Freedom of Religion or Freedom from Religion?

Okay, okay. I know it has been a while since I last contributed a fresh column. Some of the papers that carry this have rerun previous pieces; the Christmas season and January busyness made it easier for me to put it aside.

But I have only put it aside temporarily. It is now time to resume. So let’s resume with a controversial bang.

David Zubik is the Roman Catholic Bishop of Pittsburgh. It was he who wrote a pastoral letter entitled, “To hell with you!” It may not surprise you to hear the average person say something like that, but a Bishop in the Catholic Church?

What provoked Bishop Zubik was the recent mandate of President Obama’s administration that church and other privately run institutions must provide abortion-inducing drugs through its insurance plans to employees. This was not a mandate discussed in a congressional committee and then debated and voted on by your representatives in Washington. And now for my opinion (this is an opinion column). It was a direct attack upon the morality of traditional Christianity and specifically an attack upon the sanctity of life. The Roman Catholic Church and a host of other Christian bodies consider the practice of abortion as birth control to be a horrendous and evil practice. It is the taking of a human life because the arrival of an infant is inconvenient (“unwanted” is an empty argument, considering the thousands of couples who would willingly adopt).

And here I am - silly old me – I thought freedom of religion was guaranteed in the Constitution. Wait a minute! It is guaranteed, in the First Amendment. So where is the guardianship of the Constitution by the man who swore “…to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”?
That guardianship and that guarantee were discarded when the guidelines mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) issued by the Department of Health and Human Services stated that all – as in a-l-l, all – health insurance plans must cover any and all FDA-approved contraception, sterilization procedures, and drugs, even those drugs that produce death of a human fetus. This includes plans paid for by church and private institutions that find abortion to be unconscionable.

Of course, appeals were made to the President and Health and Human Services Director Kathleen Sebelius. In reply to these appeals, as Bishop Zubik put it not so eloquently, the President and Sibelius said, “To hell with you.” Here is more of what the Bishop wrote, and this is what I really want you to read, “This is government by fiat that attacks the rights of everyone…At no other time in memory or history has there been such a governmental intrusion on freedom …It undermines the whole concept and hope for healthcare reform by inextricably linking it to the zealotry of pro-abortion bureaucrats. The mandate would require the Catholic Church as an employer to violate its fundamental beliefs concerning human life and human dignity…It is really hard to believe that it happened.”

Just hold on to your seatbelt, Bishop Zubik. Even though the President made a small backstep on this issue, it is apparent that his strategy is to soon require all Americans to pay for the abortifacients now available and eventually to pay for abortion procedures. It is not too difficult to predict that mandates will come requiring euthanizing of seniors who no longer possess “quality of life” (to be defined by the Department of HHS, probably).

It is hard to know from whom the President is receiving his mind numbing advice on this matter, but it is obviously not from people of Biblical values or conscience. “The fool says in his heart, ‘no God” (Psalm 14:1, a literal translation). No God for me – I don’t want anything to do with God. Their ruin is assured and history so attests the ruin of the secular state.

These are not people interested in freedom of religion, as were our Founding Fathers; these are people who are interested in freedom from religion. It is the secular state they desire – and it will be our ruin as “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Liberty

“Democracy is Christ’s government in church and state.”

This is probably not the definition you have heard of democracy. The attempt to secularize American education has largely been successful, and darkled much of the Christian aspect of our governing documents.

The above quote about democracy was taken from George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights, presented to the general assembly in July, 1776. While brief, it does summarize the essence of American democracy, for it is the Christian ethic, the Law of Moses and Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which is necessary for our democracy to function.

Actually, it was George Mason who provided many of the seminal ideas which became part of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States. The Declaration of Independence, for example, is a great Christian and spiritual document. It naturally arises from the Christian practices of the colonists. Thomas Hooker, a Connecticut pastor, addressed the Connecticut General Court in 1638 with these inspiring words: “The foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of the people…The choice of public magistrates belongs unto the people by God’s own allowance.” It was Thomas Jefferson , author of The Declaration of Independence, who freely “acknowledged his best ideas of democracy had been secured at church meetings” (from a speech by President Calvin Coolidge, quoted in Thinking Cal Coolidge on the Declaration of Independence, by L. John Van Til, The American Story, June 29, 2009).

As I write this, the 10th Anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks is near. Called simply “9-11”, this will be a time when Americans will reflect upon that attack. Hopefully, it will also be a time when Americans reflect upon how precious are liberty and freedom.

May we understand that liberty as we know it is rooted in the nature of God, the Yahweh of the Bible. Tyranny and despotism are rooted in the nature of man. It is not a mistake for America to have as its motto, “In God We Trust.” This creed must be believed and our practices conform to it if the liberty that has made America such a great land is to endure.

But there is one more thought to share. Christ’s government in church and state is frustrating unless His government rules the individual spirit. Does He rule your spirit?

With the 10th Anniversary of 9-11 approaching, may we not take our heritage for granted. Christianity is the heritage that has made liberty possible.

“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land…” (Leviticus 25:10). Know where this scripture is found? If you answered “It is inscribed on the Liberty Bell”, you are correct. America! God shed His grace on thee.

Democracy is Christ’s government in church and state. This is how He meant it to be. The opposite of tyranny, Biblically inspired democracy is what has spawned…

liberty.

Be Ready When the Hard Times Return

I can recall, while growing up, of stories told about “The Great Depression.” Of course, these stories always involved a warning: be careful how much you spend and what you spend on, because someday you may need that money to survive.

So naturally, I have to wonder about the yo-yo performance of the stock market recently. Fear and greed may be what moves the market, but in general it is a strong forecast of what lay ahead for the economy. Right now, it is telling us that uncertainty lay ahead; it may be telling us that another difficult time, even a recession, is in the near future. This would be devastating to the national economy and to thousands of families, probably the same ones who suffered through the last recession.

How do we get ready if the hard times return? One of the most prudent steps we can take is to reduce or eliminate our personal debt.

Julie Crawshaw of MoneyNews.com has recently written that the “Misery Index”, the unemployment rate plus the inflation rate, is at a 28 year high. It is 62 % higher than when President Obama took office.
Mort Zuckerman, who writes for U.S. News and World Report, has expressed concern that Mr. Obama’s stimulus plan has backfired against the President. Every job gained since 2000 has been wiped out in the past three years – over 7 million. Zuckerman argues that from the moment the Obama administration has come into office there has been no net increase in full-time jobs, only in part-time jobs.

Then when Congress politicizes the nature of debt (debt is almost always bad, don’t they know that?) and raises the debt ceiling (the amount of debt the country may legally have – who do you think will pay for it?) we have to wonder just how long the republic will endure. Some things are simply out of our hands, and this economy is one of them. Is it all smoke and mirrors? This has to end sometime, and when it does there will be a lot of pain.

As I consider these articles and recall the stories told by grandparents and parents, I think of the Biblical admonition, “Owe no man anything, except to love one another” (Romans 13:8).

I really don’t know what would happen if another “depression” hit the country. I know that particular word would not be used by either government or media for fear of inducing riots in the streets. But I have come to believe that such a terrible episode is within the realm of distinct possibility.

Neither you nor I can live like the Federal government. No business can operate this way and remain solvent.

I encourage you to become personally disciplined in the use of money, and especially credit. Learn to control your impulses when shopping and learn to resist the temptation to impress others with what you have rather than who you are. Work toward becoming debt-free. Owe no man anything, except courtesy and politeness.

Do you need help in this area? There are several sources to assist you in developing a discipline as regards money. One of the better ones is www.mastermoney.org. Go here; learn from the experts, and …

be ready when the hard times return.

What Do You Want America to Be?

The stock market is on a roller coaster ride as investors wonder what is happening, our Washington politicians cannot produce a budget that is reasonable, and our President (as of this writing) promises people in Illinois that he “has a plan” to be unveiled after Labor Day.

The debt ceiling was raised recently, but do people really understand what this means? It means we may now legally acquire more debt. That is not more income, mind you, just more debt. If you keep acquiring debt and do not increase income, what happens?

Is the America you want for the future one where everyone works for the government? Where the citizenry considers itself entitled to government payments? Where the government obviously keeps everyone on a short leash? Or is it an America that maintains its heritage, with certain truths being self-evident: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (from The Declaration of Independence)?

One remedy that would help America’s debt crisis is the teaching of (unrevised) history. So says Niall Ferguson, a professor of history and business at Harvard University. “It’s impossible, I think, to understand the rise of the United States separately, as a story on its own of American exceptionalism. You have to understand it as part of the extraordinary explosion of dynamism from Western Europe, not just across the Atlantic, but all around the world” (Ferguson).

Okay, so when does he place the start of such dynamism, having begun in Western Europe and eventually contributing to the founding of America - the greatest nation in history? If you guessed after 1411, you are correct. You might have even guessed October 31, 1517 – the day Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the door of Wittenberg Cathedral as a precise date, although Reformation thinking and discussions had begun prior.

It is impossible to understand America apart from understanding its history. And its history includes Christian people coming to these shores in search of religious freedom, and the right to follow their individual consciences. This is a direct result of the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation made a major contribution to our understanding of personal responsibility, individual freedom, and treatment of others. The Protestant work ethic offered dignity to work of any kind and frowned upon laziness; the command to love your neighbor as yourself led to a compassionate society where advances in science and medicine occurred, and where honesty and trust were most highly valued in business dealings. Easy credit was discouraged and avoided. It was feared that too much debt would not just lead to financial ruin, but make it impossible to repay your neighbor. “Dirt, debt and the devil” were dreaded.

What is clear is this: to really know America we must understand its religious history, and the values that history represents. The values represented by Judaism and Christianity differ greatly from those of other faiths or from those of no faith. It is this knowledge that enables us to understand the country’s religious, political, and economic liberty.

The lessons of our Christian religious history will help us solve our debt problem and determine what we want America to be.

Faithfully Serving Christ

I had to view the web site for myself. There it was – a huge announcement that the end of the world and the final judgment was to arrive on May 21. I could not help but think, “How many others have been caught up in this date-setting mindset, later to learn they are wrong?” It was Jesus himself who said, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know” (Acts 1:7). And at another time, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36). Well, the Father and a man named Harold Camping, apparently.

By the time you read this, Harold Camping and his prophecy will have proved false. Who is this man, anyway? Camping is a very successful businessman from California, who retired from the building industry and began Family Radio (www.familyradio.com), comprised now of dozens of stations. Pleasant stations for listening, I should add. Now, at the age of 89, he has alarmed many by saying that he is “absolutely certain” about this date.

I noticed while reading the home page of his web site two days before the “absolutely certain” date that donations were still being solicited and received. Hmm, I wonder why?

Michael S. Rosenwald of The Washington Post writes that Camping “says he came up with the very precise date of May 21 through a mathematical calculation that would probably crash Google’s computers.” This contrived date is the result of Camping’s study of the dates of floods, the use of numbers in the Bible, multiplication, addition and subtraction. In other words, it is a convoluted mess, impossible for anyone to understand. Really, it may be that Camping is “losing it” as they say.

The words of Jesus are plain enough. No credible person can claim to know the exact date of Christ’s return and the end of the world. To claim otherwise is to put oneself squarely in the category of “false prophet.”

Let’s be clear. The Bible says of itself, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16- NLT). The Bible is intended to be understood, believed and obeyed. It is here for our personal benefit and for the benefit of others. It contains no hidden codes or mathematical formulas that only a few can detect and understand. Its teaching is clear.

And when it comes to the return of Christ, the Bible’s teaching could not be clearer. He could come at any time, the world in general will not be looking for Him and will be surprised, and His church is to be faithfully serving Him on earth until that time, doing what Jesus would do if He were bodily present. That would be teaching God’s truth and helping others along life’s way.

In the spirit of Harold Camping, let me make a prediction. Here it is: there is no person who can correctly date the return of Christ, because there is no person who knows.

And since we don’t know, we should stay busy…

faithfully serving Christ.

Make Jesus Lord

“Dad, we got Osama bin Laden!” shouted my son as he awakened me from sleep. I said little and rolled back over to continue my Sunday night rest.

The next morning, like a lot of Americans, the reality sunk in. The number one criminal in the world had been executed in a daring, heroic raid. I watched the President’s announcement from the previous night and, like most other people in the world, sighed in relief that this perpetrator of evil was gone.

And yet, at the same time, I sensed sadness. The sadness that such a person would misuse his life so horribly, becoming a hardened killer. When one considers the wealth, intelligence, organizational and leadership skills of Osama bin Laden, it makes you wonder how much good he could have done, if only Quranic teaching had not warped his mind. There are two things for which we can thank Osama bin Laden: he taught the world what a fully committed follower of Muhammad acts like practicing jihad, which Sunni Muslims refer to as “the sixth pillar of Islam.” Osama also taught us that justice always prevails in the end. You just can not do wrong and get away with it.

Romans 13 has something to say about the role of government in fulfilling natural law (God’s law) on earth. “(The government) is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil” (verse 4). There are other verses that say the equivalent, promising that God will use human agents (government, military, law enforcement) to bring justice to bear against those who practice evil.

No one, regardless of how wealthy, clever or charismatic he may be, can perpetrate evil against others and last. Those whose names are remembered with respect are those who understand natural law and, even if they do not acknowledge Jesus as the source, practice the ethical and moral teachings of Jesus (Mohandas Gandhi, for example, who used Jesus as an example of how to live, but did not acknowledge Jesus as his personal Savior). The names we remember with pain and disgust include Hitler, Jack the Ripper, Timothy McVeigh, Lenin, and now you may include the name Osama bin Laden.

God establishes government. A major purpose of government is to prevent and punish evil (violation of natural law). The government that chooses instead to perpetrate evil, thus defying God’s natural law, will crumble. As for me, I commend the Navy SEALs who fulfilled our government’s role in seeing that an evil man was eliminated and justice was done. I am proud to be an American, proud of our military, our intelligence service and of our President and his staff in seeing this operation through to completion.

But in another vein I consider the lost potential of bin Laden’s life. A lot of “what if’s” cross my mind. What if someone had presented Osama with the truth claims of Jesus when he was younger? What if he had used his wealth and personal magnetism for good? What if he had not become so proud that he had chosen to bow before Christ and acknowledge Him as Lord? What if his arrogance had not led him to become a law unto himself? What if he had chosen to honor natural law rather than violate it? What if he had desired to treat others by the Golden Rule rather than murdering them? What if he had chosen God’s grace and mercy rather than God’s justice (and the instrument of government that delivered this justice)? What if…

Today I view the justice that has prevailed as regards Osama bin Laden. I remember that justice always wins in the end. I know that government is to be respected as an instrument of natural law and justice. I pray that those in government will know this and practice it. I remind myself that the teachings of Jesus show me the way to live.

Most of all, I celebrate the grace and mercy of God that is freely bestowed upon any person willing to acknowledge the pride and vanity that are latent within the heart, and who turns away from such to make Jesus Lord.

Worship Him

This week I have been working on two sermons – one for Good Friday and the other for Resurrection Sunday, otherwise known as Easter.

Then, on Thursday, I was informed by my younger son that Good Friday coincides with Earth Day. Furthermore, that school children will be taking field trips to his place of work for Earth Day. He didn’t say it, but it is doubtful any public school will be commemorating the death of Christ on Good Friday.

We call it “Good” because it was good for us and the cosmos, not Jesus. It was by His death that our personal sins were forgiven and, according to Romans 8:22 – 23, all of creation will be redeemed. Good Friday is a day when Christians reflect upon the sacrifice of Christ and express sorrow for their sin.

I know what Earth Day means, and I know how it is sometimes celebrated. I know it was promoted by Senator Gaylord Nelson and environmentalists and first held in 1970. It is not a coincidence that Earth Day was placed on the calendar in such close proximity to the most important Christian holiday. By the way, “holiday” comes from “holy day” and is derived from Christian holy day observances.

Earth Day is a pagan holiday for some – a time to worship earth. For others it is a day to reconsider their roles in taking care of earth. For promoters of Earth Day It is the time to express worry about Mother Earth. Is Mother warming too fast? Is Mother having too much difficulty with carbon dioxide? You will observe that the typical participant in an Earth Day rally is a privileged person whose basic needs are met. People who worry about earth are people who have the luxury to worry about earth. It is easier to worry about earth when pressing personal needs are met. Have you noticed that people who live in underdeveloped countries where sanitation measures are lacking and disease is rampant or where famine is stalking don’t seem to celebrate Earth Day? Earth Day is a creation of the affluent and those with too much time on their hands.

I wish everyone in North America would read The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjorn Lomborg. Lomborg details in his work the environmental problems that have been overcome in recent years. He then considers the more radical concerns of present day environmentalists, doing a cost versus benefits analysis of their agenda. He puts things into perspective. Disaster, my friend, is not around the corner.

Here is the point: as American culture has abandoned its Christian heritage, it has grabbed at ideals and false gods to fill the void. Mankind is religious. If Good Friday demands I repent of my personal sin and I don’t want to do that, then I will substitute something for it. In this case, I replace Christ with Earth. I will not speak of a Heavenly Father, but of a planetary Mother. I will disregard the stories in the Bible, and replace them with legends of the pre-industrial, pristine past. I will ignore the possibility of living in a perfect heaven and I will attempt to create a perfect earth – by my standard of what is perfect, of course, not yours.

We should work together for clean water and air, healthier environments and lifestyles. This we should be doing as good citizens of the planet – 365 days a year. But while doing this, let’s never forget that it was Christ who gave us this earth in the first place. He owns it and He will redeem it. He visited this planet to show His love for it and for mankind.

Worship Him.