This article is motivated by recent events happening in the United States, in particular the states of North Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi. There is tremendous controversy over a “religious liberty bill” that consists of two components:
- People should use public restrooms pertaining to the gender they were born with.
- Religious people can refuse business services to gay people if it violates their conscience.
Main Points
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- Society has become very hostile to conservative Christians.
- Popular anti-christian movements have the support of government and big business.
- Christians should not expect to be liked by society.
- We need to pray and be watchful.
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What gender do you identify with today?
Let’s deal with the first point. There is a belief today that people can identify with any gender that they feel like. In other words, if a man (who has male sex organs) feels that he is a woman, then he should be allowed to use the female bathroom. Note that we are not even talking about transgendered people. The governor of North Carolina signed a law preventing such people from using the female restroom.
You would think that is just plain commonsense. But not in the world we live in. That created a huge uproar. They are calling it a discrimination law, because it discriminates against women trapped in men’s bodies. Big businesses are threatening to boycott North Carolina. Paypal has cancelled plans to build a facility there. The NBA has threatened to relocate their all-star game to a different state. Bruce Springsteen has cancelled a concert in NC – leaving hundreds of disappointed fan. I didn’t even know Springsteen was still alive. I think my website has more followers than he does. One porn site even decided to block IP addresses from NC. Imagine they are taking a “moral” stand in this issue.
Where is the feminist movement when you need them?
What amazes me is that women are not speaking up against the idea of men (some of whom may be sexual predators) sharing their bathroom.
LGBT people make up less than 5% of the US population, while Christians account for 70% of Americans. So why is there so much uproar about a bill that goes against LGBT people? The answer is two-fold. Firstly, there are many non-gay people who are sympathetic to the LGBT movement. Secondly, a very large fraction of those who identify as Christians are a bunch of fakes. This is why businesses feel that those sympathetic with the LGBT movement have more buying power than conservative Christians. I wonder what would happen if Christians boycotted Paypal. Perhaps Christians need to make their voices heard a little louder.
Antichristian Society
This is the world we live in. It is what one preacher calls a going-to-hell generation. There is increasing hostility toward Christians. In the Middle East, Asia and Africa, persecution against Christians is physical. In the West, the persecution has taken a different form – an increasing hostility toward religion as a whole, particularly Christianity. Christians are cast as uneducated people who don’t believe in science, while atheists and evolutionists are considered learned and intelligent. We even see in popular culture (TV shows and movies) a widespread acceptance of gay people, and growing disdain for conservative Christianity.
Most of this persecution stems from the LGBT movement. There have been quite a few business owners sued because they refused to facilitate gay weddings. One photographer refused to lend his services for a gay wedding. So the gay couple sued him, and won the suit. An owner of a bed and breakfast refused to rent their facility to a gay couple for a wedding. Guess what, they got sued as well, and were forced to pay $80,000 and accommodate the couple. In both cases, the business owners sited religious convictions as their reason for not offering their services to a gay wedding.
Do you think that is something to get sued for? If someone refused to serve me for whatever reason, I would write a few bad reviews online, then I would just find someone else to offer their services. I won’t sue over that. But the LGBT movement is so full of vindictiveness and hatred toward Christians. They are not satisfied to co-exist with people of opposing beliefs. No, they must bring them under subjection.
Protection for Business owners
The second part of the religious liberty bill affords protection for Christian business owners, like those mentioned above, who wish to not be forced to participate in a gay wedding if that violates their religious convictions. But even without those religious liberty laws, you could use wisdom to work around it. If your boss wants to fire you because of your race or religion, he will never state that openly. He would give you some other reason – “your productivity has decreased” or something safe like that.
Why would a Christian business owner refuse services to someone and openly state it is because the person is gay? Why would you do that? The gay people are not your enemies. If you really don’t want to photograph their wedding, just charge them a ridiculous price, or tell them your schedule is booked up.
Persecution and Discrimination
This is an area where perspective makes a huge difference. LGBT people don’t consider it persecution when a judge orders a business owner to pay $80,000 for refusing to facilitate a gay wedding. As far as they are concerned, the religious people are being prejudiced bigots, so they deserve to get sued. But even if they are right, should someone get sued for being a bigot? Why can’t gay people be sued for not accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior? The fact is that modern society is heavily biased against conservative Christianity. Christians are seen as a backward uneducated sect of society, and as a result many churches have adopted a more liberal position to better fit into modern society.
Now Christians are not totally innocent in all of this. About 10 years ago, Christians were responsible for a lot of discrimination themselves, especially when the last Republican president (George W. Bush) held office. Many churches actively campaigned against gay rights, knowing that they had the support of the president. I remember telling them that they were playing a dangerous game.
The ideal society
Society cannot be built on discrimination of any kind. Every group must be able to fit into society without having their rights violated – even gay people. The ideal society is not a Christian society, but an equal society. Yes you read right. The ideal society is one with a climate that accommodates every one. A Christian society is one that gives special privileges to Christians, and lesser privileges to LGBT and other non-Christian groups.
So why don’t I want a Christian society? Once you have a climate that suppresses any group, it is only a matter of time before the tables turn on you. Exodus 1:8 says that there arose a new king over Egypt who knew not Joseph, and the Hebrew people plummeted into slavery. In the US, all it took was 8 years of a Democrat President, and the entire system turned.
There is much stronger hostility toward Christians today than 10 years ago, and this hostility is engrained in society. The new generation of Americans – the so-called millennial generation – has risen up with a vengeance. This generation is very intolerant to anyone who holds to different views and values. And I should point out that the values they espouse are the exact opposite of the values that made America great in the first place.
Americans are in danger of losing their religious freedom. Very slowly, something that Christians once considered the bedrock of American society is now eroding beneath them.
Don’t be surprised
If we read the book of Revelation, we see that these things are not unexpected. The Bible speaks about not being able to buy or sell without the “mark” (Revelation 13:17). We expect the entire economic system to move in that direction. So when businesses threaten to boycott an entire state because of something that they perceive as a threat to the LGBT community, that should not surprise us. It is only a matter of time before they start withholding services from anyone who does not support the LGBT movement. Then they will turn their attention exclusively to Christians. The only uncertainty is how much time.
What Should Christians Do?
There is an old Keith Greene song with the lyrics:
The world is sleeping in the dark
but the church just can’t fight
’cause it’s asleep in the light
Well the world is no longer sleeping in the dark. It is wide awake reveling proudly in the dark. But the church is still fast asleep in the light. Christians need to wake up and stop living in denial. This is happening. I honestly do not know what kind of future our children would have to face.
Christians need to pray
1 Timothy 2:2 tells us to pray so we could live peaceable lives. We know that persecution is sometimes inevitable. But at the same time, if we could avoid persecution, that would be so great. We should wage serious spiritual warfare against the LGBT movement and the demonic powers that control them. Personally I am praying that that movement falls under its own weight. Right now they are very unified, but I am praying for divisions to show up and for their favor with the political powers to be taken away.
Note that I am not praying against gay people. There is a difference between gay individuals and the LGBT movement. The LGBT movement is a highly antichristian group that is causing a lot of trouble for the conservative church. Gay people are sinners just like everyone else who need Jesus. We should pray for gay people, that they experience true conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment, and that they will not be mislead by liberal pastors. They should come to recognize their sinful condition just like everyone else, and repent.
Stand up
Finally Christians should stand up for righteousness, stand up for the Word of God, and stand up for Christ regardless of what comes their way. There is the very real possibility of losing your job if you don’t approve of the LGBT lifestyle. They will even accuse you of discrimination. But remember that Christians on the other side of the world are losing much more than their jobs. They are losing their very lives. Yet many of them are refusing to renounce the name of Christ. Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run the race with patience and perseverance. Be watchful and vigilant, for your adversary walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
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