More Info on Religious Liberty

Here’s a link to further information on the case of the Christian photographers in Colorado who have had their religious freedom stripped from them.

http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/23199

At the bottom of the article are a few more links to various stories concerning this case.

This is a case that has far-reaching implications and consequences. This is a case that can totally reinterpret our religious freedoms.

Here’s a potential worst-case scenario.

If this case gets to the U.S. Supreme Court and if the Supreme Court upholds this ruling in Colorado, how we conduct ourselves as Christians will be threatened. Soon your religious liberty will extend only to your house of worship. Once you step outside the doors of your church, your religious liberty will end. Your right to speak about God will end where the church walk meets the sidewalk.

If you are a Christian who owns a business, forget about conducting your business with an eye toward Christianity in mind. You, the owner of a private business, will not be able to refuse the service of your business to anyone.

It’s all a frightening scenario, but it is not long in coming.

More and Moore on the Christian Photogs

Here’s a follow up article on the couple who refused to photograph the commitment ceremony of a homosexual couple and then had their ears pinned back by the New Mexico Supreme Court.

 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=40969

The article provides more detail on the decision (with a few more incredible quotes from the “esteemed” justices and some reaction from SBC leaders.

One of the justices summed up some of his comments with this statement,

“Compromising religious beliefs is ‘a price ... we all have to pay somewhere in our civic life,’" Boson wrote.

All this is an indication of where religious liberty is heading in our country – down the liberal, progressive rabbit hole.

One of the statements of reaction from an SBC leader caught my attention also. Russell D. Moore, president of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, commented that the church's appropriate response should not be venting outrage at the decision but rekindling "in our own churches why religious liberty and freedom of conscience are essential for a free church and a free state. We've been here before, and we'll be here again."

What? That reads to me like we ought to take the punch; that we ought not to display any moral outrage.

Give me a break Dr. Moore. We ought to raise …. about this. When the schoolyard bully pushes you to the ground and you fall down and scrape your elbows, you get up and push the bully back. You don’t go home and reevaluate why the bully doesn’t like you.

 

We need to fight this battle in the cultural wars until we win or die trying.

Coming Soon to a Town Near You - Freedom from Religion

I haven’t had the opportunity to “blog” much lately, but this particular story really caught my attention and I thought it was vital that as many people as possible were aware of the story itself and the multitude of implications that are behind it.

It is illustrative of a number of counter-Christian social issues that are embodied in our laws today. It shows exactly the path down which the USA is travelling. Think of it as the Garmin of our moral direction.

You’ll want to read the story first here: http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=40958

BUT, before you hit the link, here’s the headline: Christian photogs must compromise beliefs.

Aside from the overall case itself, what is astonishing are the statements made by the members of the New Mexico Supreme Court. Here’s a sample.

"The Huguenins today can no more turn away customers on the basis of their sexual orientation -- photographing a same-sex marriage ceremony -- than they could refuse to photograph African-Americans or Muslims," Justice Richard Bosson wrote in the court's unanimous decision.

If that doesn’t make your head spin and your blood boil, well then …

And with this statement Bosson has just wiped away the First Amendment. He has reinterpreted the Constitution to mean to “freedom from religion.”

The next step in New Mexico (and eventually the USA) will be the state dictating to churches when to meet, where to meet and what to believe.

Let’s hope the Alliance Defending Freedom does appeal this case to the U.S. Supreme Court and the they agree to hear it. A decision on this case will point out to us the direction of our nation.