Religious Freedom: Whose Rights Are They Anyway?

For sometime I have been sitting back in amazement watching other people's rights take precedent over mine. I am appalled that if I pray in public I can be brought into litigation for offending someone. I live in a country that was founded by people seeking religious freedom. They fought to escape the same kind of oppression Christians are facing today. That brings me to the question, how did America get so far off track?

I believe in religious freedom. I don't agree with everyone's choices but I think they should be allowed to express their options without condemnation. I don't, however, believe their choices should infringe upon mine. An example is that I think it's ludicrous for people to worship cattle and refuse to eat beef while their children starve, yet I would never sue them because of that choice. I believe agnostics and atheists have the right not to believe. If they are that worldly and liberal why do they care if I love the Lord? They don't mind if I cheer long and loud at a football game, but they go ballistic if I say grace over my food or pray for the safety of the athletes preparing to entertain them. If they choose not to pray, okay, but what makes their right more important or more of a right than mine? How exactly is that fair?

Prayer has been taken out of the schools and guns have to be checked at the door. Politicians want to remove God from U.S. currency as our economy is declining. Judges want to remove His name from the Halls of Justice while every morally corrupt crime imaginable is committed on a daily basis. This week in Houston, Texas the ex-boyfriend of a Texas A&M student murdered the young woman, dismembered her, and then cooked her on the grill and dumped what was left of her remains in a landfill. The man had been wounded by the neglect of his family, by the learning the truth of his biological father, and other things, that drove him past the point of reason. Those wounds cut him so deeply he felt no one could ever help him. If that man had known God and was in a relationship with Him he could have found a peace and healing that would have prevented his performing such a heinous act and that young woman would quite probably still be alive today.

Am I saying if God was still allowed in public places there would be no crime? No, but I believe it would be the exception, not the norm and that statement alone reflects sadly on the state of the country in which we reside. I further believe most people make that choice because they don't want to live within the confines of morality. If they could accept Jesus without repentance I think they would claim salvation both eagerly and readily.

My point is that people can remove god's name, forbid prayer, and raise a ruckus all they like, but He's not going away. He will still be here and I will still be worshiping Him. I also know that when another 9-11 shatters the peace of this nation the majority of those crying loudest to quench his presence in our daily lives will be calling His name the loudest. Selah. Think about that.

I propose that a Christian has as many rights as everyone else. Instead of quietly accepting the legislation and laws imposed by others, I suggest we rise up and fight for our rights. Perhaps we should bring on litigation of our own for the suppression of our right to religious freedom, the right to free assembly, and the right to free speech. Perhaps, if we did, then those who oppose us so forcibly would just leave us alone and allow us the same rights they claim for themselves. Cochran received fame for defending O.J., what would the attorney get who defended Jesus?