Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of the Press, and the right to peaceable assemble – it is a busy Amendment.
America is known for its First Amendment freedoms. Many believe that most democracies have equivalent rights, but America is the only country that guaranteed these freedoms in its Constitution (at least it did).
America was first populated with fortune-seekers and those that wished to escape religious tyranny. When the British government began to regulate (without representation in the government) the freedoms the settlers had secured for themselves, the colonists began to rebel.
While the Founders sequestered themselves away to draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, the pulpit is where those ideas were shared with the country.
Christianity was the dominant religion and was a strong influence on the founders and the documents they draft, but they, unlike most every nation, refused to establish a state religion. Individual states could (and some did), but they refrained from state-sponsored persecution of other faiths. Persecution existed (e.g., the Klan targeted Blacks and Catholics), but it was not officially endorsed and died out over time as most prejudices do.
Churches provided the first schools in America; the first hospitals; and were the mainstays of most charities. They filled the gaps left by a minimalist government.
Faith was the cornerstone of our judicial system and the moral code of the Bible was the basis for our laws. When moving to a new area, one need not worry about the laws of the land. “Do not kill [murder]”, “Do not steal”, “do not lie”, would generally still be the basis of the law in the new area.
Interpretation of religion was a problem because it was used to justify some rather wicked stuff (by today’s standards), but the faith of the Bible eventually brought about movements that would end these evils (e.g., abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, civil rights).
Christianity has an objective moral code that is in direct conflict with today’s moral relativism, which attempts to justify any behavior that contradicts God’s Law. The church was initially used to push for social change and the liberalization of the culture, but when progressives pushed their agenda too far, a backlash began. This is why the Christian church is under attack in the Western world today.
Want to kill babies so you can have unprotected sex with someone you don’t want to have children with? Forget the sixth commandment and the multitude of state laws based on this moral premise. Claim that it is a women’s health issue (approximately half the aborted children are female so not all women appear to have protected health issues) and that one life is not as important as another. This type of rationalization is how Communists got gulags, Nazis got concentration camps, and Americans got internment camps and reservations – but none dare call this evil.
It is not enough that progressives want to kill children, they want you to pay for it in America and around the world with the tax dollars they extort from you annually. Condemn the unnecessary (abortion can be necessary to save the life of the mother) slaughter of millions of children every year and you can be ostracized and cancelled. Churches can have their tax exemption revoked.
Of course, if you attend a church that is making politically-based decisions on whether they will have to pay taxes then you are probably not attending a faith-based church.
Want to have prohibited sex with children, relatives, animals and others listed in the Torah, claim that religion is an outdated construct and that “love” takes on many different forms. Then proceed to hate those that stand on an objective moral standard (don’t argue that Christians do not follow their own code. We know we can’t and don’t, that is why we embrace a savior other than ourselves or the government) and sue the denier and destroy their lives for not embracing your contrived standard.
Christians don’t brag about what goes on in their bedrooms, but progressives want Christians to applaud and energetically accept any hedonistic designs they decree to be appropriate. They teach preschoolers and other preteens that any type of sex is acceptable (oh for the day when talking about sex with minors was a criminal act) and encourage them through repetition and imagery to ignore the moral guidelines of their parents – but none dare call this evil.
Want to riot and loot? Forget the eighth commandment. Today you have a right to destroy and take from those who have more than you if you can claim you are a “protected” victim (not all victims are protected – only those that embrace progressivism) – but none dare call this evil.
Don’t want to debate ideas that contradict your own? Don’t even want to hear that there are ideas that differ from your own (“safe spaces” on campuses insulate students from ideas they don’t like – something that in no way resembles real life)? Ignore the ninth Commandment and broadcast that someone you disagree with a racist (watch the Larry Elder movie, Uncle Tom, to see how conservative blacks are even called “white supremacists”), a homophobe (not embracing the LGBT agenda, based on biblical principles, is not the same as being afraid of LGBT folks), a nazi (dumbing down education is needed to have someone believe the party of ‘limited-govt’ is the same as a totalitarian regime – while the Democrats, who insist that government should run every aspect of your life is not the same as an authoritative regime), and/or an anti-semite (CNN called Ben Shapiro, an observant Jew, an anti-semite) and deny them the opportunity to speak or even earn a living because of your false-witness. The people who complained about “black-listing” in the 1950s enthusiastically practice it today and shame those that don’t participate in its destructive agenda – but none dare call it evil.
Democrats ban words and ideas (“hate speech”) so they do not have to debate ideas. They change other words so that they do not have their millenniums-old meanings (e.g., marriage, gender, truth) so that language no longer can be used to counter ideas that they perceive are bad or even evil.
The campaign to ban Yahweh and moral objectivism is evil (speaking objectively, of course). Declaring that our rights come from government rather than from God means that government can change our rights whenever it wishes. Proclaiming that morality is relative or culturally based means nothing is ever truly good or bad – but none dare call it evil.
The lack of an objective morality is a way of saying that one can do whatever one wants, no matter the consequences. My cultural norm may be that I can rape your daughter and take your car, but without an objective code, how are you to say I can’t? Without this code, government can pass laws that legalize theft (also known as multi-trillion dollar stimulus packages that takes $14,000 for every $1400 it gives back – causing inflation which steals from every dollar saved), murder (abortion subsidies), pedophilia (progressive sex-ed programs that are being mandated in the schools).
Progressives declare that Christianity is evil, which begs the question, “By what standard?”. If there is no moral objectivity, then how is what I believe “evil”? They are against moral certainty while using it to attack their opponents.
We once believed that rational thought was good. Mathematics and logic do not exist in the physical world but the evidence of them does . . . unless you deny evidence (Seattle Public Schools Say Math is Racist). The Progressives’ protestations that an objective morality does not exists is equivalent to a blind person saying ‘color does not exist’. Their unwillingness to regard the obvious does not negate the evidence.
What is the evidence of objective morality? Most people believe that murder is wrong. Where did this idea come from? Where do we get the proposition that human life has value without a deeper belief that it is worth living? A mother cares for her infant and teaches it, over time, to fend for itself the best way she knows how. A father makes sacrifices in his life to provide for the wife and child rather than spend all his income on his needs.
I’m not talking about the exceptions, which become more prominent as we debase and prosecute faith, but the vast majority of people who consciously and subconsciously attempt to do ‘good’ because they believe that good and evil actually do exist, despite being told that there is no hereafter where we will be judged. Even atheists don’t walk around hitting people with hockey sticks or setting homes on fire because they instinctively know that this would be bad.
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) Romans 2:14-15.
Atheists and Progressives irrationally claim that whatever they do in the furtherance of social justice is allowable. What if there is a change in what is “allowable” tomorrow? Even ‘woke’ Progressives are finding themselves cancelled as the ‘morality’ of the Left metastasizes.
Christians actually have a more rational basis for affirming objective moral standards and duties. They understand that denying thousands of years of history and evidence is disingenuous and dangerous. They understand that a transcendent, moral law necessitates a transcendent, moral law-giver.
Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.
Deuteronomy 11:1
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
Romans 7:7
Government does not like opposition or competition so incredible violations of the Constitution are now becoming commonplace. Banning worship services while allowing casinos to operate is just one example of government choosing winners and losers based on regime morality.
Police in many states ‘raided’ church services (even drive up services that resembled a drive-in movie lot) and drove the congregates away . . . in some cases even jailing the pastor.
In Canada (I know, they do not have a first amendment), 200 armed police officers descended on an Edmonton church, after they had jailed the pastor for 30 days, and put up barricades to deny access. The police then occupied the church to ensure it could not be used for services. The Mounties went so far as to imprison journalists who were reporting on the occupation.
We expect religious prosecution of Christians in China and Islamic countries, but not in the Western World. It should be noted that no mosques were treated similarly . . . anywhere (except for China). The Judeo-Christian moral code is the threat to big government and they are conducting trial runs on how to extinguish that threat – but none dare call this evil.
Laws must necessarily change over time due to changes in understanding and technology. The moral basis of those laws cannot change or there is no morality . . . or law. Government does not care as long as they have complete control over your lives.
Do you know and understand Yahweh’s Laws? A revised, quick and easy guide to what the transcendent and moral Law-Giver has shared with us will soon be available. The Code of federal Regulations (CFR) has over 170,000 pages. Yahweh does not concern Himself with regulating every aspect of your life. Check out what He does find important for you – read GRAFTED: Embracing Torah.
