Is it a Crime to Speak the Truth?

Free Speech has become the first victim of the "politically correct" crowd and the current pending legislative acts across the country is proving it.  In fact, it is not only Christianity in the United States that is under attack, it is Christianity across the globe! 

Juan Mendez Mendez became a Christian in a village outside of this city in Chiapas state on April 7, and two days later local authorities put him in jail – for leaving their religious blend of Roman Catholicism and native custom.  Read more ...

Ake Green, the pastor of a Swedish Pentecostal church in Kalmar, Sweden, has been sentenced to one month in prison by a Swedish court, for inciting hatred against homosexuals. Green was prosecuted in January for "hate speech against homosexuals" for a sermon he preached last summer citing Biblical references to homosexuality.    During a sermon in 2003, Green described homosexuality as "abnormal, a horrible cancerous tumour in the body of society".  Read more ...

Perhaps you will say that persecution and discrimination doesn't happen to Christians in the United States.  What do you call it when students aren't allowed to carry their bibles to school, when they are told they cannot pray in Jesus' name at commencement?  What of the Military Chaplains who have been instructed not to pray in Jesus' name?  There are thousands of smaller incidents where Christians have been told not to hand out pamphlets, brochures, etc. and where Christians have been denied use of public facilities for religious use while others promoting hate such as neo-Nazi groups are allowed to gather and use public facilities.  Recently in Arkansas at a "gay pride" parade, several radio station broadcasters were handing out clearly pornographic material while Christians were forced off the streets by the local police for handing out bibles and chanting "homosexuality is sin" and "Jesus Saves".  The police said it was "provocative speech likely to incite a riot".  Thank God HR 1592 wasn't law during this time or there would be Christians still in jail today!

Examine these examples from the United States:

The case of Peterson v. Hewlett Packard Co. arose when, in an effort to increase tolerance at the workplace, Hewlett-Packard Co. ("HP") put up posters of African-American, Hispanic, Caucasian, elderly, and gay employees, with the caption "Diversity is Our Strength." Employee Richard Peterson found the poster of the gay man offensive to his religious views. In response, he put up a counter-poster with various Biblical passages condemning homosexuality. The poster, placed inside his cubicle, was visible to co-workers and clients.  Read more ...

A 23-year veteran of the Eastman Kodak Co. has been fired after objecting to a pro-homosexual memo this month... Read more ...

In 2002, music teachers in Michigan, Maryland, and Virginia didn't allow students to perform traditional carols like "Silent Night" and "The First Noel" during Chrismas. A New Jersey public school banned the Charles Dickens play, "A Christmas Carol" because of its spiritual overtones and message of redemption.

Albertville, Alabama students were suspended from school for praying.  Read more ...

Former President Bill Clinton called religious conservatives "obstructionist right-wing fanatics" who embrace a message of "hate and fear."

Who could ever forget Dan Rather's editorial in Nation magazine:  "Gays and lesbians are beaten to death in the streets with increasing frequency - in part due to irrational fear of AIDS but also because hatemongers, from comedians to the worst of the Christian Right, sent the message that honosexuals have no value in our society."

4.  Persecution has not yet unleashed its full fury upon Christians in the United States but with the cultural shift in rejecting the very knowledge of God, we are standing on the very eve of destruction.

Persecution against Christians in the United States is not something that can be avoided, especially considering the current attempts at legislation.  It is something that Christians will have to deal with and will suffer for in the coming years.  In the book of Revelation we can be sure that Christians will be persecuted and we must understand that persecution has been a part of Christianity since the beginning.  It is in persecution that Christians will find their greatest strengths.  When persecution comes for the namesake of Jesus Christ, we must remember the Lord's words:

"...Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake"  Matthew 24:9

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."   Matthew 5:11-12

Persecution is inevitable.  It is even at the door.  We are different from the world. The followers of Christ have been persecuted from the beginning, but still we grow and we learn to rely on God. No matter what the circumstance or severity of persecution, when we stand up for Jesus Christ as our Savior, we lose nothing and we will gain everything!

"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."   Matthew 10:32-33
 

"When the Nazis came for the communists, I did not speak out because I was not a communist. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Catholics, I did not speak out because I was a not a Catholic. When they came for the Jews, I did not speak out because I was a not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me."

- Pastor Martin Niemoller.

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