CHRISTIAN FREEDOM OF SPEECH BESIEGED (continued)

Recently, a reverend from an Oceanside church was criticized for expressing his God-given belief that homosexuality is wrong.  This is just one of many examples that the freedom of Christian speech is under siege. Not only is the freedom of speech threatened, the ultimate freedom - the freedom to believe and to act upon protected speech - is not safe from outside impingement.

Secular humanism is striving to replace traditional values of parents and the Judeo-Christian ethic as the moral base for society.  Sadly, secularists have instilled in the public consciousness the idea that separation of church and state means censorship of religion and Christians' right of free speech.

In a dissenting opinion regarding the failed Kentucky mandate to allow the posting of the Ten Commandments in schools, Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote, "The Establishment Clause does not require that the public sector be insulated from all things which may have a religious significance or origin."

Many groups that have fought for civil liberties attempt to ban ideas with a link to the Bible because they do not fit their agenda.  They would rather delete the opposition than debate them.

Secular humanism has become the one tolerable worldly religion that defines its own utopia and then adapts its own values, which seem to be subject to change.

Anything for which there can be found a rational argument - abortion, sexual amorality or euthanasia - is espoused.

Humanists try to sell the old myth of phony neutrality that instructs people to never pass judgment on another's risk-taking.  This is validated amorality - the belief that situations are beyond any discernment of being moral or immoral.

This view incorrectly assumes that children can navigate through life without a starting point of convictions.  Humanists deny an Eternal Being and acknowledge only what their own brand of rationality and the senses can explain.

Before the Defense of Marriage Act vote, our pastor made the statement, "God gave to Adam Eve, not Steve."  Would that Oceanside councilwoman verbally bash my pastor too?

Scripture is clear that God created the institution of marriage, and He intended it to be between one man and one woman.  An overwhelming majority of Californians agree.

The Bible tells us that homosexual practice is just like any other sin; it separates us from the grace of God.

What great hope there is in knowing that even the greatest sinners can be made righteous in Christ, if they will simply accept his offer of grace and forgiveness. 

Regrettably, the idea of a God who wants to save us by providing salvation and forgiveness of our sins seems to restrict man and is viewed as detrimental to those in our society who would rather place their trust in the humanist agenda.

When it comes to realizing the truth about living a meaningful, fulfilling life, knowing God and one's eternal spiritual destiny, who has a person's best interests at heart; the humanist or the Christian?  One might want to heed Jesus' admonition in Mark 8:36, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?"

Christine J. Watson

Wednesday, February 28, 2001

North County Times