You Better Keep Your Eyes Open

Religious bigotry leads to religious persecution – and the level of religious bigotry that exists in modern American society is palpable. If you don’t believe it, then you have your head stuck in the sand.

Are you aware that in the 2012 Democrat Party platform, they literally removed the word “God” because they specifically didn’t want to acknowledge Him in their platform document?

Are you aware that at the 2016 Democrat Party convention, a large contingent of delegates loudly heckled a preacher as he was delivering a prayer for them

Now you may immediately be wondering why in the world I am bringing up politics – and several year old politics, at that. Well, I am not. I have not said anything about politics. What I have mentioned is a group of people who were, themselves, engaged in political activity, but what I have spoken of is not a political matter, it is a religious one.

There is a reason, though, that I have brought this up in this context. The reason is that the people who lead in the political arena have the power to suppress people they don’t agree with if they choose to do so. Sadly, when it comes to the matter of religious liberty, it is people in the Democrat Party who have chosen to try and suppress those they disagree with. And while they may look at it as a political matter, it is actually a spiritual one.

Let me illustrate this further. When the U.S. Senate was holding a confirmation hearing for Brian Buescher to become a judge for the U.S. District Court in Nebraska in early 2020, two senators asked questions that betrayed a huge religious bigotry. As it turns out, Buescher is a committed Roman Catholic and a member of the Knights of Columbus – a Catholic charitable organization. Mazie Hirono, Democrat from Hawaii, and Kamala Harris, Democrat from California, asked him if he would end his membership in the Knights of Columbus should he be confirmed. Their stated reason for asking this had to do with the fact that the Roman Catholic church is anti-abortion and believes in traditional marriage. To them, these Christian beliefs were disqualifying for a judge. In other words, “Christians need not apply” for public service in America. (And this is just one example of this kind of political bullying. MANY more could be listed.)

Interestingly, many of the people who are on this anti-Christian crusade don’t seem to recognize the religious nature of their own beliefs. They, like the two senators mentioned above, honestly believe that since they don’t believe in God, that they are not religious. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. They may not believe in God (or at least the God of the Bible), but they do believe in something – and whatever it is, they believe it by faith as a matter of religious conviction. The pro-abortion belief is a religious belief. The belief that non-traditional family structures are right is a religious belief. These people are not merely trying to, as they often claim, separate church and state. No, they are trying to institute their own religious faith as the default basis for the moral belief foundation of American society.

The problem, though, is not simply in the fact that they have a different faith. Other faiths have pretty much always existed to some degree in American society. The problem is that these anti-Christian politicians are trying to promote their faith by forcing Christians to renounce their’s. And in the incident mentioned above, they were trying to do it using bullying tactics in a situation where they held levers of power. This is full blown religious bigotry – and full blown religious persecution.

It really doesn’t surprise me to see this kind of thing happening. It is certainly greatly disappointing, but not surprising. It is not surprising because what these senators (and others like them) are doing is completely consistent with the naturalistic worldview they hold. They cling to a set of beliefs that embrace the Law of the Jungle, and whose ethic is based on “the ends justifies the means.” In other words, they believe that if they have the power to enforce their own beliefs and preferences, they think it is perfectly okay to do whatever necessary to make it happen.

There is only one real solution for Christians who wish to push back on this, and it is not to use the tactics of the atheistic Naturalists. We don’t believe in the Law of the Jungle. Nor do we believe that the ends justify the means. We believe in the truth of the Gospel, and that God has the power to change the lives of those who don’t know him if they but hear and respond to its message. The solution is the power of God working in those people’s lives.

But it won’t just happen by itself. God has called believers to partner with him to share the life-giving message of Christ. We have the responsibility to share Christ with those who don’t know him. And if we are not willing to learn how to do that and boldly go out and actually do it, we deserve the retribution that is coming our way. Just like our nation gets the political leaders we deserve because we vote for them, we will get the kind of faith environment we deserve because of how we respond to God’s calling to share our faith.

In the meantime, you better keep your eyes open if you wish to live out your faith in this society. Those wishing to assault you are already out there doing it.

Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah. 

You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.

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