day no. 17,260: the only difference between Caesar salad and garbage is timing

"Caesar is as much under authority as we are. He has no authority to touch certain things because he is God’s deacon. This means that Jesus is Lord and Caesar isn’t. Caesar is Caesar, but Caesar too is created in the image of God. That means that he must render to God the things that are God’s." — Douglas Wilson, Paul, The Faithful Roman

We are commanded to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's (Matthew 22:21), but presupposed in that command is the fact that all things do not belong to Caesar. So, if Caesar begins to act as though all things are his, it is our duty to remind him of his error and oppose him if he is unwilling to hear.

Caesar is a created being. As such, he is under authority. He is not just in charge, he is under a charge. He is the kind of boss who has a boss. No earthly authority is absolute. Civil magistrates, husbands, fathers, mothers, and masters all have a representative head. They are given the privilege of occupying a lower office because there is a higher office. There is a Maker, Creator, Sustainer, Husband, Father, and Master. And He has deputized some to stand in His stead and act under His authority. 

But if and when they step outside their assigned jurisdiction, they are breaking the law. If they attempt to make a law that goes beyond their authority, it is the duty of those under them to disobey. They are not required to join them in their rebellion against their Lord and Master. If your leaders attempt a mutiny against their leader, you are not a traitor if you refuse to join them, you are a traitor if you do. You are not obligated to participate in someone else's treason, and if you do, you are as guilty as they are. You will not be exonerated by saying, "I was merely following orders." There is a kind of following orders that is disobedience. Obedience is not inherently blessed. It all depends on who is asking and what they are asking you to do. If you do whatever anyone tells you, it is not a feather in your cap, it is a flaw in your character.

"The rescue of drowning men is, then, a duty worth dying for, but not worth living for. It seems to me that all political duties (among which I include military duties) are of this kind. A man may have to die for our country, but no man must, in any exclusive sense, live for his country. He who surrenders himself without reservation to the temporal claims of a nation, or a party, or a class is rendering to Caesar that which, of all things, most emphatically belongs to God: himself.” ― C.S. Lewis, Learning in Wartime (The Weight of Glory)

The only difference between a Caesar salad and garbage is timing, and the difference between obeying Caesar and disobeying him is jurisdiction. Caesar salads can and do go bad, but they are not bad at the right time and in the right place. So, if something smells fishy, it is either because you don't like anchovies, which is a you problem (addressed by developing your palate) or the anchovies have turned, which is also a you problem, but handled very differently (e.g. tossing it out).