But Locke’s right of revolution comes from God and the natural law, not the bbl of a gun. While the visible effect is the same, Mao was purely worldly; Locke and the American revolutionaries were seriously concerned with legitimating and justifying the revolution in light of scriptural commands to obey the authorities because they are annointed by God.
Can you show me one historical example where the assertion of a revolution, without (at least) the threat of force, was successful in securing the political objective?
(Just for a moment, let’s leave out the Exodus from Egypt. Somehow I don’t think God holds the same favor for us that He did for Israel.)