In my lifetime of 60 years, I’ve
witnessed Jesus, God and the Bible banned from public schools, government buildings
and even the public square. Today, in
many town council meetings any mention of Christ has become a taboo. Well, the latest victim to be raped of their 1st
Amendment rights of free speech and religion is Longview, Washington – about 30
miles west of Mount St. Helens … the site of a volcanic eruption in 1980.
Now, Longview may be on the verge of
its own eruption. Mayor Don Jensen told
the Kelso-Longview Ministerial Association that they are
no longer allowed to mention Jesus Christ in their prayers at council meetings.
They can mention God in a nonsectarian way,
but not Jesus.
And the reason behind the order?
According to Jensen, it’s because they
fear a possible lawsuit down the road if someone invokes the name of Jesus: “It’s
not my choice to stop this, but I don’t know how we can put our citizens at jeopardy
and cost our city and our citizens a lot of money.”
In other words, the atheist minority
has succeeded in bullying yet another community to turn away from the Creator
of the universe for fear of offending someone and being faced with a lawsuit. In fact, it seems that the Mayor’s decision
was based largely on the complaints of one local atheist, Dan Smith who told
the local news: “I do not want public prayer in my public building. If I could have it my way there would be no
religious – start the meetings with the banging of the gavel, and let’s go.”
Longview City Council meetings have
been opened with a Christian prayer since the 1950s, but that seems to have
come to a screeching halt. Mark Schmutz,
Pastor of North Lake Baptist Church told the local news: “They’ve asked us for
years to schedule those invocations and we are those who believe Jesus is the
Son of God.” … “We could say God and we could end with Amen, but we shouldn’t
be specific about which religion or which God we’re calling upon.” … “People
talk about lawsuits on a regular basis and nobody wants litigation, so you get
to this place where it’s just easier not than to fight this fight.” … “We are
ministers of the Gospel of Jesus and to not speak the name goes past our own
convictions.”
What’s wrong with this picture: A thousand
Christians could complain to the mayor and city council about not being able to
say the name of Jesus Christ and it won’t make a difference. But the complaint of one sad atheist is
allowed to rule the day and infringe on the 1st Amendment rights of freedom of
speech and religion of many more of the town’s residents.
In today’s America, the complaining of
the one tramples on the constitutional rights of the many. And you want to know why that is? Because most of America’s Christians have sat back
and refused to do anything to stop it. In reality, the Silent Majority is just as
guilty as the few atheists for driving Jesus Christ out of our public life.
Jesus
said, “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge
before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also
will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33 ESV) As a simple proof-text, Jesus’ words should cause
concern for professing Christians embarrassed to be identified with Him. If you are a Christian who is embarrassed to
publicly identify with Christ you might ask yourself why. It may be a good time to examine yourself.
If you are one of those lazy Christians,
take a good look in the mirror before you start to complain about what is happening
to Christianity in America today. Your silence
has spoken as loudly as the shouts of the few that have caused you to lose what
you once had.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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