Living in a society that was founded on religious freedom
has its challenges. You wouldn’t think
that would be the case, but it is. In
the beginning in America it wasn’t so much of a problem, because towns were
often built on a uniformity of belief and action. In later years, if you held different views
you moved on to where you fit in or to where no one cared what you believed.
Today, we find ourselves in a vastly different situation. We have an overly powerful and intrusive
Federal government that seeks to legislate away our individual rights,
especially in the arena of religious liberty.
Even at state government levels the same problem is occurring. Consider this. In
several court cases, private business owners who were asked to violate their
religious beliefs by providing abortion insurance and services, etc. were
charged and found guilty of criminal conduct.
I expect that soon, church pastors will be required to perform gay
marriages and not preach against accepting the gay lifestyle as correct (remember,
as I’ve said many times before, I am not calling for anyone to reject gays, but
to instead love them, befriend them and be concerned for them.). This kind of religious coercion is
fundamentally against the principles of our government’s founders. Even with 80 or 90 percent of Americans
saying this is wrong, it still goes on, and it will only get worse
Most of these challenges are being directed at Christians in
America and around the world. Most
surveys show that Christianity has become more of an extracurricular activity rather
than a central guide to life, and as such it has also now become one of the
most persecuted religions in the world.
Christianity has gone from something that was respected, to something
that is irrelevant to life, and now to something that is considered dangerous
by those wielding power in our country.
Worldwide some 70 to 90% of all religious persecution is directed at
Christians.
Jesus said that we will be “hated by all nations for my name’s
sake,” so none of this should come as a surprised to anyone. We are going through another one of
civilization’s downward cycles, just like the Jews did throughout the Old Testament
and so many countries have done in more modern times. The Jews became tolerant of other religious
practices to the point that they allowed and embraced sexual immorality and even
child sacrifice as part of their accepted religious life. They tossed out God’s laws. Do you see the
parallels in our country? When guys like
Richard Dawkins can write that “religion is the root of all evil and… must be
expunged from society” and be cheered for his stand, we are at a tipping point. Sadly, he does not stand alone in his
activism.
Certainly we can change all this in America with vigorous
political activism from all the Christian community, but will it come? Will we just cower instead in the corner as
so many societies have done in the past?
Edmund Burke once said “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil
is for good men to do nothing.”
I leave you with the words of Catholic Cardinal Francis
George of Chicago in 2010…"I expect to die in bed, my successor will die
in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His
successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild
civilization, as the church has done so often in human history."
Do we really want to go this route?
Couldn't agree more.
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