What does Romans 13 actually say?

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist were instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what has been appointed by God, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is right, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must also be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, and honor to whom honor is owed.

That's the first part of the thirteenth chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans. Some part of it is always quoted to me when I bring up the issue of nonviolence. I would like to make two points in response.

First, a servant isn't greater than his master. Nothing Paul says here or anywhere else -- or more correctly, no interpretation of anything Paul says here or anywhere else -- nullifies the words of Jesus Christ. You don't get to throw out the Sermon on the Mount because you like your version of Paul better.

Second, just look at the text above. Nothing there says anything about Christians taking up arms. Notice that Paul is writing to Christians about rulers and their people. Put another way, he writes to people in the second person, and about people in the third. There are two different groups of people here.

This isn't just an academic question for me. One of my brothers is a deputy, and he's married to the head parole officer in their county. I'm proud of my brother and sister-in-law, and I love them both very much, but we disagree on this. For their sakes I hope I'm wrong.