that is levied upon them. After all, the civil authorities do punish the doers of evil and praise the doers of righteousness...a lot of the time. They protect society in general from utter lawlessness and disorder. They even occasionally give a little praise to the righteous. Yet by rights Christians, the people of the LORD, owe "Caesar" NOTHING...but the respect due all men as fellows created in the image of the living God. Jesus taught that the "children of the king" do not pay tribute. Only "foreigners" are put to the yoke and compelled to pay tribute to their master. When Jesus and His company were entering Capernaum, Peter, as usual, was out in front. The revenue assessors asked him, "Does your Master pay the tribute?" Peter, as usual, spoke before thinking, and "self-assessed" both himself and his Master, Jesus, for the tax. When they entered the house [where Jesus was staying] Jesus took him aside and asked him, "From whom do the kings of the earth exact tribute? From their own sons, or from strangers?" Peter answered, "From strangers." Jesus replied, "Then are the children FREE. Nevertheless [Peter had already VOLUNTEERED himself and Jesus to pay the tax], that we not offend them, go to the sea and catch a fish. In its belly you will find a coin sufficient to pay the tax for Me and thee." Notice that Jesus did not pay any tribute for the rest of His company, but only for Himself and loudmouth Peter. The other 11 (or perhaps more, as Jesus commonly had a considerable retinue of floowers, both men and women) paid no tax. Christians today pay taxes out of expediency. As ALL we "own" is supposed to be (dedicated to) Jesus, it is Jesus' money the revenuers confiscate. If they rob us, they rob our Master. Let them answer to Him. We have more important things to be about than wrangling with the civil rulers and their gunmen over petty lucre. If we can AVOID (not EVADE) a tax peaceably, do so, as that is that much less for wicked men to do evil with. But we are not responsible to fight with robbers over money. They rob God, after all, just as they rob Him of their due service to Him. That the robber uses the money he steals to buy dope, pay prostitutes, buy lottery tickets, etc., is not our responsibility as we do not volunteer the loot to him. He takes it by threat of violence, duress and coercion. Next time, avoid that alley!