Hello, bro,
Far be it from me to claim to have all the answers, but as your friend and brother I am beyond happy to discuss any and all of this with you as transparently as I can.
Trying to be as open as possible, I would have to say that those two passages (Ro. 13, 1 Pe. 2) are probably the most apparently problematic. And I do intend to continue from time to time publishing articles in an attempt to "unpack" Ro. 13 a little bit better. I struggle with those who seem to want to simply point at those passages as if they are some kind of "open and shut" case refuting everything else the bible has to say about governments.
However, I've already "crossed the divide" in the sense that I am persuaded that, whatever those two passages truly mean or are trying to teach us, they are not teaching the most widely promulgated view of reverence for and submission to human government as we presently know it.
I view the bible as a sort of holographic body of literature, and expect it to be, at the most fundamental level, consistent in its message. There is just too much else in scripture, a preponderance of evidence, to allow me to accept the simplistic "obey your leaders" superficial understanding of those two very isolated passages.
Thanks for your gracious response to my comment.
Ever since I studied at a Presbyterian school, my respect for the whole bible has skyrocketed. I agree, only looking at these passages, or any others in Scripture for that matter, as a simplistic do this because is not being a Berean.
We'll keep talking. :)