Falwell Confidential
Date: April 22, 2004
From: Jerry Falwell
CHRISTIANITY UNDER FIRE
Recent circumstances have led me to believe that Christians in America are
increasingly at risk of becoming not just perpetual objects of ridicule, but
potentially of being openly persecuted and punished for their beliefs by
those pressing the absurd "tolerance" agenda.
One needs to look no further than the recent verbal assaults on President
Bush, who is outspoken about his Christianity, to see how secularists are
seeking to condemn him because of his sincerely-held beliefs.
In author Bob Woodward's new book, "Plan of Attack," President Bush is
quoted as saying he prayed "for the strength to do the Lord's will" before
committing the nation to war in Iraq.
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader subsequently claimed that Mr.
Bush is "unstable." Mr. Nader, referring to the president as a "messianic
militarist," actually suggested that Mr. Bush's reliance upon God is a
"separation of church and state" issue.
I wonder if Mr. Nader is even remotely familiar with the beautiful
expressions of faith of our Founding Fathers, men who possessed an acute
sense of indebtedness to Almighty God for helping them fashion this nation.
History recounts a profusion of unabashed indebtedness to God by our
Founders. I believe that Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Franklin would
have been troubled by Mr. Nader's careless attack on President Bush's
convictions.
Thankfully, some of the president's defenders are attempting to shield him
from the gratuitous verbal assaults that have come into play.
William Donohue, president of the Catholic League, retorted, "The president
turns to God for wisdom, and the elites get nervous. There is more than a
phobia at work here - it's a deep-seated hostility to any public expression
of religion."
I'll go one step further. This anti-Christian aggression is aimed at people
of faith who acknowledge the Bible as the inspired Word of God and who
endeavor to live their lives in devoted servitude to our beloved biblical
edicts. If the elites, as Mr. Donohue describes them, had their way, I
truly believe they would completely stifle the ability of Christians to
express themselves in the public square (and maybe even in many private
settings).
In this age of moral relativism, situational ethics and feel-good social
trends, absolute truth is seen as worthless and even dangerous to the public
good. Secularists know they will never be able to fully unleash their
agenda of utopian inclusion if Christians continue to have an influence on
the culture.
If you don't believe there is an effort to restrain biblical Christianity,
listen to this.
In Canada, the House of Commons has passed a bill that includes sexual
orientation as a protected category in the nation's genocide and hate-crimes
legislation. As reported at WorldNetDaily.com, critics of the legislation,
which was sponsored by a homosexual member of Parliament, believe that, in
some instances, the Bible will be tagged as "hate literature" under the
criminal code. In fact, the website reported that a Saskatchewan man has
already been fined by a provincial human-rights tribunal for taking out a
newspaper ad referencing Scripture that reproves homosexuality.
As I've reported in past columns, when my sermons air on Canadian
television, my staff must edit out any references to homosexuality or they
simply will not air. The collective mindset in Canada, for the most part,
is that the Bible is meaningless in terms of social policy.
In a troubling development, cloaked members of a group called the "Gay
Militia" this week disrupted a gathering of Christians who were discussing
the bill. They ranted, "Right-wing bigots go away; Gay Militia is here to
stay," while the Christians prayed for God's leading in the situation.
The scene was reminiscent of a December 1989 incident that took place at New
York's St. Patrick's Cathedral. A group of homosexual activists from "ACT
UP" thundered into the historic church as the late Cardinal John O'Connor
began his sermon and began screaming, throwing condoms at worshippers and
chaining themselves to pews.
The intolerance level toward Christians is becoming more and more fanatical
these days because homosexual-rights ideals have become completely
mainstreamed and accepted as established truth, especially in the media.
The impending result can mean only one thing - a growing undercurrent of
activity that seeks to brand Christians as social undesirables.
In the meantime, Christians need to heed the words of Jesus and be about the
Father's business. These are certainly troubling times, but believers need
to be equipped to invade the culture with the Gospel - even at the threat of
being labeled an extremist ... or worse. I can think of no higher honor
than being maligned or attacked for taking a stand for the Bible.