5 For those who
live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but
those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For
to be [a]carnally
minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because
the [b]carnal
mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor
indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot
please God. --Romans 8: 5-8 NKJV
JRH 12/13/19
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Will You Obey God or Will You Obey the Government?
Frightening Challenges to Americans' Conscience
By Paul
Strand
December 11, 2019
WASHINGTON - Religious liberty today faces more challenges
than ever. If you pay attention to the headlines, you know these are
dangerous days. The battleground is often in the courtroom, where a frequent
defender of religious liberty there sees new reasons for hope.
Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Senior Counsel Luke
Goodrich points out every human has a conscience, and the government shouldn't
be messing with it.
"It's that inner voice that urges us to choose the good
and reject evil," Goodrich told CBN News.
Big-Time Battler for Conscience Rights
He has fought for the right of conscience several times
before the US Supreme Court, and writes about huge challenges to it in his new
book titled Free to Believe: The Battle Over
Religious Liberty in America.
"When the government comes in and forces us to violate
our conscience, it's forcing us to go against our human nature and violating a
fundamental human right," Goodrich said.
But as America moves toward a post-Christian era, issues
long felt by believers and their conscience as wrong are now exalted.
Therefore any opposition to them is condemned as rank discrimination.
'Will You Obey God or Will You Obey the Government?'
Goodrich explained, "We have experienced a major
cultural shift in the last 10 to 20 years where traditional Christian beliefs
about truth, about human life, about human sexuality…they used to be fairly
broadly accepted or at least uncontroversial, but now those long-standing Christian
beliefs are actually viewed as a threat."
He added, "We're seeing all kinds of new religious
liberty conflicts and Christians really being put to the choice: will you obey
God or will you obey the government?"
The biggest current battleground: homosexual and transgender
rights.
"If you're a Bible-believing Christian and you hold a
traditional view on sex and marriage, then the rapid advance of gay rights is
certainly the most significant religious liberty threat today. And we're
seeing conflicts in multiple areas all across the country," Goodrich
noted.
The government long ago said you can't discriminate based on
someone's race or sex. If the Supreme Court this term rules "sex"
includes sexual orientation or transgender status, it could mean real trouble
for those with biblical views on human sexuality.
Jack Phillips x Thousands
You could likely multiply by the thousands new legal
problems of the kind suffered by Christian baker Jack Phillips, who refused to
make a cake celebrating gay marriage and ended up in a legal battle over his
conscience rights for years.
"Thousands of religious organizations will face new
lawsuits and new liability simply for acting on their long-standing beliefs
about human sexuality," Goodrich predicted.
At one point, supporters promised same-sex marriage wouldn't
harm anyone. Well, depending on how the high court rules, Goodrich pointed out
those same people could go all out, claws bared, to get their opponents.
"There's a strong effort right now, particularly among progressives,
to brand traditional Christian beliefs about marriage as a form of bigotry, and
then use the power of the state to punish those religious beliefs and
practices," he said.
Bigotry or Believing in What's Actually Best?
On the other hand, Frank Wright of D. James Kennedy
Ministries maintains believers back only one-man, one-woman marriage because
it's healthy for families.
"The Bible says it because it's for our welfare. It's
what enables families to flourish," Wright told CBN News.
"The secular research going back decades is irrefutable. Children do
better when they have a mom and a dad. And they are safer, they are more
economically secure, they have less bad outcomes in life in terms of drugs and
crime and all these things. It's God's design because it's what's best for
us."
He's sad that homosexuals and their allies view the
conservative support of one-man, one-woman marriage as bigotry and hatred.
Wright explained, "If they were to come to me and say
'Why do you hate me?' I would explain to them that I don't. ‘You and I see this
issue totally differently. I don't hate you. Why should I hate
you? And why should you hate me because we disagree?'"
How Culture Views 'Good' Religion vs. 'Bad' Religion
Goodrich believes some of this comes from how modern society
views religion.
"I think our culture is not really hostile to religion
per se, but rather draws a distinction between good religion and bad
religion," he explained.
Goodrich added the culture sees so-called "good
religion" as, "Fairly relativistic. You keep it private. You don't
make absolute truth claims and you don't make any intense moral claims."
On the other hand, this same culture sees bad religion as
one that makes moral judgments among other things.
"Makes absolute truth claims. It doesn't stay confined
to the four walls of the home or the church, and it gets out there," he
said. "It evangelizes. It claims truth and it actually makes moral
judgments. And that kind of religion really today is deemed to be bad,
and folks are much more willing to use government power to punish those sorts
of belief."
Forced to do the Transgenders' Bidding
As for the transgender issue, the Obama administration
mandated that doctors and hospitals provide surgery for men who wanted to be
turned into women and women into men.
Goodrich explained the government was ordering doctors to
perform those surgeries, "Even when it violated their religious beliefs
and their medical judgment. And if they didn't do that, they would
be deemed to be discriminating and would be subject to government
penalties."
Abortion is another battleground where supporters try to
demonize those who can't and won't back it.
Those Against Abortion Labeled as Discriminators
"If you as a Christian, whether you're a doctor or an
employer, if you oppose abortion, you're somehow denying health care to women
and discriminating against women," Goodrich explained.
This Becket lawyer fought for both the Little Sisters of the
Poor and Hobby Lobby's pro-life stand before the Supreme Court.
"The government was trying to force them to provide
abortion-causing drugs in their health insurance plans or in their businesses,
even when their conscience told them 'you cannot participate in an
abortion,'" Goodrich said of his clients.
Many Dark Clouds, But a Silver Lining
The high court ruled in favor of both, and Goodrich says
believers can take hope in how often their conscience rights win in court.
"There are some real difficulties ahead, and we should
take stock of where we're at and be realistic. But at the same time, there's a
lot of reason for hope. We have a 90 percent win rate and we're
undefeated at the US Supreme Court," Goodrich said.
He warned, however, Christians need to prepare for defeats
and learn how to show Christ's love even to a culture that's turning more and
more against them.
How the Bible Can Guide Us in Such a Time
"Much of scripture is written to Christians who are
facing suffering and persecution for their faith. And as Christians, we
need to recall those teachings and let those influence us," Goodrich
argued. "And it's not just about winning or fighting a culture war.
It's actually more about being like Christ in the midst of these
conflicts."
What this attorney hopes for is a government that just
leaves religion alone as much as possible.
For instance, in public schools, it shouldn't force students
to pray, but can allow a time where they can pray if they want. It shouldn't
build a cross on government property, but it can let those there stand. It
shouldn't oppose religion OR promote it. It should just let it be.
+++++++++++++++++
Blog Editor: Rather than
capitulate to Facebook censorship by abandoning the platform, I choose to post
and share until the Leftist censors ban me. Recently, the Facebook censorship
tactic I’ve experienced is a couple of Group shares then jailed under the false
accusation of posting too fast. So I ask those that read this, to combat
censorship by sharing blog and Facebook posts with your friends or Groups you
belong to.
____________________
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