Breaking news. An atheist group threatens to sue a football team in Georgia over prayer and Bible references.
This atheist group is from out-of-town.
This atheist group is annoying.
This atheist group has too much time on their hands.
And Christians are getting sick of being bullied.
I read the news story that the school board, unlike many other school boards who run around fearing lawsuits and wringing their hands, has stood up to the group and said, "Bring it on." More than 200 people from the community gathered in prayer on the school field in defiance of the atheist group's demands.
What should Christians do in the face of letters threatening lawsuits from atheist groups with too much time on their hands?
I had a few reactions:
1) My immediate reaction is the hypocrisy of these atheist groups. What happens when Christians complain about movies, songs, media, etc that glorify violence, sex, and drugs? We are told, "If you don't like it, don't watch it. If you don't like it, don't listen to it." Then these same people, when they are offended by prayer, fail to exercise their own words. Hey atheists- don't like people praying? Don't pray. Don't like prayer at football games? Don't go to the football game. Or, show up later when the prayers are done. How does that suit you? That's what we Christians have been told for years.
2) My second reaction was an incredible outpouring of disinterest. So what if there is a lawsuit? Pray anyway. So what if the court rules that prayer and Bible verses are illegal? Pray and post them anyway. When did Christians start worrying about their beliefs being legal?
The people who have gone before us in our faith faced all kinds of government persecution for their faith. It didn't stop them. Peter and John were threatened in Acts 4 with jail and death if they preached in the name of Jesus. Their reaction? "Oh no! We'd better stop doing this. We'd better listen to these authorities. We'd better just go into our homes and be safe."
Actually, no. They said, "We must obey God rather than man. For we cannot stop preaching about what we have seen and heard."
What are these atheist groups going to do, sue every Christian who prays? Fire every coach who disobeys the ruling and prays with his team? Christians should do little more than yawn at these baseless, empty threats from atheists that have little more to do than annoy everyone else.
3) My third reaction was a motivation to prayer. If there are forces within America trying to intimidate Christians into being quiet, then I will gladly move the other direction and intensify my prayer life. We need Christians to be openly defiant of these annoying atheist groups who try to impose their secular humanism on others. Will there be consequences? Maybe. Probably not. At least not on the scale that the guys in the Bible faced, or the Christians in Iraq are facing, or other parts of the world.
I've had it with these we'll-save-you-from-yourself meddlers and busybodies who like to walk around looking for things to be offended by. These groups that have too much time on their hands and feel the need to shove their noses into everyone else's lives to fix what doesn't need to be fixed are just bullies. The way to deal with a bully isn't to give in. The way to deal with a bully is defiance. Bullies enjoy power; they enjoy imposing themselves on others, and they love it when their intimidation tactics work. What they can't stand is when their intimidation tactics backfire and they are shown to be the spineless, gutless cowards they truly are.
So, don't be intimidated by these bullies. Don't worry about the "consequences." Christians never have paid much mind to laws outlawing the practice of their faith. They have never been good at following lawsuits that say they can't pray whenever they want.
Don't capitulate to the atheist group. If it goes to court and you lose, disobey the law. That's been the history of Christians for the past 2000 years, and it's not likely to change soon.
This atheist group is from out-of-town.
This atheist group is annoying.
This atheist group has too much time on their hands.
And Christians are getting sick of being bullied.
I read the news story that the school board, unlike many other school boards who run around fearing lawsuits and wringing their hands, has stood up to the group and said, "Bring it on." More than 200 people from the community gathered in prayer on the school field in defiance of the atheist group's demands.
What should Christians do in the face of letters threatening lawsuits from atheist groups with too much time on their hands?
I had a few reactions:
1) My immediate reaction is the hypocrisy of these atheist groups. What happens when Christians complain about movies, songs, media, etc that glorify violence, sex, and drugs? We are told, "If you don't like it, don't watch it. If you don't like it, don't listen to it." Then these same people, when they are offended by prayer, fail to exercise their own words. Hey atheists- don't like people praying? Don't pray. Don't like prayer at football games? Don't go to the football game. Or, show up later when the prayers are done. How does that suit you? That's what we Christians have been told for years.
2) My second reaction was an incredible outpouring of disinterest. So what if there is a lawsuit? Pray anyway. So what if the court rules that prayer and Bible verses are illegal? Pray and post them anyway. When did Christians start worrying about their beliefs being legal?
The people who have gone before us in our faith faced all kinds of government persecution for their faith. It didn't stop them. Peter and John were threatened in Acts 4 with jail and death if they preached in the name of Jesus. Their reaction? "Oh no! We'd better stop doing this. We'd better listen to these authorities. We'd better just go into our homes and be safe."
Actually, no. They said, "We must obey God rather than man. For we cannot stop preaching about what we have seen and heard."
What are these atheist groups going to do, sue every Christian who prays? Fire every coach who disobeys the ruling and prays with his team? Christians should do little more than yawn at these baseless, empty threats from atheists that have little more to do than annoy everyone else.
3) My third reaction was a motivation to prayer. If there are forces within America trying to intimidate Christians into being quiet, then I will gladly move the other direction and intensify my prayer life. We need Christians to be openly defiant of these annoying atheist groups who try to impose their secular humanism on others. Will there be consequences? Maybe. Probably not. At least not on the scale that the guys in the Bible faced, or the Christians in Iraq are facing, or other parts of the world.
I've had it with these we'll-save-you-from-yourself meddlers and busybodies who like to walk around looking for things to be offended by. These groups that have too much time on their hands and feel the need to shove their noses into everyone else's lives to fix what doesn't need to be fixed are just bullies. The way to deal with a bully isn't to give in. The way to deal with a bully is defiance. Bullies enjoy power; they enjoy imposing themselves on others, and they love it when their intimidation tactics work. What they can't stand is when their intimidation tactics backfire and they are shown to be the spineless, gutless cowards they truly are.
So, don't be intimidated by these bullies. Don't worry about the "consequences." Christians never have paid much mind to laws outlawing the practice of their faith. They have never been good at following lawsuits that say they can't pray whenever they want.
Don't capitulate to the atheist group. If it goes to court and you lose, disobey the law. That's been the history of Christians for the past 2000 years, and it's not likely to change soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment