Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
So are the words, some of the finest words ever written, words that express basic freedoms perhaps better than any others, in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. My fellow Americans, the First Amendment is the basis of our freedom as democratic people, citizens of the greatest nation in all of history, the United States of America.
A recent poll revealed that less than 10% of high school and college students know the precious contents of the First Amendment and those constitutionally ignorant 90% really have no concept, no understanding with respect to those basic freedoms. That is especially so with regard to religion.
There seems to be some general belief that there is an equally general right to worship, or perhaps even to practice religion but few seem to understand the ramifications, the real meaning of the First Amendment and the religious freedoms it guarantees. Even fewer realize that there are serious attacks on religion, religious speech, the practice of religion and the influence and impact of religion in America. So many of the younger generation are a-religious with little or no faith and little or no practice of religion in a formal way. Therefore, religious freedoms or the restrictions or abridgment on religious freedoms including expression and practice mean little to them nor is there any concern. Let the church and people of faith fight their own battles. And the battles for freedom of religion, the practice of religion, and the exercise of religion have only just begun.
Hear the words again, my fellow Americans:
CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF.
In short, Congress, make no law, no law of any kind which in any way creates preferences for, respecting, any religion so that there can never be the establishment of a specific religion, as there is in Great Britain, in the United States of America. We call that THE ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE and it seems as though we have never had to be concerned about that. In fact, it is just the opposite in this country where Congress, and especially our President are busy at work with what may be called the dis-establishment of religion in America, anything from the limitation of or even the eradication of religion in the public square of America.
But the secular and radical attack coming from atheists and all those who wish to eradicate religion from the public square centers upon this part of the First Amendment:
PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF
So the real question is:
WHAT IS THE EXERCISE OF RELIGION?
There are no limits to that exercise. Therefore, there can be no restrictions, no prohibitions, nothing which prevents the building of churches, the worship as one pleases, the expression of belief, the testimony of faith, whether verbally in communication, in written form in the press, FREEDOM OF PRESS, the wearing of apparel including crosses and burkas and the Star of David, and otherwise, bringing RELIGION full bore into the public square. Get out of the way, Congress, and you the President, especially you the one professing to be a Christian. Get out of the way and do nothing, NOTHING which would prevent the free exercise of religion in any way, shape or form. So says the First Amendment.
But for the last seven years, Obama and his Administration have ignored the plain, direct and mandatory words of the First Amendment and done whatever they please to erode, limit and otherwise eviscerate the religious rights of the First Amendment. Congress seems indifferent, passive, allowing this President to drive his agenda without congressional reaction or response. It seems as though secularists rule the day and Obama seems to be their champion, either actively and aggressively, or passively and indirectly. Obama, sworn to be the chief defender of the Constitution, is in fact the chief deconstructionist of the Constitution and especially the First Amendment. Obama does really nothing for people of faith other than to erode their God-given rights to EXERCISEreligion granted by the First Amendment. So the fight for religious freedom begins in earnest. If you are a person of faith, you are in that fight whether you know it or not, or whether you like it or not. It is time for you and all of us, people of faith to stand up, fight back, defend, proudly defend our rights as Americans under the First Amendment to champion our religious freedoms. ChampionTHE FIRST AMENDMENT!
Perhaps the chief constitutional struggle under the First Amendment is the battle between:
SEXUAL LIBERTY AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
The Supreme Court of the United States in the form of five justices has declared that gay marriage is a national constitutional right, no matter that there is no language or even any remote reference to any such right. In their infinite wisdom, our Founding Fathers had neglected to include that right in the Constitution, should have, and now it is such a right. As-is abortion, a Constitutional right. As are any number of other sexual preferences including all things transgender, all of which newfound rights need to trump religious rights under the First Amendment. In any event, these newfound Constitutional rights go head to head, battle religious rights, and of course the free exercise thereof and eventually, my fellow Americans, one or the other must win out.
If gay marriage is now a constitutional right, which in turn validates perhaps in most if not all ways the gay agenda, then all such rights must be respected, adhered to and in no way abridged by religious persons and entities as they go about practicing religion, orEXERCISING their religious rights. You can be certain that this battle, this clash and conflict of rights will end up on church doorsteps. There are those churches who honor the Bible, the Torah of the Old Testament and the admonitions of Paul in the New Testament who will not admit homosexuals to fellowship nor marry them. Sooner or later, the courts will need to decide whether or not the newly found homosexual constitutional right would require churches to marry or otherwise bend theology, valued moral religious principles, give up those constitutional rights granted by the First Amendment to adherence to such religious principles and be required to adopt and abide by the new constitutional rights, expression and requirements of gay marriage and the gay agenda. Count on that fight happening. Churches and other religious entities may be required by law, constitutionally backed, to hire openly gay employees or run the risk of lawsuits of discrimination. When that battle begins in earnest, one of those clashing and conflicting constitutional rights will win, the other will lose. They can not coexist, cooperate or compromise. Unless people of faith including and especially their religious leaders, pastors, boards of directors, clergy everywhere stand tall, aggressively so for what they believe, and in the case of Judaism and Christianity, or the scriptural admonitions they follow, they will lose the battle and watch the ever-growing evisceration of First Amendment religious freedoms.
There is the militant, angry, aggressive side of LGBT and you can be certain they will take every possible action whether legal, economic, social or otherwise to win the First Amendment battles. They will attack churches, ministries, non-profits wherever possible, especially those churches and those entities exercising freedom of religion who are duty bound by Scripture with respect to homosexuality. They will attack denominations, Christian schools and be aggressive in the workplace to make certain there is no alleged discrimination as they would define it with respect to the LGBT agenda. The First Amendment battles have only just begun, my fellow Americans. Only just begun. The clash of liberties will be loud and reverberating all across America, even the world. If you are person of faith, be ready for the fight.
That fight has already begun. In Philadelphia, a teacher at a Catholic school was discharged because she was openly gay, a practicing and avowed lesbian. That was so all the while she claimed to be fully Catholic and following Catholic doctrine which, at least to this point, has opposed gay marriage in every form. Of course, the inevitable lawsuit ensued which is the first step in requiring the Catholic Church to stand tall, defend its longstanding doctrine and stay consistent with Scripture, or otherwise begin to think in terms of compromise and change in doctrine. We are told the new Pope wishes input, advice, and current opinion with respect to the gay agenda and gay marriage. If the Roman Catholic Church with its hundreds of millions of members compromises its own doctrine, and in America fails to stand tall for the EXERCISE OF RELIGION as the Catholic Church has defined it, the First Amendment religious rights of all Americans are further at risk.
Now comes another movement which challenges the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of churches and other religious organizations which fail to honor and abide by this new Constitutional right for homosexuality. Compromise, forsake the commands of Scripture and otherwise adopt a practice of INCLUSION, full inclusion and the recognition of all rights or lose your tax-exemption. That battle is brewing, will be fought, and will become legally aggressive, perhaps for years.
There have been attempts to ban the wearing of a necklace which contains a cross. The mere symbol of religion, a cross occasioned fanatic secularists to legally attack. There have also been, believe it or not, the attempts to ban the use of Bible verses in public reports. That is so whether the actual verse is quoted or the content and meaning of the verse used in context. No matter the First Amendment provides the Constitutional right of unabridged FREEDOM OF PRESS, writings as anyone wishes, fanatic secularists want to ban, excise the use of the Bible and its verses in print everywhere possible. It happens in America, my fellow Americans, the so-called land of the brave and the free which is becoming less free every day.
And of course there is the banning of prayer in public places, in schools, political meetings, governmental assemblies, and of course the military. Students are forbidden in pray in school, publicly and aloud, no matter the First Amendment, political assemblies are not allowed to begin with prayer in so many cases, whether federal or state, and the attack has even gotten to the point where there is constant action to excise the words:
UNDER GOD
In the Pledge of Allegiance. The attack at every level is brutal, consistent, aggressive and uncompromising. So that, if people of faith wish to continue to live under the protections and the rights granted by the First Amendment with respect to religious liberty, the freedom to exercise that faith, there is no choice but to:
STAND UP
And fight the fight of faith. And fight it now, and fight it aggressively. Rather than sit back, react, and wait to be attacked legally or otherwise, it is now time to be proactive, to assert those rights, TO EXERCISE THEM in every way. To be loud, vocal, and aggressive whether in thought, word or speech in the public square. Not just within the four walls of a church, but:
EVERYWHERE
It is time to really stand for what you believe, for your First Amendment rights, for FREEDOM OF RELIGION. It is time to take the fight to the secular enemy and not simply wait to be attacked and defend when that radical secularist attacks. If you are against abortion, stand tall. Fight the fight of faith verbally and in action. If you do not believe in gay marriage or the gay agenda, stand tall, fight the fight of faith. If you do not believe in euthanasia or assisted suicide, make it known. If you are against the IRS, the non-Christian position of the Obama Administration, make it known to politicians, to your representatives, and to this President himself.
IT IS TIME TO STAND TALL AND TAKE THE FIGHT TO THE ENEMY!
It is time for all of us to stand and defend our rights as Americans under the First Amendment and to not only champion, but exercise the rights, the religious rights granted by the First Amendment. Defend them, exercise them, or lose them.
Hear the words once again, my fellow Americans:
CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF.
The free exercise of religion and all that that means erodes every day. That happens because you allow it to happen, and so do I. We are intimidated, insulted, threatened and made to feel guilty by an intelligent, aggressive enemy. An enemy that stands tall for abridging or eliminating:
THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION
Don’t let it happen, my fellow Americans. Don’t let it happen. I suggest you start by urging, even requiring your religious leaders, your pastors, all those in a position of leadership in the religious community of which you are a part. Requiring them to stand tall, to be aggressive, to champion the faith and religious rights. But more. You, YOU, must be enlisted in the cause. No matter who you are or what you do, you are a soldier in the army of faith. Stand up and stand tall, and speak loud for your religious rights under the First Amendment.
Do it now or lose it now. When good men and women abandon the political arena, the evil take over. Get back in that political arena and defend your rights. Again, do it now or lose them now!