Topic: Religion and Government
Religious Liberty Blessing or Curse? Americans have religious liberty. But to what extent has it been hurtful instead of helpful?by Lou Poumakis
(libertarian)
Sunday, July 27, 2008
The United States was the first nation in all of history to establish true religious liberty. Americans were free to worship as they saw fit any god they wished or, as many now see it, no god at all other than possibly themselves. This of course was not at all what the founders intended. They were concerned about the government establishing one form of Christianity and suppressing all others as England did. Their forefathers left England for just that reason and they were very concerned to not perpetuate the same situation here. They didn't appear to have had any idea that their religious liberties might be used as a vehicle for the destruction of Christianity altogether. This is not the case yet but we must certainly agree that much progress has been taken in this direction. Christianity today has been virtually eliminated from the public square. It has been relegated to church assemblies and private gatherings and, for most, is centered primarily in each believer's heart. The Christian today is free to believe as he wishes but the cultural aspects of Christianity, which once dominated all levels of government and society at large, has been and is being, systematically expunged from our legal statutes and courts.
How did we come to this dire condition? What did we do wrong to allow things to degrade to such an extent? I see two major factors that both stem from a single deficiency in the faith of our Fathers. First, they thought that they could form a better Constitution than the one God gave them in His word. Second, they permitted this idea, the idea that they could outdo God, to enter into the realm of theology and we drifted further and further away from the clear teachings of the Bible. We now have many "churches" that no longer believe that Christ was born of a virgin, that he really rose from the dead, etc. We also have many "church groups" that fail to identify the Bible as the word of God and do not emphasize the need for obedience to that word. They substitute good feelings and emotions about God for obedience to God. As a consequence of these kinds of changes, Christianity has fallen into disrespect among much of the population. It has become too weak to resist the onslaught of the atheists and others that have removed the Bible, and any serious mention of what it says, from our schools, the media and politics.
Regarding the Constitution and religious liberty, we (the Founding Fathers) thought that the only constitution God ever gave in Scripture was too harsh and too restrictive for a God-fearing population such as we had at the time. God's constitution did not provide for religious liberty. He knew that we could never handle the cultural danger involved in permitting anyone the liberty to disseminate heretical views without restriction. He knew we were too weak to handle so much freedom so He designated blasphemy and false teaching (false prophets) to be punishable by death. Each person had the freedom to believe what he wished and would be judged by God himself for those thoughts. But he was not given the freedom to influence the young or the weak and lead them away from the truth.
Please notice that the coming world-order reflects more wisdom than we displayed; it will not allow religious liberty. Hate crime legislation, the criminalization of thought, is a harbinger of what is to come. For many today, Christianity is hateful and all such thinking should be eradicated from public life. The bottom line is that religious pluralism is anathema to any society. Peace is only possible when people are in agreement with each other as to what is right and what is wrong, religiously determined values. Christianity cannot coexist with any other religious view, including atheism. We have tried religious liberty and we should now see that it doesn't work. We have tried to outdo God, to set aside His word and devise our own ways of government and life. We need to put away our foolish pride, humble ourselves before Him and start living in obedience to what He has told us in His word.
The views expressed in this
article are those of Lou Poumakis only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Lou Poumakis is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2008-07-27 12:04:19
Hi Lou,
I appreciate that you describe the world as you see it from a Christian-centric perspective. Since I don't share your faith, I can't comment on any of your opinions about how we came to this dire situation.
However, I can offer a view of the situation from a perspective of tolerance and liberty.
It isn't the liberty that is to blame but the intolerance of the religious. Whether the religion be atheism, Judaism, Christianity, Liberalism or Amway the liberty to follow these beliefs is not the cause of strife between them. The cause is the intolerance of religious people to accept that others have different beliefs and the right to practice them in view of people who do not share those beliefs.
This intolerance causes them to seek to use the force of government to oppress those who think differently. Atheists are especially adept at using the law to oppress those who do not agree with them but Christian politicians have taken on those same liberal tactics over time. Liberals (the religious left) have taken centuries to teach the religious right (mostly Christian) that there is real political value in practicing oppression of beliefs.
All we need now is a world-view that allows us to overlook the ironic immorality of advocating such legislative oppression and Ta Da...we have tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber running for President of the United States. Both are important players in the problems we have to face today yet they both vow to support the Federal Reserve system and the corrupt congress who extracts their political power from playing the FED fiddle while the promise of America burns to ash in an unimaginable heap of worthless dollars.
For you, the silver lining should be that following a liberal monetary policy driven collapse of an Empire, religion tends to gain prominence in the survivors. Don't you see the irony? In every cycle of civilization the liberals try to stamp out religions only to have the consequences of their actions be the root cause for the collapse that allows religions to thrive. The sadder irony though is that the religious learn intolerance and oppression from the liberals that always forms the core of the religions that re-surge.
It then takes another turn of the wheel, however long that is, for the religious to reform enough to allow mankind to advance again. Eventually the religious become, again, the oppressed. Only then do they begin to promote tolerance and compassion and religious liberty. The poor oppressed religious have cried wolf too many times for me; both the religious Christians and the religious anti-Christians have pulled this feint too many times. Neither side wants tolerance, they want war, elimination of those who would challenge their faith.
Throughout history this is as "far" as mankind has been able to advance. Then the cycle repeats. If this is a test, one can only wonder how many more chances we'll be given to pass this milestone of intolerant faith? Articles like yours are a sure sign that the resurgence of religion is headed for the same intolerant start that eventually leads to the rising of liberalism again...here we go again.
Posted By: Scott from Oregon
Date: 2008-07-27 14:03:28
Dude...
You have NO IDEA that a god exists, and you especially do not know what this said "god" wants.
What you do know is that you follow what a book says-- a dusty old book that is easily shown to be both inaccurate and immoral-- and in so doing, your brain has become dusty and old as well.
Now go back and rewrite this piece using logic and reason, demonstrating to us all that you actually live in the 21st century.
This article was directed to Christians and so did not get into the issues you raised. Jahfre Fire Eater, while I can't agree with all you wrote, I was glad to see that you recognized anti-Christians as religious people. We are all of necessity religious individuals. We cannot know everything and therefore must choose what it is we want to take as the basic presuppositions we accept without proof. I was not always a Christian and have examined several alternative philosophical views before and after I came to this faith.
Dude, you have no idea that God does not exist and are just as religious (if not more so) in your apparent animosity toward Christianity. This dusty old book you refer to I have found to be the only satisfying explanation for what I see in the world around me. My brain is not so dusty as you think and it is precisely through logic and reasoning that I have arrived at my present views. I realize that I cannot hope to change your mind but you should realize that true Christianity is not just a leap of faith that has no logical basis.
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