Freedom of Religion
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1 KJV
If you travel down a long country road it doesn’t take long before you come across some kind of church. If you go into a big city the architecture and tall steeples of their churches are some of the first things we are attracted to. But no one denomination has a monopoly on the church market. All these different churches are possible because of the First Amendment to our Constitution.
The first ten Amendments to this Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, didn’t believe these ten amendments were really necessary but in order to get the Constitution over the hurdles it needed to overcome, he agreed to add them. The first 45 words of the Bill of Rights set the Constitution into motion. In these 45 words they cover so much, like our rights to religious freedom and speech.
The first Amendment to the Constitution simply states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
This Amendment is generally agreed to mean that our Federal Government does not have the power to set up a “National Church” or religion, nor is that government to set up rules over what churches could believe. The Fourteenth Amendment helps to reinforce that these freedoms are also extended through the states. The Supreme Court has ruled that these amendments are not without bounds, though. For example, although a religion may believe in polygamy, human sacrifice, use of illegal drugs, etc., these acts may not be practiced in our nation.
Often our nation has struggled with this freedom of religion we have been given. We hold these rights near to our hearts, yet for those neighbors who believe something totally different we question their authority. Our history has shown that we try to limit the amount of this freedom our neighbors are able to possess.
He was taking the election by storm. He was a young, up and coming man with a lot of charisma. Everywhere he went huge crowds would gather. But there it was right in front of him like a big block wall, his religion. He wanted to face the issue head on. No one on his staff thought it was a good idea. After all, no one of his religion had ever been elected President before. What was he to do? Should he just not say anything and hope it would all just go away? Should he stand up and defend himself and his religious freedom? He decided, despite his staff’s objections, to confront his critics head on.
A very tough group of these critics had a gathering in Houston, Texas and it was there he decided to confront them. In almost an act of intimidation, the group placed the “meanest, nastiest-looking” members in the front row. He would give an opening presentation and then there would be a question and answer session that followed. Ken O’Donnell described his performance as “dancing on needles.”
King Ahab is considered by most Biblical scholars to be the worst king Israel has had in their history, at least from the standpoint of obedience to God. Just eight down in succession from King David, he turned Israel and ten of the tribes of Jacob into a nation God probably couldn’t even tell belonged to Him. In fact, he encouraged his people not to follow God, but to follow the gods of Baal. To make it an easier choice for his citizens he had the prophets of God killed. At least he had the ones killed he could find. The big one, the one he called “The Troublemaker,” was very elusive, though.
The Troublemaker told the prophet Obadiah to tell King Ahab that he saw him. Obadiah was very scared. He told The Troublemaker that wasn’t a good idea. “If I tell him I saw you and you run off he is going to ask me why I didn’t do anything to have you captured and then he is literally going to kill me,” Obadiah said. The Troublemaker assured him all would be fine and he would actually meet up with the King. When King Ahab and The Troublemaker finally met up the King said, “So it’s you, the old Troublemaker!” The Troublemaker responded, “It’s not me that is causing the trouble, but you.”
John F. Kennedy stated in his presentation to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, “So, it is apparently necessary for me to state once again not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me, but what kind of America I believe in. I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president-should he be a Catholic-how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote.” John F. Kennedy would become the first Catholic President.
Elijah, “The Troublemaker,” challenged the prophets of Baal to an altar burning display. His challenge went like this: “Let’s see who the real God is. We will build altars and cry to our gods to light them on fire. We can do nothing to start the fire ourselves.” They brought two cows to sacrifice. Elijah told the prophets of Baal to pick which one they wanted first and he would take the other one. Elijah also told them to start first. These prophets did everything they could think of, even slashing themselves to have their own blood on the altars. Elijah mocked them. “Yell louder. Maybe he is asleep or on vacation.” Not even a spark.
Elijah finally had enough and said it was his turn. He had their altar moved away and set up his altar. He placed his meat sacrifice on the altar. Then he dug a wide trench around the altar. Next he told them to fill four buckets with water and to soak the sacrifice and the altar. As if that were not enough, he told them to do it three times. So much water was poured onto the sacrifice and the altar that it filled the trench. Then Elijah cried out to God and God consumed the altar with flames. Then the people realized who the real God was and they chased and killed the prophets of Baal.
Often I hear people complain about other people’s religion and how it is destroying our nation. With a lot of things I see sometimes I can’t say I don’t disagree with them. But one of the “faults” of our system of government is that we are free to make that choice ourselves. It’s exactly the same choice God has given each of us to obey Him every day, it’s totally up to us. I have faith that my God is strong enough that if there is only one faithful person left He can still burn the altar. Maybe being that person of faith, not pushing our government to be that strong arm of faith, will lead others to help you chase the prophets of Baal away.
Prayer: Dear Mighty Father, I look around and sometimes I see those evil cities you have destroyed in Biblical times. Please help me to be one of those people who won’t just complain but be faithful despite the surroundings. Amen.
