Religious Freedom In America Under Attack

By: Mike Morisi

There is a concerted effort to remove God from our culture, and negate the influence that the Christian faith had on establishing the principles upon which our liberties are secured. As much as these anti-God groups would like us to believe otherwise, America was founded on Judeo-Christian values and our freedom and rights were granted by our Creator. This is indisputable, but for those who need a reminder, let’s go back in time….

Many would like us to believe we were never considered a Christian nation. If you are confused about that, look back to the very first act of the first Congress established in the United States which was to bring in a Minister to lead Congress in prayer after which he read four chapters from the Bible. A few years later when we unanimously declared our independence, we made it clear that our rights were given to us by our Creator. When the Constitution was signed, the signers punctuated it by saying “In the year of our Lord 1787”. One hundred years later in the Supreme Court case Unity Church versus the United States, the Supreme Court indicated after recounting the long history of faith in this country that we were in fact a Christian nation. Presidents George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan all disagree with President Obama’s assertion we are not a Christian Nation (Message to Turkey in April 2009) and indicated how the Bible and Judeo-Christian principles were in fact very important in this nation. Franklin Roosevelt led this nation in a six-minute prayer before the invasion of Normandy and asked for God’s protection. After that war, when congress came together and asked who were we going to put our trust in, it wasn’t in our weapon systems or our economy or our great decisions made in Congress, but it was In God We Trust—which is our nation’s motto even today.

It’s time to break the back of the lies being told about the separation of church and state

The First Amendment to the Constitution reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The phrase, “separation of church and state” never appears anywhere in the document. Yet, controversy and angst continue to swirl anytime a person of faith—especially someone from the Judeo-Christian heritage—prays within a public forum, uses the name of Jesus Christ or in many cases, even makes mention of God. The naysayers in the anti-faith movement vehemently take a cease and desist orientation, denouncing any such behavior with a trumped up fear that somehow engaging in the freedom of expression deliberately establishes a preferential religion.

Nothing could be further from the truth and it’s now time for American citizens across this country to stand up and say, “Enough!” “Enough with the false narrative!” “Enough with the distorted commentary and a misapplication of the historical record!” “Enough with your efforts to quash our constitutional rights and religious liberties!” “Enough with your liberal tolerance of almost every other group, but a discriminatory stance against all things Christian!” “Enough!”
It is astounding that a simple phrase, one that is not recorded in any of our Founding Documents, has been misconstrued and misused to convince an entire generation that God, Biblical values and prayer in the marketplace should be wholly separate from anything related to government, leadership, business or general public life.

The true meaning and spirit of having a separation of church and state does not automatically imply the separation of God and government. Rather, it explicitly denotes an overt interference by government is unacceptable when it comes to dictating a person’s conscience in matters of faith. Jesus told His disciples that, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John8:32). Likewise, now armed with the truth, I cannot urge you strong enough to stand up wherever, whenever, however and with whomever you can, to set the record straight and respectfully challenge any and all distortions as you come across them.

When city council or school board members offer personal prayers or mention their Christian values, this is not a declaration that all those within earshot must now believe in a similar manner. When legislative sessions and ceremonies are opened with prayer or newly elected government leaders place their hands on a Bible to swear an oath of office, this is not the “establishment” of a particular religion. When military chaplains function in their duly assigned roles as spiritual leaders and draw from their own well of Christ-like compassion, this is not to the exclusion of all other religions. When high school valedictorians acknowledge their moral convictions or say, “God Bless you,” this is not turning their schools into faith-based institutions. What this is, is free speech!

Across our country, we see people of faith, who are making decisions based on the teachings of the Bible being ridiculed, charged with crimes and accused of being bigots and insensitive. Somehow society has led us to believe that simply by disagreeing with someone’s behavior makes us discriminatory and hypocrites. That is the farthest from the truth for Christians…we simply believe the Bible is the only trusted source of truth and inspiration. It is the foundation for all truth. But as Jesus taught, we love and pray for all people, regardless of their behavior and follow His words in Matthew 7:1-2 “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you”.

We simply cannot offer opinions or participate in activities that are in conflict with the Bible. As we are taught in Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” The freedom to live our lives, make decisions and be good citizens is paramount to a free society. There can be no argument in that.

For additional information on the protection of religious liberty in America, go to www.cpcfoundation.com

1 Comment

  1. Anonymous on March 16, 2016 at 5:23 am

    4.5

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