Why is religious freedom at risk?

[OldSchool2]

from First Things:

"In recent political memory, religious liberty was a value that brought together conservatives, libertarians, and progressives. As recently as 1993, the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act was passed by a nearly unanimous Congress and signed by a Democratic president. Today, the same value is a political liability. Bakers, photographers, and florists are being ruined, adoption agencies shuttered, schools threatened with loss of accreditation and nonprofit status. So what happened? Why is religious liberty now losing so much ground?..."

http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2015/07/why-is-religious-freedom-at-risk-3-historical-developments-explain-it

[Zemke]

I kind of look at it like this:

Rock and roll, the world is really good at it, the church never will be as good as the world at rock and roll, but a copy, and most of the time not very good. And we shouldn't really try actually.

Political activism, the world does things their way and very good at it, as destructive as it sometimes is they are still good at it. The church, well we copy and get pretty good at it but should we? It's the way of this world, is it not?

A big reason the force of liberalism has gained unreasonable, illogical control, which can be seen on a surface level as the article would wax on about as many conservative religious articles have done for many years with no real effect other than another arguing point as the liberal machine marches onward, is the temporal, physical battle in the flesh the church has engagded in with great glee and self serving reverence for at least my life time. We quote scripture about the battle belonging to the Lord and our weapons of warfare not being carnal and yet what do we see and what do we do? Instead of birth clinics being established everywhere an abortion clinic is established we see signs and banners and petitions, which by the way politicians pay no mind to, and money to politicians and lying politicians saying ya ya ya I'll work for you decade after decade and yet here we are.

We have inadvertantly, with our own form of political gaming, created an opposing political force that apposes biblical standards because the religious right has scared he crap out of people. Fundamentalists Christians are not to control the law and government of Salem and neither is the druid.  A basic simplistic perspective of church and state. After all what does history have for us in the way of church controling the state? The so called church has killed many believers from controls implimented by a worldly insane calvin dogma garbage right right right mental machine. The world is far better at being the world than the church. We are called out of this world, we are the "called out ones".

Instead of hitting our faces, satclothe and ashes stuff when roe v wade came about and recognized our carnal comfortable leaodecian life and repenting we became political activists and things have simply progressively gotten even worse. This world, this present age, is far better at politics than the church will ever be. We have a king we serve in a kingdom that is and has and is to come. 

I'm actually sick of the retreaded conservative religious right humfra,  we got the rights give us our rights your wrong we are right fight fight fight garbage. Doesn't work and never will. Just look at the last forty years. Men with men, women with women, and in the church, we are loosing in our arena, the spiritual, and no end in sight, temporally speaking that is.  Jesus is all we have. "The nations have gone mad."

What's that saying people have been passing around about Einstein and insanity?

 

 

 

[OldSchool2]

3 hours ago, Zemke said:

I kind of look at it like this:

Rock and roll, the world is really good at it, the church never will be as good as the world at rock and roll, but a copy, and most of the time not very good. And we shouldn't really try actually.

Political activism, the world does things their way and very good at it, as destructive as it sometimes is they are still good at it. The church, well we copy and get pretty good at it but should we? It's the way of this world, is it not?

A big reason the force of liberalism has gained unreasonable, illogical control, which can be seen on a surface level as the article would wax on about as many conservative religious articles have done for many years with no real effect other than another arguing point as the liberal machine marches onward, is the temporal, physical battle in the flesh the church has engagded in with great glee and self serving reverence for at least my life time.....

The article presents a less anecdotal reason, e.g., a change in the scope of our government.

"... The progressive movement gave us the administrative state. Limited government and the rule of law were replaced by the nearly unlimited reach of technocrats in governmental agencies. As government assumes responsibility for more areas of life, the likelihood of its infringing on religious liberty increases. Why should government be telling bakers and florists which weddings to serve in the first place? Why should it tell charities and religious schools how to operate and which values to teach? Only a swollen sense of unaccountable government authority can explain these changes."

[kwikphilly]

Good article Old School

Quote

First, government has changed. Second, sexual values have changed. Third, religious liberty has changed. Our Constitution protects the natural right to the free exercise of religion. But some liberals are trying to drastically narrow that right by redefining it as the mere “freedom of worship.” If they succeed, the robust religious freedom that made American civil society the envy of the world will be reduced to Sunday-morning piety confined within the four walls of a chapel. They have even gone so far as to rewrite the U.S. immigration exam to say that the First Amendment protects “freedom of worship” rather than the “free exercise of religion.”True religious liberty entails the freedom to live consistently with one’s beliefs seven days a week—in the chapel, in the marketplace, and in the public square.

I hope it is okay that I copied the 3 reasons they gave & expounding on the 3rd,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I see the 1st & 3rd reason the as the same(gov't)

                                                                                          With love-in Christ,Kwik

[Willa]

The biggest changes have been those in the Supreme Court that have not upheld our freedom to practice our faith.  

[Kan]

It comes down to the role of government.

The only reason people need government is because of the lack of self government.

Government is a necessary evil, both for the Lord God and the enemy.

The history of the world viewed correctly, is a battle between Christ and Satan to manage people, the one for freedom and justice, the other for corruption and oppression, while pretending to be for freedom and justice.

God cannot and will not lie or deceive, He will not manipulate situations or people to any purpose like the enemy does. But He has the advantage of Wisdom and Foresight.

 

The Devil plays on the whole need and strength of government relying on centralized populations, a population with shared needs and resources. It has never been God's will for people to live in great cities, but to be more dispersed and independent. The tower of Babel was the opposite of God's ideal. 

The Devil is not against ideals, because they become the excuse to enforce them, and enforcement is not God's plan either, but here a necessary evil.

God works with what mankind does, for the good of society. But in the end He will pulverize the nations for their stupidity and cruelty, because they invariably slay the younger brother Abel.

 

 

[kwikphilly]

Blessings Kan.....

    Very interesting(& true) perspective,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I believe it all does come down to the role gov't also(religious freedom at risk),,,,of course,God is allowing it for the fulfillment of prophecy,these things must come to pass(as you say "necessary evil")    just like Judas Iscariot's role,,,,,,

                                                                                            To God be ALL Glory                   With love-in Christ,Kwik