Freedom of a Christian
I just finished reading one of the best books I have ever read. It is TWO WARS WE MUST NOT LOSE, by Bill Hecht. He is an eighty year old Lutheran minister who has been a lobbyist in Washington D.C. for forty years. He has known seven presidents and been friends with five. He argues that the two wars we must not lose are the culture war, and the war against radical Islam. He claims that either will destroy the fabric of our culture.
As I thought on the contents of the book, I thought about the freedom of a Christian, and how these two enemies are assaulting that freedom. Christianity is a religion that cannot be forced on anyone. This is because of the Christian understanding of the nature of God. God does not want us to love and worship him out of fear. He wants us to love and worship him out of an understanding of his love for us. God created us for a purpose. Our purpose for existing is to love, serve, and worship God. We cannot truly love a God that forces us to love Him. True love is something that is not taken by force but given by choice. Everything we have comes as a gift from God. Even the faith we possess is a gift from God. How does the Christian truly worship God? It is by allowing the love of God to flow through them to others. This is difficult for us to do because of human nature. Our nature is that we are selfish and self centered. Each of us tends to believe that the world revolves around us. As Christians we are commanded to love our enemies and pray for those who mistreat us. Christian freedom requires restraint. We must not do things that harm others. That is where the Ten Commandments come into play. Violating any of the Ten Commandments harm others and ourselves. A nation where the people follow the Ten Commandments prospers because the people have internal restraints that keep them from harming others.
The purpose of the culture war is to eliminate these internal restrains and destroy freedom and prosperity so that the government can be replaced by Socialism and eventually Communism. Under Communism there is no god other than man. Men in authority then have complete control. They force everyone to do what they believe is best for the state as a whole. Individual freedom is gone. Since the proper application of Christian doctrine gives individual freedom, Christianity must be eliminated for Communism to dominate.
Allah, the god of Islam, commanded his prophet, Mohamed, to spread his religion through military conquest. Mohamed instructed his followers to gain followers through force. He told them that after they had militarily gained absolute control over the enemies of Allah; they should place their head on a chopping block, stand over them with sword raised, and ask them two questions. “Do you confess that Allah is the only god, and that Mohamed is his prophet.” If they refuse to make that confession, Mohamed instructed his followers to immediately behead the infidel.
Both Communism and Islam limit freedom of religion and speech. Both prevent the free spread of the Christian religion. It is the freedom given by the Christian religion, and the restraint and guidance given by the Ten Commandments, that leads to national prosperity. The more people are restrained by internal personal beliefs the less a government has to do. There are always people that refuse to control their own behavior. It is the proper function of government to prevent such people from harming others and punishing criminals for their bad behavior.
Both of these adversaries seek to overcome the United States. They both consider the United States their greatest obstacle to world domination. Christian freedom is their greatest enemy.
