Is It OK To Be A Christian?

Editorial

Once again God is in the news and once again He's losing ground to the U.S. Government and to "popular opinion". Yesterday, August 21, 2003, several hundred people rallied at the Alabama Judicial Building and some were even arrested because they wanted to keep a monument of the 10 Commandments in the rotund of the building. Too bad those "several hundred" people weren't enough to outweigh a small handful sitting as Justices.

Suing Over Religion - A New National Pastime?

God being sued or being in the news isn't a new thing. Just last month He was brought into court in Honolulu by the ACLU for "Family Day" in the park. In April of this year a Ten Commandments plaque on the county courthouse wall in Pennsylvania went on trial and the ACLU sought to have a school district in Ohio held in contempt for not removing the Ten Commandments from four high schools after the court said that they had to. Last year in May, a Colorado family, with help from the ACLU, filed suit because a Kiowa County public school was going to have a prayer at their graduation ceremony. The fact that the senior class voted for prayer over a "student message" didn't matter. In Baton Rouge the same month, the same type of lawsuit was filed. I'm sure that everyone remembers the grumblings about taking "In God We Trust" off of American money and removing "One nation, under God" from our Pledge.

Freedom of Choice

Now I'm the first person to agree that religion shouldn't be something mandated by any government. I don't believe that the government should have the right to tell me how I can worship or who I can worship. But, by the same token, I don't believe that they should be able to tell me that I can't mention God's name in any government building. I have heard the arguments that allowing the 10 Commandments to be displayed in a government building promotes Christianity and Judaism and that a public school that allows (gasp) out-loud type of prayer forces a specific religion down people's throats and I just don't buy it. Are the government and those filing these suits trying to imply that American's are so weak minded that merely seeing the 10 Commandments or hearing a prayer will automatically turn non-Christians into immediate Bible-thumpers? Don't get me wrong here, I'm 100% sure that God does have that much power, but then we get into the whole freedom of choice thing that He gives us every day (which is more than I can say for our courts). So what if the next judge, school administrator etc. isn't Christian you say, and they want to display something from a different religion on their office wall? Or what if a teacher my child has next year wants to pray to someone other that Jesus Christ? Go right ahead! For me, as a Christian, and for my family and friends, we're strong enough in our faith that seeing something from the Baha'i Faith, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, Unitarianism or any other faith isn't going to make us suddenly slap our foreheads and think "oh man - how could I have been so wrong for all of these years?" That judge in Alabama isn't holding court in the rotund of the building, using the monument of the 10 Commandments to preach from to those called into court instead of administrating justice. Will merely walking by the monument have people falling down in the throes of conversion? I doubt it.

A Christian Song Makes it Big on Secular Radio ... Who Would Have Thunk It?

Right about now you're probably asking yourself what in the world all of this has to do with Christian music. Here's where I tie it in ... look at I Can Only Imagine by MercyMe. That song is being played all over the country on secular/mainstream radio. It's one of the most requested songs in more major markets than you can shake a stick at. It calls Jesus by name! The fact that it has crossed over in such a huge way says something important. It says that a whole lot of people out there aren't nearly as offended by the mention of God as some would have us believe. If a person who hears the song doesn't like it they have the option to drum roll please ... change the station! Just like someone who doesn't want to pray doesn't have to and someone who doesn't like the 10 Commandments doesn't have to read them. Ah... the joys of freedom of choice.

Banishing God to Home or Church

I have to ask myself what will happen if we let our government restrict God to a place where He's considered acceptable to the masses, like in church buildings or private homes. Will Christian music be banned from the airways because a non-Christian might hear it accidentally and be offended? Will Christian CD's be removed from all shelves of record stores and relegated to "Christian Book Stores" only? Will Christian music festivals be canceled because someone of different beliefs might drive by at the wrong moment with their windows down and hear about God or Jesus? I can only imagine living like that, and unlike the song by the same name, it's not a pretty picture.

For a really interesting piece written by an unknow writer and sent to me by a friend, you're only a click away