Religious freedom is the cornerstone of American liberty. Consequently, believe the Christian community and Americans in general must stand up and be counted in the struggle to maintain freedom of conscience in the country for all Americans.
Unfortunately, the rise of the ungodly through-out our society is placing religious freedom at great risk. The answer to this challenge lies in the willingness of Christians to use the cherished freedom we still possess to fight for religious freedom. We must engage the issue in the public marketplace of ideas and we must continually point out the deficient thinking of those who wish to punish those whom they disagree with on spiritual and moral issues.
Here is a tease from an excellent article by John Stonestreet and G. Shane Morris on this issue which contains a helpful acronym to assist with conversations defending religious freedom:
"We’ve not seen in the United States, at least in recent memory, so many efforts to force Christians to act in ways that violate their consciences. Almost always, these demands are made in the name of sexual freedom—whether we’re talking about nuns being forced to provide contraception, bakers and florists having to participate in gay weddings, or adoption agencies being forced to place kids with same-sex couples . . .
Free is an acronym that can walk you through an intelligent conversation about religious liberty. F is for Forcing. Forcing people to go against their beliefs for no good reason is a bad thing. This is a premise that even most secular people should be able to get behind.
R stands for Reason. Is there a good reason to force a religious person to go against his or her belief in the case you’re discussing? And are there less burdensome alternatives to squashing this freedom, like using a bakery down the street or an adoption agency across town?
The first E is for Examples. Offer examples that the person you’re talking with may not have thought of or heard of. Should a Muslim t-shirt designer be forced to create shirts mocking the prophet Muhammad? Should an Orthodox Jewish club at a university be forced to admit Christians as officers? Should an LGBT baker be forced to bake a cake with anti-gay slogans?
The final E is one I think they’ll love: Equality. Christians who don’t agree with the new sexual orthodoxy should be equally free to live according to their faith, without being compelled to violate their consciences. Don’t hesitate to turn it around as a question: “If you think Muslims and Jews should have religious freedom in the examples we gave, why not Christians?”
Follow this link for the full article which includes recent research on the somewhat indifferent attitude toward religious freedom amongst the Christian community.
Unfortunately, the rise of the ungodly through-out our society is placing religious freedom at great risk. The answer to this challenge lies in the willingness of Christians to use the cherished freedom we still possess to fight for religious freedom. We must engage the issue in the public marketplace of ideas and we must continually point out the deficient thinking of those who wish to punish those whom they disagree with on spiritual and moral issues.
Here is a tease from an excellent article by John Stonestreet and G. Shane Morris on this issue which contains a helpful acronym to assist with conversations defending religious freedom:
"We’ve not seen in the United States, at least in recent memory, so many efforts to force Christians to act in ways that violate their consciences. Almost always, these demands are made in the name of sexual freedom—whether we’re talking about nuns being forced to provide contraception, bakers and florists having to participate in gay weddings, or adoption agencies being forced to place kids with same-sex couples . . .
Free is an acronym that can walk you through an intelligent conversation about religious liberty. F is for Forcing. Forcing people to go against their beliefs for no good reason is a bad thing. This is a premise that even most secular people should be able to get behind.
R stands for Reason. Is there a good reason to force a religious person to go against his or her belief in the case you’re discussing? And are there less burdensome alternatives to squashing this freedom, like using a bakery down the street or an adoption agency across town?
The first E is for Examples. Offer examples that the person you’re talking with may not have thought of or heard of. Should a Muslim t-shirt designer be forced to create shirts mocking the prophet Muhammad? Should an Orthodox Jewish club at a university be forced to admit Christians as officers? Should an LGBT baker be forced to bake a cake with anti-gay slogans?
The final E is one I think they’ll love: Equality. Christians who don’t agree with the new sexual orthodoxy should be equally free to live according to their faith, without being compelled to violate their consciences. Don’t hesitate to turn it around as a question: “If you think Muslims and Jews should have religious freedom in the examples we gave, why not Christians?”
Follow this link for the full article which includes recent research on the somewhat indifferent attitude toward religious freedom amongst the Christian community.
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