You Can Spit on God, But Don't You Dare Affirm Him

Is this the worst of times for Christianity? Perhaps it would be wrong to say it is the worst of times, but it can be said with certainty that Christians in the U.S. are experiencing a real, if subtle, persecution for their beliefs. Crisscrossing our country like a ravenous flame is the hatred of the atheists, the "gay" activists, the ACLU, and the secularists, who are launching attacks against the Christian religion. The reasons are simple: By suppressing the moral teachings of Christianity, the "gays" will have little opposition to their homosexual agenda; pro-abortionists will no longer struggle against the prolife movement; scientists will be free to use fertilized embryos for stem cell research; euthanasia will become a way of life — or make that death. (If you are sick, tired, maimed, handicapped, or just too old, suicide will be the approved solution.) Christians are the roadblock to these wanton desires and therefore are the recipients of persecution. Sadly, many Christians do little more than silently watch and wring their hands and comply and capitulate.

The atheists and secularists are on the march, with the goal of wiping out all references to God from the public arena. Be assured, atheists are well organized in the promotion of their anti-religion agenda. Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheist, said Christians have plenty of churches and places where they can pray and practice their religion; it is not necessary for religion to pollute the public domain. An illustration of their persistence and determination is the controversial atheist Michael Newdow and his campaign to exclude the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" from our currency. The First Amendment is the legal whip they use to convince judges that any public reference to religion is unconstitutional and unfit for public viewing.

The First Amendment never intended, nor does it presently intend, that any mention of God or Jesus Christ in public prayer is just cause for men to scurry to the highest court in the land with the sole intent of muting Christians' public mention of God. The reason our Founding Fathers came to these shores was to flee governments that enforced an established state religion and persecuted anyone who did not proclaim that belief — in other words, they came for religious liberty. Our civic ancestors felt it was paramount that this should never happen in America and, as a safeguard, wrote the First Amendment to the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...." Could they ever have imagined that their civic progeny would so distort the interpretation of this Amendment that it would destroy the very religious liberty they were trying to protect?

If our Founding Fathers' sole intent was to delete God and prayer from the town square, they would not have lavished Washington, D.C., with religious paintings, statues of religious figures, Scripture quotes referencing God, and numerous displays of the Ten Commandments. Nor did they consider saying a prayer at the beginning of each session in the House and Senate a violation of the freedom they sought to establish and protect. James Madison underscored the importance of Christian values to our nation's founding when he said, "We stake the future of this country on our ability to govern ourselves under the principles contained in the Ten Commandments." Our civic ancestors did not think that including God in their daily pursuits as public figures or as private citizens was wrong or politically incorrect; they simply considered it the exercise of their newfound freedom to do so. Apparently, our Founding Fathers and early statesman did not interpret the First Amendment in quite the same way as our present-day liberal judges.

Sadly, no one seems to mind when God's name is used as a repulsive expletive on TV or in the movies. This is quite acceptable to the unbeliever, never mind that it deeply offends Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Perhaps we should pass a law that every time God's name is violated the offender must pay a fine whose proceeds go to the churches of America. If such a law passed, the atheists and secularists would race to the nearest courthouse. Yet they feel it is perfectly O.K. to stifle the free speech of Christians.

The ACLU is always ready to send its battalion of legal beavers to prosecute the so-called unconstitutional mention of God in our schools, our courthouses, our military, our Pledge of Allegiance, and on our currency. If private organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America have the audacity to include God and His principles in their creed, they can expect the iron boot of the ACLU to kick down their door. If a city's logo carries any reference to religion, regardless how innocuous, the bullies will demand that the city change its logo. A good example is the lawsuit filed against the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico (in Spanish las cruces means "the crosses"), which claims that the three crosses on the city's official emblem are religious symbols and therefore unconstitutional. The lawsuit, filed by Paul F. Weinbaum, a member of the Las Cruces chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Martin J. Boyd, claims the crosses make them feel like second-class citizens. This is the second attempt to remove the crosses from the city's emblem. The first lawsuit was brought by the ACLU in 2003, which, when challenged by the city fathers, dropped the suit. The same charges were brought against the city of Los Angeles (in Spanish los angeles means "the angels") to remove one small cross from the city emblem. Los Angeles gave up without so much as a murmur, and spent thousands of the taxpayers' dollars to remove that one tiny cross.

These morality misfits do not give up easily and will not be happy until they wipe America clean of God and any symbols representing religion. Now, more than ever, is the time to challenge this reprehensible malice.

The beat of the hoofs thunders on, until all is lost; all is gone.

By Donna R. LaPlante

http://www.newoxfordreview.org/article.jsp?did=0207-laplante