America needs to
prepare for a major governmental assault on religious liberty in the wake of
the Supreme Court’s marriage ruling, but those standing against the tide can
find plenty of inspiration from those who pioneered the concept of religious
freedom at the American founding.
Michael Farris is co-founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association and author of “The
History of Religious Liberty.”
The book details the fierce fight for the religious freedom provisions that
eventually emerged in the First Amendment to the Constitution.
Farris said history is critical to understand in the wake of
the marriage decision and the brand new threats to liberty being advocated on
the political left.
The day after the Obergefell v. Hodges decision was handed
down, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., told MSNBC she believed religious liberty
was a much narrower concept than has been understood for centuries.
“Certainly the First Amendment says that in institutions of
faith that there is absolute power to, you know, to observe deeply held
religious beliefs,” Baldwin said. “But I don’t think it extends far beyond
that. We’ve seen the set of arguments play out in issues such as access to contraception.”
She added, “Should it be the individual pharmacist whose
religious beliefs guides whether a prescription is filled? In this context,
they’re talking about expanding this far beyond our churches and synagogues to
businesses and individuals across this country. I think there are clear limits
that have been set in other contexts, and we ought to abide by those in this
new context across America.”
Farris is dumbfounded at Baldwin’s reading of the First
Amendment.
“The ignorance of members of Congress and the U.S. Senate
never ceases to baffle me. How did they get there in the first place without
taking a basic civics course? Or maybe they have and they just don’t believe
it,” Farris said. “This senator has just simply walked away from not only the
text of the Constitution and the meaning of the Constitution but our great
American traditions.”
In fact, Farris believes Baldwin’s concept of religious
liberty is almost completely backward.
“It is an institutional right,” he said. “Churches have
religious freedom, but it’s primarily an individual right. The Supreme
Court – back in the day when it used to think straight –
would say things like it’s not up to the government or the courts to determine
which individual within a faith has correctly understood the demands of that
faith. You’re allowed to go your own way.”
In response to the court decision, Govs. Greg Abbott, R-Texas,
and Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, have announced their states will vigorously
protect the religious liberty of the people. Farris applauds the efforts but
warns those policies won’t stop all government intrusion into Americans’ lives
or the practices of religious institutions.
“That’s a good thing. It limits the areas where a church or
a school can expect an attack. But a Christian college residing in one of those
states can still expect an attack from the IRS or from the accrediting
association or from the U.S. Department of Education if they don’t go along
with the federal edicts on this,” said Farris, who warned schools and churches
would be wise to protect themselves legally now given the dire warnings offered
in the dissents to the Obergefell decision.
“We have four justices on the Supreme Court effectively
warning all the religious institutions, ‘You better do something about this
because trouble’s coming.’ I don’t think that’s an idle speculation,” he said.
“That’s about as strong of a warning from about as high a source as you can
possibly get.”
Listen to the WND/Radio America
interview with Michael Farris:
Source:http://www.wnd.com/2015/07/4-supremes-alert-america-trouble-is-coming/
1 comment:
What is the "Christian flag"? Is it the flag that Jesus fought for so that it would shine brightly above the insignia of the Roman empire? Naaah. Is it the old banner that Europeam crusaders carried into the Holy land before they slaughtered thousands of infidels? Is it a copy of the German flag of WW I that priests blessed; German soldiers shouted "God with us!". No, I doubt that this priest raised the Reichskriegsflagge. Is God looking at this man and nodding relieved: Finally someone is taking a stand for my cause. Boy, what is your idea of Christianity, that you really think it matters, that a piece of cloth is hanging up there above another piece of Cloth. All is vanity the preacher said. Shame on you, thinking that a God might care about such idle things. Shame on you!
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