December 2019 – Article 2:   

There’s always a price for ignoring history, and it’s always too high.

As anti-Christian forces become bolder and more aggressive, it’s critical to remember the words of Nazi-era pastor Martin Niemoller who lamented the failure of German Christians to stand against the forces of evil.

• “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.”
• “Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.”
• “Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.”
• “Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Make no mistake, if we, as Christians, do not pay rigorous attention to what’s happening in this country and stand up against any assault—local or national—on religious freedom no one else will.

Bureaucrats Won’t Protect It

We can’t expect politicians or governmental bureaucrats to defend us. As believers, we must be engaged—aware of potential threats to our ability to practice our faith and have the courage get involved and speak out, whether that involves our local school board or Congress.

As a nation we’ve lost our way and become shrouded in ominous darkness. Whatever God calls evil is promoted, legalized, and celebrated.

Psalm 12:8 says: “The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men” (NIV). A perfect example is demonstrators carrying signs urging women to “Shout Your Abortion.”

Spearheaded by LGBTQ and pro-abortion activists, there is an escalating effort to silence any organization or individual who dares oppose their extreme agendas.

For pro-life Christian organizations like Georgia Right to Life, our bedrock position that the sanctity of human life is based on biblical principles could one day be silenced on the false accusation that it’s “hate speech.”

That exact charge was recently leveled against the pro-life organization Created Equal when the group attempted to engage students at Georgia State University about the issue of abortion.

Faculty members blocked displays while holding “No Hate at State” signs.

So much for the free exchange of ideas.

Wall Street Journal Points to Escalation

This hot button issue was recently debated in dueling articles published in the Wall Street Journal.

David French, senior writer for National Review, argued that religious liberty is very much endangered.

Taking the opposite view was Marci Hamilton, a former clerk for retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner and now a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Citing cases where the government has imposed its will against the practice of religious freedom, French claimed: “If governments ultimately prevail in these efforts, the resulting precedents would upend the constitutional order, rendering religious Americans even more vulnerable to future legal attacks…”

The plain fact is that opponents of liberty are increasingly ignoring the Constitution and this trend is growing.

French adds that many opponents to religious liberty dismiss its importance by arguing that religious freedom is merely a pretext for bigotry.

Religious Freedoms Being Trounced

As proof, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently signed a law requiring all employers—including churches, religious schools, faith-based pregnancy centers, and religious nonprofits—to disavow their beliefs about abortion, contraception and sexual morality by forcing them to hire anyone who refuses to abide by the organizations’ statements of faith.

Noting the hypocrisy, one commentator quipped: “No one would force PETA [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals] to hire employees who hunt on the weekends.”

Dismissing much of what French claimed, Hamilton asserted “…there is only one absolute right in the Constitution, and that is the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right to believe anything you want. The government may never prescribe beliefs.”

Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, called Hamilton’s statement a “radically reductionist argument, which undermines the broad and crucial protections guaranteed and respected by the First Amendment. The First Amendment secures more than the mere right to believe, in private, anything you want.”

Mohler continued: “In her view, the First Amendment only protects your individual private thoughts. That protection ceases once those thoughts enter the public square.”

Young People Accepting Inaccurate View

Even worse, Hamilton is delighted that her warped view of freedom of speech and religion is being accepted by young people.

“The good news is that the next generation rejects this extreme idea [exercising one’s faith publically] of religious liberty. Younger Americans are not so sanguine about organized religion.”

Celebrating the decline of those who respect the word of God and our nation’s religious freedom is frightening.

We need to remember the old adage that freedom is not free. For Christians, that means investing time and energy – being involved and sharing information with like minded people – to help keep our most precious gift of religious freedom.

Sources: albertmohler.com; shenandoahliterary.org; wsj.com; cbn.com.

By Wayne DuBois

Georgia Right to Life

Media Relations Advisor