Last Sunday, I went to church, morning and evening. This morning, I read the Bible in my home. Our family car has an “icthus” fish symbol on its tailgate.
And so on.
None of these things is exceptional for tens of millions of American Christians. We are not monitored and our lives are not at risk. We can reside where we choose, purchase any goods or services we desire, travel without restriction.
So why is Marco Rubio, the Republican Senator from Florida running for his party’s presidential nomination, saying “we are at the water's edge of the argument that mainstream Christian teaching is hate speech?” Consider:
- Christianity teaches eternal destruction (read that, hell) for those without the Savior it heralds.
- Christianity teaches that all men and women are sinners by nature and by choice.
- Christianity teaches that there's only one way to God -- Jesus Christ.
- Christianity teaches that all other professed ways to God are false.
- Christianity teaches that sexual intimacy is reserved solely for one man, one woman marriage.
These beliefs run counter to the increasingly insistent demands of the secular Left that Christians be quiet and go along with the agenda of progressivism and its desire for complete religious quietism. Telling people that without Jesus, they are bound for eternal punishment can be hard in itself, but in a culture where “niceness” and being religiously innocuous are seen as paramount virtues, doing so is not just anachronistic and intrusive but, at the least, “microagressive.” Or, as Sen. Rubio put it, “hate speech.”
As Adam J. White, writing in The Weekly Standard, observes, “concerted efforts by the administration and its allies not just to create and enforce a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, but to go still further and force third parties—such as the proverbial photographers and bakers—to personally and directly facilitate such weddings, raise increasingly stark questions of religious freedom under federal and state law.”
Myriad examples abound of various spokespersons of the iron-fisted Left telling believers to pipe down and/or change the tenets of their faiths. It’s enough to say that not to proclaim truth, winsomely but clearly and without embarrassment, is loveless. And since Christians are to be known by their love (John 17;22-23), how can we be silent and remain faithful?
Even if our love is called hate.
Sincerely,
Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice-President
Family Research Council
P.S. Be sure to watch FRC’s latest lecture, featuring Dr. John Eastman, on “Cutural Imperialism and the Obama Administration.”
Human Dignity and Sanctity of Life
Abortion
- Appeal reverses earlier decision against Radiance Foundation, One News Now
- The Wrong Way to Respond to Critics – First Things
- Pope Francis: “Scourge of Abortion is an Attack on Life” - Breitbart
- Kansas Passes Pro-Life Bill to Ban Webcam Abortions, Protect Women – Life News
Adoption
- Adoption is a journey of faith – Tri-City (Washington) Herald
- Foster care adoption: impacting the next generation – Mission Network News
Assisted Suicide
- ‘Assisted suicide’ is still killing – Mercator.net
- Wording increases/decreases support for assisted suicide, Gallup finds – National Right to Life
- California Senate Committee Passes Bill to Legalize Assisted Suicide – LifeNews.com
Obamacare
- Federal court rules Notre Dame must pay for birth control, abortifacients – The College Fix
- ObamaCare: Health Insurance Gets Worse, But You’re Not Allowed to Complain About It Any More - Breitbart
Marriage & Family
Economy and the family
- How Broken Families Rob Children of their Chance for Future Prosperity - Heritage
- Families are the real issue for opportunity, not inequality - American Enterprise Institute
- Childlessness Falls, Family Size Grows Among Highly Educated Women - Pew Research Center
- Agent of Economic Development & the Fundamental Safety Net - MARRI
- Helping Black Men Thrive – National Affairs
- Labor Pains: Why the Birth Rate Is Down and What That Means – The Daily Signal
- The Unrealized Horrors of Population Explosion – New York Times
Fatherhood and Motherhood
- Do We Need More Reasons Not to Have Babies? – ERLC
- Motherhood as Crucible – Focus on the Family
Homosexuality and Gender Issues
- Bruce ‘Caitlyn’ Jenner Needs Our Prayers, Not Our Applause, National Review
- The Radical Simplicity of Vanity Fair’s Cover – The Atlantic
- Non-Marital Families and (or After?) Marriage Equality - Indiana University Maurer School of Law
- Vatican Official Denounces Ireland’s Vote for Same-Sex Marriage - The New York Times
- Scouting the Wrong Side of History - Canon and Culture
- Possible Boy Scout gay leadership change has religious groups weighing options – Religion News Service
- Maybe you haven’t noticed: God made two sexes – The Cripplegate
- Transgender Troubles in the Church – Juicy Ecumenism
- Cronyism Doesn’t Just Infect Markets It Infects Culture - The Federalist
Human Trafficking
- America’s Newest War – Politico Magazine
- House restores funding for human trafficking victim services – The Hill
Marriage
- In Defense of Natural Marriage – The Week
- Is Judge Granade scared of Alabama’s pushback on marriage?, Family Research Council
- The Constitutionality of Traditional Marriage – Heritage
- The Future of Sex: It Gets Better - The Wall Street Journal
Pornography
- U.S. Appeals Court Upholds Law Designed to Stop Exploitation of Children in Pornography – National Center on Sexual Exploitation
- 'Porn Kills' Event Tackles Addiction, Recovery for Those Who Struggle – Christian Today
- Can’t beat your porn addiction? This new app may be for you – LifeSite News
Religious Liberty
Domestic
- Emails Raise Questions of Bias in Case Against Bakers Who Denied Service for Same-Sex Wedding - Daily Signal
- COURT-MARTIALED! Marine Criminally Prosecuted by the U.S. Government for Displaying a Bible Verse in Her Workspace - Liberty Institute
- Two Noteworthy Supreme Court Decisions Announced Today - Family Research Council
- Why We Should All Be Glad a Muslim Woman Just Won Her Religious Accommodation Case at the Supreme Court - National Review
- ADF asks Wash. high court to reverse lower court ruling against Barronelle Stutzman, -Alliance Defending Freedom
- Bobby Jindal on Religious Liberty Order: ‘Don’t Waste Your Time Trying to Bully Me in Louisiana’ - Daily Signal
- Two Noteworthy Supreme Court Decisions on Religious Liberty – FRC Blog
- Religious liberty should have precedence – Chicago Tribune
- Why RFRA? Because all Americans have rights of conscience – Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times
- Is your nonprofit ready? How the Supreme Court rules on gay marriage could have widespread effects on Christian nonprofits – WORLD Magazine
- Rubio’s Warning on Faith Wasn’t a Gaffe – Commentary
- The Power Elite –First Things
- Religion Scores Another Win at the Supreme Court – National Journal
- Universities Should Be Unsafe For Political Correctness - Alan M. Dershowitz
- Emails Raise Questions of Bias in Case Against Bakers Who Denied Service for Same-Sex Wedding - Heritage
International
- Iran Escalates Persecution of Religious Minorities Under Rouhani – Iran Press Watch
- Turkey's War on Christians – Real Clear Religion
- Christian teachers in Kenya stage walkout because of terrorism – Crux
- 'Persecution Follows Us ... We Can't Run From It': Christian Monks in Iraq Refuse to Leave Ancient Monasteries Despite ISIS Threat – Christian Post
Religion in Public Life
- The Idea That Christianity Is Fading in America Is Hogwash – TIME
- Speak Spanish or Jesus: The New Latino Vote – CBN
- The Baptist alliance with Thomas Jefferson that secured religious liberty - ERLC
Education
- Tomorrow’s College and Today’s – City Journal
- Nevada Becomes Fifth State to Enact Groundbreaking Education Savings Accounts – Daily Signal
- California Assembly Moves To Expand Sex Education In Schools – CBS News
- The Soccer Mom Revolt Against Common Core – Wall Street Journal
- Feds Force Virginia District into Transgender Locker Rooms – Heartland Institute
Other Stories of Note
- A Critique of Obama’s Understanding of Israel – The Atlantic
- The Entitlement Squeeze – City Journal
- Obamacare Overhead Study a Trojan Horse – Spectator
- Poverty and Wealth in the American Founding - Heritage
- Obama’s to Coast Guard Grads: Focus on Climate Change – Free Beacon
- Smokers don't vote: 11,626-person study shows marginalization of tobacco users - Science Daily
- Citizens, Unite! Part Two of Your Constitutional Primer – The Public Interest
- The Speech Every 2015 College Grad Needs to Hear – Prager University
- Institutionalizing our demise: America vs. multiculturalism – New Criterion
- Social Liberalism Isn't as Popular as a New Gallup Poll Would Have You Believe – Christian Post
- How Constitutional Originalism Promotes Liberty – Library of Liberty and law
- Revolution, Not Revelation: How Evangelical faith influenced the Constitution – Claremont Review of Books
- Marijuana is a Cancer - Spectator
