Majority Want Free Exercise of Religion

A poll by Caddell Associates was summarized by the Washington Examiner this way:

"When asked which was more important, by a 4 to 1 ratio, voters said protecting religious liberty (31 percent) over protecting gay and lesbian rights (8 percent)," said Caddell, who added that most of the rest said both are important.

The potential for a war is great, since a top Obama official suggested during the recent same sex marriage case that the administration could force groups opposed to gay weddings on religious ground to buckle under. There have been several standoffs and legal cases pitting businesses against gay rights groups.

On that issue, Caddell found very little support for the Obama administration's meddling in the affairs of religious-affiliated groups and businesses

He wrote: "More than two thirds (68 percent) disagreed that the federal and state government should be able to require by law a private citizen to provide a service or their property for an event that is contrary to their religious beliefs. Only 18 percent agreed. Indeed, 51 percent strongly disagreed with this.

"When asked whether it should be up to the federal government to determine what constitutes legitimate religious beliefs only 11 percent agreed and a massive 79 percent disagreed. Indeed, even two thirds of those on the 'left' of the segmentation disagreed."

Back in January, I wrote a blog post entitled “What’s Happening to America’s Free Exercise of Religion?” in which I stated,

Today, however, we are seeing an increasing number of examples where the free exercise of religion is being restricted (particularly toward Christianity) in this nation. Those secularists who disagree with Christianity do have the free exercise of their own religion, but Christians increasingly are being restricted in such free exercise. It’s a part of the secularists’ growing intolerance of those who disagree with them.

In another blog post from June this year, I wrote,

As one writer stated in an article titled “Ending Tax Exemption Means Ending Churches,”

Legal gay marriage is not the endgame for the gay-rights movement. It never was. Moral approval is the endgame. The agenda is not tolerance for different beliefs and lifestyles. The agenda is a demand that everyone get on board with the moral revolution or be punished. That means if you or your church won’t get with the program, then the revolutionaries will endeavor to close you down.

It would seem the majority of Americans do recognize that the freedom of religion and free exercise of religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States is under serious attack.

But as I’ve said many times, the ultimate solution is not a political one but spiritual. Until people submit to the absolute authority of the Word of God and repent of rebellion against God and His Word, we will not see the change that is so needed in this culture.

I wrote the following in a blog post from March this year:

Just as I explained in my debate with Bill Nye (TV’s “Science Guy”) last year, he and I have the same fossils, the same earth, the same living species—it’s not the facts that are different in regard to the origins issue. The difference is the worldviews that Bill Nye and I hold. My worldview is founded in God’s Word, whereas Nye’s belief system is founded in man’s word. We look through those worldview “glasses” as we examine the evidence. Ultimately, we will have a conflict of worldviews.

The same observation can apply to how the amendments to the U.S. Constitution are viewed today. The judges who interpret the law all have the same Constitution, but the reason it is being reinterpreted (particularly the “establishment clause” of the First Amendment) is because an increasing number of judges hold to a secular worldview. Thus, in essence, they are imposing that worldview (which is really a secular religion) on the culture. In a legal system based strictly on a secular worldview, the Christian worldview will be restricted, and that is what is happening in many parts of America.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken