One of the most important rights we hold as Americans is our right of free speech. To me, this is closely tied in with our religious freedoms. As an American, I have the right not only to believe and put the Word of God into practice, but to openly express those beliefs. But apparently there is a group in Oakland, California, who no longer have this right, according to today's BreakPoint commentary by Chuck Colson.
This group of African American Christian women who work for the government in Oakland, had formed an organization called the Good News Employee Association. Their flyer stated that they were a "forum for people of Faith to express their views on the contemporary issues of the day- with respect for the natural family, marriage, and family values."
The group posted their flyer after other employee groups, including gay rights activists, had posted their own the city's email and bulletin board. The Good News group was denied permission to publicize their group in like manner. City officials destroyed their flyer, and accused the women of being "determined to promote harassment based on sexual orientation." If the women posted any more flyers, or sent their messages via email, they would be disciplined and perhaps terminated.
So here we are. We all know that Oakland falls within the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit Court, which is notoriously liberal. This court has already ruled against these ladies and they now have only the Supreme Court to intercede on their behalf. But how did we get here in the first place? We Christians have allowed ourselves to be targeted as "homophobes" and "intolerant" and therefore not worthy to have our voices heard.
I grew up in Mississippi, and was born in 1966. I don't remember the Civil Rights Movement of the '60's, but I remember seeing KKK members standing at intersections demonstrating. I hated seeing it- such an open expression of hatred appalled me. Not all free speech is pretty. You won't find a bigger pro-life advocate than myself, but once I had to sit through a red light with someone holding a huge picture of an aborted baby right in front of me, and I was appalled then as well. I don't like that particular tactic. I was in tears by the time the light turned green-and the worst thing was that my son saw the picture too. I made him close his eyes, but it was too late and he was very upset as well. Awful as these things were to me, I never once questioned their right to do what they were doing.
Enter the current "hate crime" debate. It's so dangerous- and so obviously a tool of one particular interest group. Imagine if my pastor got in the pulpit, read a verse from the Bible stating that sodomy is a sin, and was arrested for it. Sounds preposterous, but we're so close to that it's frightening. As Colson says in his article, mere disagreement is being redefined as hate.
If we don't speak out now, we're in trouble. Freedom of religion and free speech are both being threatened in this current debate. Although I've quoted much of his article, I encourage you to go to www.breakpoint.org and read Colson's piece for yourself.
