Biden means bye-bye to religious liberty

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When totalitarian regimes take power and assert their grip over the people, inevitably they target religion and especially Christianity as one of the primary obstacles to their hegemony.

This pattern has occurred over the centuries where the religion itself stands apart from the state, as has the Christian faith. In fact, Christianity is one of the only religions to spend its first three centuries as an illegal, highly persecuted movement, and that was mainly because the Roman state saw it as a threat to its power over the people.

Even when Christianity became the official religion of European states, the church often found itself at odds with leaders who wanted to eliminate its check on their power and to increase their control over their lands and peoples.

Often the tension between state and church reached a head in seemingly minor matters, such as the jurisdiction of secular vs. ecclesiastical courts, and usually if someone was going to die in such conflicts, it was the churchman (e.g., St. Thomas a Becket in the 12th century).

So when the monstrous totalitarian regimes and ideologies of the 20th century began their campaigns of terror and subjugation, they naturally targeted the churches first. The Bolsheviks first dis-established the Russian Orthodox church and then killed dozens and bishops and thousands of priests when they refused to abide by the new anti-Christian laws.

The Nazis also sought to first weaken and then completely eliminate the churches in Germany, especially the Catholic Church, because they knew that Christianity provided the most potent critique and resistance to fascist ideology. Many thousands of Lutheran and Catholic clergy were sent off to death camps along with their Jewish brothers and sisters.

The lesson of history is, therefore, beware governments and politicians who target religion and especially Christianity because such persecution is often followed by much more serious and wide-ranging oppression.

Which brings me to the current Democratic Party and their allies of various ideological stripes. What they all have in common is at least a suspicion of if not outright hostility to Christianity because it stands in the way of certain cherished causes, like abortion and the furtherance of the sexual revolution in our society.

Joe Biden says that when he’s elected, one of the first things he’s going to do is remove the religious exemption for orders like the Sisters of the Poor so that they can be made to support abortifacient contraceptives.

You have a leader of the BLM movement, Shawn King, advocating the destruction of religious art because it’s “racist,” and, unsurprisingly, several statues and other sacred works of art were desecrated in the US following his call to action.

Make no mistake: political movements which advocate the repression of Christianity, much less the destruction of its art or its principles in our society, are not ones that are friendly to the true liberty and well-being of society. Show me a country which has targeted peaceful, traditional religions, and I will show you a land littered with corpses.

Yes, the stakes are that serious. The trappings of our democracy can be tossed aside like so much bathwater if those in power refuse to accept constitutional limitations or enforce previously established laws. We’ve already seen the results of this attitude in the anarchic and violence-plagued streets of many of our cities. The question is: will the election of a Democratic president and legislators make that destruction less or more widespread? I leave it to you to carefully ponder that question.

Trey Hoffman

Peachtree City, Ga.

12 COMMENTS

  1. Trump literally cheated on his wife(s) more than once. That’s in the 10 commandments. Who would you want as President, a dude who cheats on his wife does not give to the poor, and breaks the 10 commandments, or someone who wants to keep the ACA and does not believe in conspiracy therios.

  2. Pretzel Logic Coated with Selective History

    After a two-month reprieve from illogical reasoning generated by the eternally victimized Trey Hoffman, he returns with a characteristic missive that combines a very selective review of history with his usual specious conclusions. To wit: pouring over the last two millennia of western civilization history, Trey seems only capable of identifying persecution of the Christian church. He omits the MILLIONS of humans murdered by the church.

    Where should one begin? Thousands were massacred in the Crusades of the Middle Ages. The Spanish Inquisition and countless Protestant vs. Catholic conflicts in Europe poured gallons of blood into the streets. Western Jews were mercilessly persecuted by Christians throughout European history. Contrary to Trey’s narrative, the majority of German Christians during World War II supported the Third Reich and gladly rid their country of Jewry.

    In North America, Christians burned witches, persecuted Mormons, justified slavery, slaughtered Native Americans, and insisted on second-class status for women. In South America the Catholic Church “converted” the entire indigenous population at the point of a sword. With this much abbreviated list, it is far easier to see why the rest of us need protection from the religious instead of the other way around.

    It is exceedingly difficult for American Christians to play the victim card when they are in the majority and have perfect freedom to worship any way they desire. Trey’s real complaint is that Christians are unable to codify their beliefs into law so that everyone else must bow to their every whim.

    History has repeatedly proven that any nation that bases its laws on religious edicts instead of pragmatic reasoning risks catastrophic consequences to its citizens. Look to any Islamic republic to see the folly of laws so conceived. Freedom in personal religious beliefs to guide one’s behavior should not be confused with legal obligations.

    Then somehow Mr. Hoffman conflates Trumpism with Christianity. The president is a morally bankrupt man who never encountered a Biblical commandment that he didn’t joyfully violate. You pin your hopes for religious liberty on a godless self-promoter?

    If you want to influence intelligent readers, be honest enough to make an intelligent argument. You might begin by turning off Fox News long enough to read a history book.

  3. I’m not sure religious encroachment or persecution is a bad thing for the U.S. at this time. I think we need a good kick in the pants to get us off the fence, so to speak. If nothing else, it just may help separate the grain from the chaff. Also, I can’t say the same for all, but my faith needs a challenge every now and then, the exercise helps it grow.

  4. Again, the irrational voicing of fear propagated by Trump and accepted by his blind followers. The plain fact is Joe Biden is a decent, honorable man and truly religious–not a phony like Trump who held a Bible for the first time in his photo op. It amazes me how people swallow the fear tactics from a con man like Donald Trump.

    • No, I believe he held a Bible for the first time, actually on January 20, 2017. Look for another photo-op, perhaps even this week. But rest assured, he is a man of faith, as he is seen most weekends praying to the golf gods.

    • Biden is a decent, honorable man? Huh? Talk about blind followers! Its just a coincidence that every member of Joe’s family has become rich from government related deals. And there’s the whole sexual assault claim by a former intern, but I know dems are only triggered when Trump is caught on a hot mike joking that as a rich man women let you grab their crotches…but when a woman claims that Joe not only grabbed but also shoved his fingers inside her, well that can’t be true ’cause Joe is a decent, honorable man.

      Wake up woke ones! Joe is a guy who worked as a politician his entire career and everyone close to him is rich; he is a plagerist and has always been a creep..come on, Man!