Sharia, gay marriage, and the First Amendment

By Cathy Keim

On May 20, 2015 I received an email from the American Freedom Defense Initiative announcing that they are buying ads on Washington, D.C. buses and train dioramas.

AFDI President Pamela Geller said in a statement:

Because the media and the cultural and political elites continue to self-enforce the Sharia without the consent of the American people by refusing to show any depictions of Muhammad or showing what it was in Texas that had jihadists opening fire, we are running an ad featuring the winning cartoon by former Muslim Bosch Fawstin from our Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest in Garland, Texas.

The attack on the event drew a lot of criticism aimed not at the jihadists, but at Pamela Geller and AFDI for hosting such a “provocative” contest. In this convoluted way of thinking, the jihadists could not be held responsible for their attack because they were provoked into it!

Here is the ad so that you can see for yourself what the fuss is about.

While this controversy is important in its own right, the following quote from Pamela Geller made me think of another first amendment issue that we are facing:

Putting up with being offended is essential in a pluralistic society in which people differ on basic truths. If a group will not bear being offended without resorting to violence, that group will rule unopposed while everyone else lives in fear, while other groups curtail their activities to appease the violent group. This results in the violent group being able to tyrannize the others.

The progressives have been very eager to push gay marriage on the American people. The Supreme Court ruling that many expect to legalize gay marriage in every state should come down this summer. If or when that happens, do not think that this is over. The gay marriage fight is really not about gay marriage at all: it is about destroying marriage and the family unit and replacing it with the government.

If it were only about being able to be with the partner of their choosing, then why do we have the vindictive attacks on Christian photographers, bakers, and florists that decline to participate in gay marriage ceremonies? Why is this issue being pushed so hard?

The gay mafia has not resorted to chopping off heads, but it has put many Christian business people through a hellish experience resulting in fines and losing their business because they did not want to participate in gay marriage ceremonies.

As a reminder, the First Amendment says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

This is true whether the speech is politically correct or not.

Americans are facing tough choices on First Amendment topics. If we do not resist the onslaught to demonize any open discussion of what Sharia requires of Muslims and how that is not compatible with the Constitution, then we will soon be silenced on any topic when threatened. For example, besides saying that you cannot draw Mohammad, Sharia law says that women are not equal to men. It allows men to have four wives. It also says that if you convert from Islam, you are to be killed. Now how can that be reconciled with our Constitution?

Yes, we can draw pictures of Mohammad in the USA and we have an obligation to do so to show that we will not back down on our First Amendment rights.

Christians have the obligation to state the Biblical position on marriage. Marriage is only between one man and one woman. If the Supreme Court declares marriage to be something else, then the religious freedom that we have known will be gone because rather than choosing another baker, photographer, or florist, the gay mafia will seek to destroy and intimidate anyone that does not fall into line and state that gay marriage is as good or better than heterosexual marriage.

Tolerance in both situations is a one-way street. If you do what the bully says, then he will tolerate you. If you do not toe the line, then he will seek to destroy you.

Albert Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, states:

Religious liberty is under direct threat. Just days ago the Solicitor General of the United States served notice before the Supreme Court that the liberties of religious institutions will be an open and unavoidable question. Already, religious liberty is threatened by a new moral regime that exalts erotic liberty and personal autonomy and openly argues that religious liberties must give way to the new morality, its redefinition of marriage, and its demand for coercive moral, cultural, and legal sovereignty.

The totalitarian impulses behind Sharia enforcers and erotic liberty advocates both result in the same end: the loss of personal freedom. Our country was founded on the belief that all men are created equal and this came from the Biblical worldview that all men are created in the image of God. This profound concept is what led to the birth of our country.

If we walk away from this truth, then we also walk away from America as we know her.

Mohler points out: Human rights and human dignity are temporary abstractions if they are severed from their reality as gifts of the Creator. The eclipse of Christian truth will lead inevitably to a tragic loss of human dignity. If we lose religious liberty, all other liberties will be lost, one by one.

So draw a cartoon and support marriage between one man and one woman or soon you may find that you can do neither. If everybody draws a cartoon and all Christians stand up for marriage, then it will be much harder for the jihadists to kill all of us or for the gay mafia to destroy every business that doesn’t agree with them, but if we are cowed by the threat of violence, then the First Amendment may still be in the Constitution – but it will not be relevant.

Author: Michael

When I'm away, I can run the site from my cel.

3 thoughts on “Sharia, gay marriage, and the First Amendment”

  1. Cathy,

    An excellent summation of the issues currently before us as a nation. However, I remain convinced that, despite all of the handwringing by conservatives, we are not yet at the point where our constitutional protections will be lost. I’m not saying that such protections can’t be lost, merely that this is not that time.

    Personally, I have no objection to gay people getting married. Not because I think it is a good idea, but, rather, because those who are in rebellion against God will always do things that are counter to good sense. It is the way of those who don’t know God. Those who profess to know God and yet pursue those activities that are against His Word, are no different. They, too, lack good sense. Nonetheless, I will generally default to the position that more liberty is better than less liberty and trust God to sort it out.

    My concern is that the Church has failed to present a compelling case to the irreligious. It is the duty of Christians to make such a case to the non-Christian that God’s way is the better way–and the best way to do this is to live a Godly life that is loving, successful and fulfilling.

    By too often accepting “sin in the camp” and not requiring accountability amongst ourselves, Christians have limited the effectiveness of their testimony. “Judgment begins in the House of the Lord.” We should love those who err and seek to restore them to fellowship with the Lord and their fellow Christians, but we should not deny their error. That is the way of hypocrisy and the world is extremely adept at sensing it.

    Neither should we be surprised that Satan and his minions continue to deceive people. He is, after all, called the “accuser” and “father of lies” in the Bible. It is incumbent upon us to pray against Satan’s plans for the Church, our nation and our world. Happily, we can pray for blessings for all of the above, as well!

    It is right and good that you post this warning, but there are still capable brothers and sisters who are standing for freedom in our courts, amongst our legislatures, etc. Gay marriage may become legal in all fifty states, but the actual effect of such a law affecting somewhere between two and four percent of the population will be mitigated by the lives of Christians committed to praying for this nation and demonstrating the love of Christ to their neighbors.

    More than that, I believe LGBT lawsuits against businesses is a failing strategy. Americans remain a generally fair-minded people and the small minority that is the LGBT “community” will find this to be a negative approach to winning the hearts and minds of the people.

    Gay people aren’t really gay. By observation, I would say that they are miserable–just like other lost, rebellious people. Our prayers for them and the love we can show them are going to be our best remedy for their deceived and broken souls.

  2. Thomas Hall, I do agree that the real problem our society has with marriage is that we stopped taking it seriously; we demoted it from a lifelong divine covenant to a contract for personal happiness.

    But I must suggest that you underestimate the threat of those who lust to use the coercive power of government to fundamentally transform society.

    To stand up to that power, Christians will need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. No political, economic or cultural formula will substitute. The Spirit was the One who made the church flourish despite the best effort of empires from ancient Rome to Communist China. He can overcome the “community activists” of America, too — if we are willing to surrender to Him, to stop putting on nice Jesus shows & start following Jesus.

    Best regards,

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