Is religious liberty under attack?

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a posting concerning HR 1913, an act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would protect extend a special federal protection to homosexuals and transgender persons (cross-dressers, transvestites, etc). The U.S. Senate has yet to take up the issue, but it is believed they will join the House in passing the legislation. President Obama has already said he will sign such an act into law.

Is such legislation heading us down the path to a major collision between the radical homosexual agenda and our religious liberties? Many Christian scholars say that "a cataclysmic conflict" is inevitable. I mentioned before that a likely result of HR 1913 would be the threat of federal charges being lodged against any preacher who would declare that God's Word teaches homosexuality to be a sin. It would be considered as inciting violence toward homosexuals. This is already a reality in Canada, the UK, and some European countries. Where is this all heading?

Barrett Duke, vice president for public policy with the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said there are three issues fueling the move toward "an eventual clash" between homosexual rights and religious liberty: 1)same-sex "marriage"; (2)workplace protections for homosexuals and; (3)hate crimes legislation. Should these issues all be decided in favor of the radical homosexual agenda there will be a major impact upon religious liberty as the full weight and power of the United States government will be brought to bear to make sure no homosexual's rights are violated. It will become much easier to violate religious liberty instead. Duke said, "The government will be unable to secure both the civil rights of those in same-sex marriage and the religious rights of those who accept what God's Word teaches regarding homosexuality."

The Employment Non-descrimination Act which is proposed in Congress would provide protection of homosexual rights in the workplace, which in effect would take away the ability of most organizations to hire people who share the owner's values. Though churches would likely not be forced to hire homosexuals as ministers, their church daycare may not have such protection. Church related schools, bookstores, retreat centers, and more would also lose that right. This act would also open up Christian para-church organizations to all manner of litigation accusing discrimination because of anything that might be said that could be construed as bigoted language.

These are serious issues that Christians need to recognize as being extremely dangerous. There is an extreme liberal agenda unfolding in our nation, and unfortunately most Americans have not given serious consideration to the impact these new directions will have on our nation. Between these cultural-moral-ethical issues and the financial damage being wrought by the present uncontrolled, ill-conceived spending, our nation may not even be recognizable within just a few years!