The tragic shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando that killed 49 people and injured dozens more not only revealed the clear and present danger of Islamic terrorism in America, but just as clearly demonstrated our culture’s blatant hostility toward Christians.
Omar Mateen openly declared himself an Islamic terrorist, pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr Baghdadi and the Islamic State, and claimed an association with the Boston Marathon bombers in a 911 call. Yet, unbelievably, a number of prominent media quickly began shifting the blame for his Orlando attack onto Christians, conservatives and anyone holding a traditional Biblical view of marriage and sexuality.
An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union accused conservative Christians of creating an “anti-queer climate.” After the slaughter, Chase Strangio tweeted, “the Christian right has introduced 200 anti-LGBT bills in the last six months, and people [are] blaming Islam for this.”
Just days after the terrorist attack, The New York Times featured an editorial that slammed what they termed an intolerant culture in America toward gays. LGBT Americans were “casualties of a society where hate has deep roots” the Times wrote. This absurd piece went on to say that bigotry and hate toward gays and minorities were driven by “Republican politicians” and conservatives such as North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, whose states have stood firm for godly values in the face of relentless LGBT advocacy.
Can you believe it? A self-described Islamic terrorist, who himself propositioned men on gay dating apps, follows the dictates of a radical Muslim faith that hates and kills gays, and he perpetrates the deadliest terror attack on American soil since 9/11—and somehow those who hold to a Christian worldview are to blame! The New York Times editorial includes not one mention of Islamic terrorism, not one reference to the shooter’s Muslim faith, not one attribution to the Quran’s abhorrence of homosexuality.
Even more brazen was CNN’s Anderson Cooper’s interview with Florida attorney general Pam Bondi. Amazingly, Cooper, who is openly gay, grilled Bondi for her defense of Florida’s same-sex marriage law, criticized her for not tweeting about gay pride month, and somehow insinuated that her lack of support for the gay lifestyle disqualified her from offering assistance to family members of the victims.
This is all reprehensible. But it should not be surprising. Last year’s Supreme Court ruling to allow same-sex marriage has opened the way for systematic attempts to suppress the religious liberty of American Christians. Christian businesses and colleges across the nation have been the target of secular tyranny that punishes anyone who seeks to abide by a Biblical value system.
The Bible says that “the sinful mind is hostile toward God” (Romans 8:7). The world system, our kosmos, is “under the control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). Jesus said that the world would hate us as it hated Him (John 15:18).
As our society embraces ever-growing godlessness and lawlessness, hostility and hatred toward Christians will only intensify.
What a sea change that is from when God-fearing men gathered in Philadelphia 240 years ago to sign the world’s greatest document of freedom, the Declaration of Independence.
Just listen to what some of our Founding Fathers had to say about God’s place in our nation:
“Religion and morality are the
essential pillars of civil society.”
—George Washington, first president of the United States of America
“The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the Word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.”
—John Jay, first chief justice
of the U.S. Supreme Court
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion …
Our Constitution was made only
for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
—John Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence, second president of the United States
The Christian faith that inspired such men and formed the foundation for our republic is under such intense attack today that I do not believe we can keep our republic much longer without a grassroots revival of godliness that will spread across our land.
Should the godless forces in culture succeed, this nation will cease to exist as one nation under God. Wherever Christianity flourishes, freedom flowers. Wherever it is marginalized, tyranny, despotism, and eventually anarchy will inevitably follow.
I am going to do everything I can to promote and defend the just and noble cause of religious liberty in our nation. Already this year, I have traveled to the capitals of 32 states for our Decision America Tour, asking thousands of people at every stop to pray for our country, and become engaged in the political process at every level.
In 1620, pilgrims seeking to practice Christianity in a land with true religious freedom wrote a document called the Mayflower Compact. The ultimate goal was stated this way, as they headed from Europe to the shores of the New World; “For the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith.”
That land, of course, became the United States of America, and God has shed His grace upon us for so long. With God’s help, I intend to pray and work as long as I can and as hard as I can to keep it the land of the free.
America the beautiful? Only if God continues to shed His grace on us. And that will happen only as we turn from our wicked ways and call on His Name.