Churches, affiliated organizations? It seems that Government has framed it such that pastors, priests, rabbis and their houses of worship seem to be allowed their freedom. For the time being. As told here, is that end time coming?
However, spiritually, the REAL church is the individuals within each organization, that are the people of faith. A church, a mosque, a synagogue is simply a building – and that is why they are being granted the freedom as Obama is wont to say “freedom to worship in your house of worship. Not in the public square. Which is where we, the individuals, actually live. It is we who are being denied our religious freedom, bit by bit, to actually fulfill what is enumerated in the Bill of Rights – the freedom of expression.
In our system of Government, it was created to protect individual liberty, not “a group”. Oppression is when Government disallows that by one means or another AND when it uses its power to punish. Or is complicit in being used in a way by which others “use” government to punish others.
Thought police. Belief police. Now the real police?
Via Hot Air and Fiscal Times (emphasis mine):
True tolerance would allow Americans of all sexual orientations to serve openly – but also all people of faith to serve with exactly the same amount of openness. It would allow all people to access the market without government restriction, but give people the leeway to decide for themselves in which events they wish to participate and when without government penalty, either.
Instead of tolerance and liberty, though, the government appears ready to conduct a hunt of heretics in the pursuit of ensuring total compliance with cultural doctrine, while promising that churches can hide within their own four walls to escape the ruling class’ wrath.
How long will it take for that remnant of liberty to be extinguished?
If it wasn’t for the churches and the “Black Robed Regiment” (the pastors), it is likely that the American Revolution would have failed. They were willing to pledge their all – and some gave it. So did members of their flocks. Maybe that is why we see what we are seeing – the illiberal Liberals are no longer willing to brook any dissent.
We shall have no other Gods before them. Or, at least that is what they want.
Update:
And even religious organizations are losing their freedom as Government is now in the business of determining what is sin and what is not:
Today the Tenth Circuit ruled that government can force the Little Sisters to either violate their faith or pay massive IRS penalties. The court held that participating in the government’s contraception delivery scheme is “as easy as obtaining a parade permit, filing a simple tax for, or registering to vote” and that although the Sisters sincerely believe that participating in the scheme “make[s] them complicit in the overall delivery scheme,” the court “ultimately rejects the merits of this claim,” because the court believes the scheme relieves [the Little Sisters] from complicity.”
This is Government establishing its imprint on what is “allowable” religion and what is not. This is Government disallowing religion other than its own.
