An All Too Familiar Song

Remember the word that I said to you, `A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all this they will do to you on My account, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin (Jn. 15:20-22).

The efforts of some people to completely do away with any expressions of the Christian principles on which this country was founded are becoming less veiled these days. It’s only necessary for one person declare his being offended by some public display of anything religious (as though the alleged offense was deliberately perpetrated upon that individual), and the courts shift into high gear to eradicate the “problem.”

Take this week’s furor in in Kentucky. Ten residents and the national American Atheists Inc. are suing to overturn legislation linking the state's security to reliance on God. At issue are two clauses that were inserted in a floor amendment and approved by state lawmakers. One says that the "safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God" and cites statements to that effect by Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. A permanent plaque quoting that text is posted at the state's Emergency Operations Center, as required by the clause. The other clause, listing the executive director's duties, begins with a requirement to publicize "the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth."

The plaintiffs are also seeking financial compensation claiming they have suffered emotional distress "from the belief that the existence of these unconstitutional laws suggest that their very safety as residents of Kentucky may be in the hands of fanatics, traitors, or fools." With all due respect to these folks, GIVE ME A BREAK! Why is it that people can claim freedom of speech when they want to express whatever sort of vitriol they wish to heap on society, and yet if that same speech hints at anything even vaguely religious – despite the fact that we allegedly have freedom of religion in this country – that speech is viewed as a violation against the separation of church and state at best or, at worst, as some horrendous threat to the well being of the country?

I can’t help but wonder if any of these offended Kentucky residents was in church in the aftermath of September 11th. Why is it that the American Atheists were not making noise back then when government representatives were invoking God’s name all over the place in those first few weeks following the terrorist attacks? Sounds like a double standard, doesn’t it?

As I’ve read the news headlines over the past few weeks, I can’t help but hear an echo of my college studies of the French Revolution. One of the best books I’ve read on the subject is one by William Bush, professor emeritus of French literature at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. He writes:

Meanwhile, king and beggar alike were beheaded with no distinction, and with egalitarian efficiency as the new order’s goal of supplanting Christianity with a less fanatical religion was ardently pursued. Outdated superstitious nonsense about Jesus Christ, that Jew whom Christians believed to be the virgin-born Son of God, and who rose from the dead, were things to be relegated to France’s pre-Enlightenment past. Indeed, what could prove more inimical to progress and the modernity of the new philosophical thought than Judeo-Christian superstitions rooted in seven-day weeks, sacrificial lambs, scapegoats, victims of holocaust, or a God who counts every bird that falls (Mt. 10:29)? (To Quell the Terror, pp. 124-125)

Just as was true in late 18th century France, faithful Christians are being summarily subjected to more and more persecution and attacks on our beliefs. The Freedom of Choice Act that president-elect Obama has committed to signing into law has horrendous potential ramifications to Christian consciences with respect to health care, abortion, adoption and numerous other areas where limits have been placed to, in many ways, save us from ourselves.

St Paul warned us that the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching (2 Tim. 4:3); those days are here. It seems the time is not too far off when being a Christian will be illegal. Thankfully, the remedy has also been provided to us: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:11-12).

The powers of darkness seem to have the upper hand these days. But at the same time, I believe that God is at work raising up another “faithful remnant” mentioned numerous times in Scripture. He is calling us to be the holy nation, a people set apart (1Pt 2:9). Let us pray for the grace to answer that call.