Dear Senator Dorgan,
Please consider this as a respectful request from a North Dakota citizen to uphold the entire Bible as my religious right for a belief system. Canada has made it illegal for pastors to preach certain parts of Bible from the pulpit. There is the same talk of this happening in our country. My request is based on the following fact that the Bible does not instruct Christians to hate anyone. Government condemnation of portions of the Bible on the grounds of “hate speech” would be contrary to what the Bible actually teaches. The exact opposite is true. The Bible instructs Christians to love, even if we don’t condone the behavior of the person or even if we believe that God has deemed the behavior immoral.
Canada has outlawed their pastor’s ability to preach homosexuality as being immoral behavior. I am asking you to take a stance to uphold my right to believe what the Bible says and for my right to practice my faith and hear the Bible preached in its entirety without government persecution. Anyone who would claim that the Bible instructs us to hate someone because they are homosexual is a liar. The Bible also says lying is immoral. I hear the sting of people taking the Lord’s name in vain nearly every day. The Bible says it’s immoral to take the Lord’s name in vain. I believe it is wrong to take the Lord’s name in vain. The Bible does not say to hate someone who does it.
This is my plea for the protection of my rights to my faith. I believe this right is upheld by the Constitution. I am sad that the hateful actions of some individuals and groups have been mistaken as “Christian” beliefs. I live according to the instruction of the Bible which is to love all people, even if I believe their behaviors are immoral. I cherish the right to teach my children these same Biblical values. It is possible to stand up for your moral principals without being hateful. Any hatefulness that I am capable of showing does not come from Biblical teaching or the Spirit of Christ within me, but from my own wretched human nature. I work hard to live a life pleasing to God that emulates Christ. I often fail, but please do not mistake the short comings of Christians or those claiming to be Christians as Biblical instruction.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Mike
Mike makes a couple of great points here. First is that we Christians could lose the right to preach the Bible if we’re not careful. You think that can’t happen? Look at the free speech part of the First Amendment; it’s been ripped to shreds by the McCain-Feingold Act. Political and religious speech were of utmost importance to our founding fathers, and now this crazy Congress has vanquished free political speech. Anyone who thinks religious speech can’t be next is living in a dream world.
The second is that Christians are not “hatemongers” and, aside from the Phelps cult, don’t preach against homosexuality out of hatred…at least not while walking within God’s will, that is. Homosexuality is a SIN, there’s no way of getting around that; but so are things like lying, stealing, and blasphemy. You don’t see people proudly proclaiming their sin in “Thief Rights” parades, do you?
Of course not; part of the reason homosexuality is so disgusting isn’t just the physical manifestation of it, but the fact that homosexuals define themselves by their sin. Every single person on earth is a sinner according to the Bible. The way to salvation is to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, repenting of that sin.
I agree with Mike that we should all be trying to win more people for Jesus according to his will, and let Him help them deal with their sin. That’s what happened when I became a Christian, and millions could tell the same story. And while we stay grounded in the truth of God’s word, acknowledging that there is “none righteous, no, not one,” (Romans 3:10) then we won’t start marching around with picket signs claiming that a homosexual is worse in God’s eyes than a thief, liar, blasphemer, or adulterer. A true Christian won’t walk around judging others; he’ll let the Bible do the judging. We’re just supposed to be bearers of the truth that ALL may be saved.
If you want to stand up for religious freedoms, I invite you to either copy and paste the text of Mike’s letter and send it to your congressmen or to write one of your own. They’ll respond, and I hope to hear how Dorgan’s office responds to Mike’s letter. The only way we make sure our voices are heard is by speaking up!