Christians, here come the lions

Christians, here come the lions

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Posted: June 13, 2009
1:00 am Eastern

© 2009

WARNING: This column is written for, and addressed to, America's Christians only. Well, maybe devout Jews as well, but no one else. People of other faiths, or no particular faith at all, probably won't comprehend the looming danger or see anything to be concerned about.

But this is a three alarm, red alert wake-up call for people who are serious about their Judeo-Christian religion. The end of our religious freedom in America could be at hand.

Can you believe it? In "the land of the free, the home of the brave," the one country in human history whose original purpose was to create and preserve absolute religious freedom for all? The nation whose foundational documents, its Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and its subsequent Bill of Rights, specifically guaranteed that government would absolutely keep its grubby hands off its citizens' freedom to exercise their faith however, whenever and wherever they choose?

I've always been awed by the incredible courage of the early Christians (many of whom were Jews). Human beings just like us, bound up in their cultures as we are in ours, who became willing to sacrifice everything – everything including their very lives – rather than repudiate or abandon their faith in God. They were tortured and persecuted in so many ways, but I think the most terrifying trials came in the Colosseum in Rome when Christian men and women were herded out into the arena, sometimes tied to posts, and left to be torn to pieces and devoured by ravenous lions.

"Speechless: Silencing the Christians," by Don Wildmon, lays out determined strategy of coalition of liberal secularists, homosexual activists and Fortune 500 companies

I still shudder when I imagine myself one of those fervent believers, just wanting to worship and serve God as I believe He wants me to, being forced to face the unreasoning, snarling beasts that will literally devour me, just because of my professed faith. Another reason I'm thankful to be living here and now instead of there and then.

But now that time is seeming less distant! Our new president, his administration, a Congress and much of the judiciary ruled by ultra-liberal, "progressive" and humanistic men and women, egged on and abetted by the ACLU, are actively making plans and devising bills that will force Christians to either obey the new laws, or be fined, jailed – or who knows? Perhaps physically punished, imprisoned, or worse.

You think I'm exaggerating? Think again.

We've already surrendered the freedom for our children to pray voluntarily at school. Teachers have been fired and students expelled for mentioning God in the classroom or praying before a game. Judges have been removed from the bench because they portrayed the Ten Commandments in the courtroom or in front of the courthouse.

The 9th Circuit Court agreed with one angry atheist that the two words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance are unconstitutional and forbade schools in nine Western states to let kids say it as we all have since 1954. That odious verdict was reversed, but the battle goes on. The ACLU is intimidating cities, counties and states to remove all crosses and scriptures and Christian emblems from buildings everywhere in the country.

While school boards and the NEA are falling all over themselves to teach grade school kids about sex, make condoms available to teens and mandate courses that validate homosexuality – all the while seeking to assure that nobody mentions Jesus or God – these same powerful folks make accommodations for Muslim students, providing prayer rooms and "time outs" so they can practice their religion! More and more schools, bowing to pressure, are adding courses for American Christian kids to "learn more about Islam."

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Back in Washington, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, like Teddy Kennedy, John Kerry, Arnold Schwarzenegger and other Catholics in government, absolutely defies the teachings of her own church and comes under condemnation of the pope – to promote homosexuality and abortion "rights," and to oppose prayer by our kids in school and the protection of the two words "under God" in our Pledge of Allegiance! Why does she still bother to call herself Catholic?

In the last few days, Pelosi has actually declared her support for illegal aliens (they may become Democrat voters), and also said she feels that prosecuting or deporting illegal aliens in this country is "un-American"!

Meanwhile, are you aware that June 1, President Obama, who has declared that America is "no longer a Christian nation" and who declined to take part in any National Day of Prayer activities, issued a Presidential Proclamation making the whole month of June Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Month in America? Go to the White House website and read it for yourself.

Finally, if Pelosi, Kennedy, Reid, Obama, et al., have their way, they will pass legislation that will stifle all conservative talk in media and even make preaching clear scripture "hate speech" if it disagrees with political correctness as they define it.

Christians, should we be surprised? The Apostle Paul told us 2,000 years ago:

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
– 1 Timothy 4:1, 2

And, even more dramatically:

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power.
– 2 Timothy 3:1-5

I know, we don't like to think that dire prophecies like these could actually be fulfilled in our day, in our blessed country. The real nightmare is that fellow Americans could actually turn on us in these blatantly obvious ways – corrupting our traditional, constitutionally protected way of life. We keep thinking that somehow "people will come to their senses" and that "everything will work out all right." But just a couple weeks ago in San Diego, misguided police threatened to arrest Christians who were conducting Bible studies in their home! Only a local uproar by Christians and local officials saved the day.

The bottom line: Like it or not, believe it or not, the end times seem to be drawing near. And unless we Christians exercise our freedoms and our faith, collectively, unapologetically and openly, we will most certainly be facing different, though still savage and deadly, lions.

P. Boone