In my previous article, I pointed out how we have gotten to the point of same sex marriage. I also talked about the moral level of war and how it relates to that struggle. I am going to tie that in on this article and show some things that would be moral positives and negatives for the coming struggle over Freedom of Religion.
Let me reiterate here on what I mean by the Moral level of war. It is not to be mistaken with the moral absolutes that issue from God. It is, instead, the means and arguments used to convince the general population that your side is in the right ad to keep them there for as long as it takes to win. There are some that I have not listed on the moral negative side due to the fact that, as Christians, we will not be able to avoid those arguments that will be a public negative for us. As Christians, we still have moral absolutes from God to follow no matter if they fit in my list or not. A good example of this would be saying that you do not believe in same sex marriage and are opposed to it. In the public square, this has become a moral negative in the eyes of the public, but a Christian in good conscience cannot deny such a thing and will of course be first asked about this very thing to discredit. Sometimes you cannot get away from the moral negatives of public opinion, but that is something we will have to leave to God.
Even the list of moral negatives I give, will not be able to be avoided completely. Christians and the American right are like herding cats. Half of them are going to go off and do one thing and the rest will go doing others. Some of the things I mention are going to happen and will impact the debate, but in a free society, which is what we wish to keep, this will happen.
I am also including a list of moral neutrals. This list will be moral positives for your base (Christians), but will have little to do with the argument in the sphere of public opinion. I happen to think though that the list of moral neutrals could be the most important in a way as they will act to draw the family of God closer together even amongst denominations and create more unity.
Remember, this debate does not impact only Christians, but everyone in America whether they think it does or not. The erosion of one liberty eats at the base of the cliff of them all.
Moral Positives:
- Actively engage about Freedom of Religion. People are sympathetic, especially when it is a clearly recognized right that is being taken away. This is the most important thing we can do. Like was said in the trench run on Star Wars, "Stay on target."
- Civil disobedience in the cause of Freedom of religion. Imprisonments and finings are important things. Keep it in the context of your Freedom of religion. Organize protests when pastors or others are jailed and fined. Keep it in the public eye. Learn from the Civil Rights Movement and talk to those wise pastors who participated in it. they will probably be a fount of wisdom.
- Point out tactics meant to infringe on Freedoms. The LGBT lobby and allies have become increasingly intolerant of opposition and resistance. They sound like fascists because they are. They love big government and the power it gives them over their enemies. They will not hesitate to use this power to silence and cower you. Do not give in. Stand and speak back loudly. Freedom of religion is not the only thing on the line here. Freedom of Speech is also.
- Point out hypocrisy. Now some Christians will be fine with this and some won't. It depends on conscience, but to me is more in line with the conscience of eating food sacrificed to idols than anything else. They leave themselves wide open for this though and it is a weakness to be exploited. The #lovewins hashtag is a good example, while supposedly celebrating that "love wins" it was overwhelmed by hate for Christians and conservatives. This can be used. But, I would leave that to the conscience of the individual Christian.
Moral Negatives:
- Actively engage to change SCOTUS ruling on SSM. In general, people don't want to see people have things they perceive as rights taken away. This is a loser if we focus on this and not Freedom of Religion.
- Politically engaging in state based RFRA type bills. Indiana showed that LGBT lobby and their allies will go full out if the state looks to protect religion. The arguments against were absurd and ridiculous, but it was a loss. We already have an RFRA Law at the federal level and the First Amendment. We need to look to those. Keep it in the back of your mind also that state bills and votes affect little and are essentially useless when the judiciary overturns or legislates from the bench.
- Protesting against homosexuals or SSM. For the main part, WBC excluded, we do not do this anyways, but as passions get inflamed it could be possible that some would call for this. Resist this impulse.
- Don't let your movement be taken over by politicians if possible. The best way to garble a message is to let politicians be your spokesperson. Plus, for the main, they cannot be trusted to keep your interests at the forefront. Don't get me wrong, this struggle also exists in the political realm and must be engaged there to an extent, but the less involvement the better. Always remember how often pols change their minds. Allow them to catch up to your movement, not them to guide yours.
Moral Neutrals:
- Keep your congregations engaged. This is not just a pastor battle, this affects us all. Guide them and listen to them. Seek ideas.
- Network with like minded churches. Your biggest allies are those of like minds, even if they are of a different denomination. The best way to weaken yourself is to have little unit cohesion and to go Rambo.
- Think about starting funds to cover fines and bail. This can be done in the larger picture as like minded denominations support each other. We are all stronger together.
- Preach the Gospel and the Word. Don't avoid the issue, but preach the issue rightly.
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