Is religious liberty threatened with extinction? Many believe it is! Those who wage war on this cherished constitutional freedom are advancing new strategies that threaten much more than freedom of worship or prayer in the public sector. While eliminating God and religion from the public arena was the original objective, the current objective is to aggressively force institutions and people to adhere to an anti-God, anti-Christian set of rules and values.
Does this sound extreme? Here are some facts that might persuade you:
During the last Democratic debate, former presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke brazenly declared that he believes churches and other religious institutions that oppose same-sex marriage should lose their tax-exempt status. Such a policy would be a direct threat to every believing church in our country. Yet, Beto’s threat pales in comparison to what is actually being forced on parents and children by governing officials making decisions regarding public education:
Despite overwhelming opposition, Austin, Texas, just adopted a new sex-education curriculum advocating viewpoints that are in direct conflict with the values of many parents and people of faith. (New Jersey, Illinois and California have also passed similar legislation.)
The Board of Education in Orange County—historically one of the more conservative counties in California—issued an opinion declaring that “parents who disagree with the instructional materials related to gender, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, may not excuse their children from this instruction.”
Even private schools, which, in the past, had largely escaped being targeted, are now increasingly under attack:
In Indiana, a Catholic archbishop was sued by a teacher , because he had directed the Catholic schools within his diocese to not employ teachers in same-sex marriages given that it would undermine the Catholic view of and teachings on marriage.
And the battle is not limited to churches and schools. You’ve likely heard about the recent case that caught national attention for its extreme controversy regarding the violation of parental rights:
A Dallas jury ruled that a father could not prevent his former wife from transitioning their 7-year-old son into a female by requiring him to dress as a female and go by a female name. Fortunately, that decision was judicially overruled, but the momentary defeat and loss of rights, the thousands of petition signatures from concerned citizens, and investigation from the state’s governing leaders on behalf of the father’s parental rights, should surely be a wake-up call to parents in Texas and across the nation!
Earlier this year, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) took an oppositional stand against orthodox Christianity by passing a resolution that boldly stated, ” Those most loudly claiming that morals, values, and patriotism must be defined by their particular religious views have used those religious views, with misplaced claims of ‘religious liberty’, to justify public policy that has threatened the civil rights and liberties of many Americans, including but not limited to the LGBT community, women, and ethnic and religious/nonreligious minorities …”
While anti-traditional and anti-Christian views have long been advanced by our media, entertainment industry, and academia, it was not until recent times that these views gained the endorsement and active support of many in government , even in our most conservative states. (Note that three of the accounts mentioned above occurred in Texas, a state known for its conservative leadership.) Please do not miss this critically important fact: our government, in countless instances, has joined forces with powerful institutions that are actively undermining our freedom to live according to our religious convictions. Not insignificantly, the press is the very institution intended by our Founders to hold government accountable to ” we the people .”
The government and these institutions are exerting control over our messaging, our education, and our entertainment. (In non-democratic governments, this is called a “state-sponsored press” and it produces what is known as “propaganda.”) Collectively, these establishments have the means, and, judging by the cases above, the will, to radically transform America. Their vision for our country is not that of our Founding Fathers, who labored tirelessly to give us a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”, where individual freedoms—not the least of which is religious liberty—are paramount. In short, this unholy alliance has facilitated a concentration of power that is wholly unconstitutional.
There is one institution that has thus far resisted falling under the demands of this powerful alliance: the Church. It is not surprising, then, that the Church is now increasingly being labeled “dangerous.” The Church is dangerous, but not in the way those in power would have you believe. It is dangerous to the progressive agenda that aims to force it, and other institutions, to discard biblical values. These values pose a danger to the otherwise unmitigated selfish and sinful nature of all human beings. It is for this reason, among many others, that the Church is worth defending.
In its healthiest state, the Church can and does change society for the better! It gives hope to the hopeless, rest for the weary, food for the hungry, and a system of values and beliefs that make the whole world a much safer, happier, and better place for EVERYONE.
The fight for religious freedom began with our Founding Fathers, but it continues to this day. The will of the people can prevail, but only if we speak while we still have the freedom to do so. Pay attention, be the voice in your sphere of influence, and do your part to elect governing officials who will defend our constitutional freedoms and appoint judges who will do the same. This is the only way we will preserve our Founders’ vision for a country where we can freely worship, freely speak, and live according to our spiritual convictions. Would you help us by pledging to invite your non-voting friends to be salt and light in the upcoming elections?
Make the difference with your vote!
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