Christians no longer comfortable in culture

Excerpted from "The days of acceptable Christianity are over," World Magazine, May 13, 2014 - Robert P. George, chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, on Tuesday delivered a somber message to Christians: “The days of acceptable Christianity are over.”

George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, made the remarks at the 10th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. George said society calls Christian beliefs bigoted and hateful, and “they despise us if we refuse to call good evil and evil good.” He argued that American Christians no longer have the option to avoid the culture wars, saying “a price must be paid” for holding to traditional church teachings on life, marriage, and sexual ethics.

Former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich and axed reality show hosts David and Jason Benham are some of the latest to pay that price for their belief in traditional marriage. George said what American Christians are facing is the 21st century version of the question, “Am I ashamed of the gospel?”

“Marriage is inseparable from the gospel,” he said. “These teachings are not the whole gospel, but they are integral to the gospel. They are not optional truths.”

George said even if the current cultural trend is unstoppable, Christians should not stop teaching what the Bible says about human sexuality. “If we deny these truths, we really are like Peter [saying] ‘I do not know the man,’” he said. “If we keep silent, we are like the other disciples, who ran.”

George noted how societal pressures have helped unite Catholics and evangelicals, who he called “our brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Commentary

CMDA Executive Vice President Gene Rudd, MD – “I write this while still jet-lagged from a trip to an East Asian country where persecution of Christians is well known. I return with a heightened appreciation of the struggles facing believers who live under the real threat of reprisal for their faith. With signs and symptoms now manifest here, it is easy to agree with Professor George in predicting that our culture is destined to the same fate.

Growing up, I never imagined overt persecution against Christians in the United States. But our faith is now the one that the “tolerant ones” refuse to tolerate. Is it because of our message, or because of hypocrisy and lack of grace? Likely both. The first we must not abandon; for the second we must seek forgiveness.

On a recent flight, I read Nik Ripken’s (pseudonym), The Insanity of God, his personal research of the persecuted church in many cultures. My seatmate must have thought I was daffy. At one moment I would be laughing and in the next, crying. In one of the book’s poignant conclusions, Ripken reminds us that God uses persecution to grow the Body of Christ. We should not disdain persecution. Rather than pray to be delivered from persecution, we must simply pray that we be found faithful.

“Jesus said, ‘Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets’” (Luke 6:22-23, NIV 1984).

Resources
Full Remarks – Robert P. George at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast
http://www.freedom2care.org/

Religious freedom policies needed to protect conscience

Excerpted from "Why religious freedom matters" CNN commentary by Robert P. George and Katrina Lantos Swett, January 16, 2014 - Editor’s note: Robert P. George and Katrina Lantos Swett serve as chairman and vice chairwoman, respectively, of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Supporting religious freedom or belief abroad is not just a legal or moral duty, but a practical necessity that is crucial to the security of the United States – and the world – as it builds a foundation for progress and stability. Research confirms that religious freedom in countries that honor and protect this right is generally associated with vibrant political democracy, rising economic and social well-being, and diminished tension and violence. In contrast, nations that trample on religious freedom are more likely to be mired in poverty and insecurity, war and terror, and violent, radical extremism.

Given the compelling case for supporting religious freedom abroad, why is it still so often given short shrift?

Simply stated, powerful concerns and emotions and differing world views are in play. For example, some people erroneously believe that democratic governance requires the exclusion or marginalization of any public dialogue, debate or policy that includes religion. Others view religion and related issues as exclusively personal and thus belonging solely in private life.

Still others worry that, when connected to an issue, religion generates needless and/or unresolvable tensions and controversies and thus is best left alone, perhaps recalling some of history's worst excesses in religion's name. Some are uncomfortable specifically with "organized religion" and may prefer to frame issues in terms of general spirituality. And some who have an exclusively secular approach and a non-theistic perspective may think that promoting religious freedom infringes on their right not to believe.

What all of these concerns share is the view that religion and religious freedom should be off the radar and divorced from foreign policy.

The answer to such concerns is that advocating for freedom of religion overseas is not about supporting a privileged position for religion, but the right to follow one's conscience. It is about insisting that advocating for religious freedom abroad be viewed in the same way as advocating for other essential rights guaranteed under international law. And, contrary to popular myth, this view encompasses not just the freedom to practice peacefully any religion and all that is associated with it, but the freedom not to believe – the right to reject any and all religion, publicly and privately.

While religious freedom cannot be separated from religion, it is actually less about religion per se than affirming a bedrock, internationally-recognized human right, one that has proven time and again to be a foundational freedom for other freedoms.

Resources

CMDA Right of Conscience Resources