Ron Boyd-MacMillian concludes his two-part analysis of religious freedom in our country:
“Freedom is fragile,” she said. “Religious freedom is not about having the right laws to protect belief—that’s a myth put out by the human rights community. No, religious freedom is protected not by laws, but by a climate of respect and openness that ensures the laws are correctly applied. A toleration law, for example, can be used for or against Christians. Christians always have to fight to ensure the climate is tolerant.”
She added, “I don’t care what country or state you live in, you also live in a culture that hates Christ. That’s your fight, and every Christian on the earth has the same fight, whether you belong to a so-called Christian society or not.”
She was right. A climate of prejudice against Christians has crept up by stealth in western cultures, even in apparently Christian ones. We are in a battle in our own backyard. Thank you, persecuted church, for awakening me to the fight!
As Ron writes, we are in a battle even at home. It doesn’t take much insight—or even imagination—to assess the direction of the moral slide in our free societies, especially in the Western world. Biblical values are disappearing and secular philosophies with a pseudo-biblical aura are fast taking their place.
As I’ve travelled and spoken in western countries, it is not uncommon to have folk share with me how they lost their employment because of their faith. They had not been obnoxious nor spending company time witnessing. They had simply expressed their support for biblical principles that were being violated. Jesus warns in our scripture today that this treatment is because of His name. Let’s make sure that it is not because we refuse to be His salt and light.