By James Wilson
The
attacks on the First Amendment by government officials become more irrational
as they become more brazen. In Houston,
Texas, the city council rammed through an ordinance – in order to please their
avowedly lesbian mayor – that corresponds to California’s so-called bathroom
bill. It mandates permission for men and
women to use each others’ public restroom and locker room facilities should
they feel like the other gender on any given day. Texas law requires a little more than 17,000
petition signatures for qualifying a referendum – to be certified by the city
secretary. More than 55,000 were
submitted and the secretary – per her sworn testimony – certified them. Houston’s city attorney – who has no authority
to do so – invalidated all the signatures.
When concerned citizens filed a lawsuit against the city that same city
attorney subpoenaed the sermons and pastor-to-member correspondence of five
pastors who support the referendum but are not parties to the lawsuit. That the pastors were not connected to the
lawsuit is the irrational part; issuing the subpoenas is the brazen.
Sermons
are not private communication. They are
delivered in public every Sunday and they are often recorded for later publication. Private communications between a pastor and
anyone are confidential and protected.
To “summon” a sermon is a blatant attempt at intimidation against
constitutionally protected speech and to subpoena privileged correspondence is
a constitutional outrage. The Alliance
Defending Freedom took the case, and the subpoenas have been withdrawn in the
wake of a public outcry that includes Texas Attorney General Abbott’s letter
asking – in effect – what were you thinking?
But the most outrageous breach of law and constitution to remain
standing is the suppression of the public’s right to speak through their
vote. This is not unique to Texas.
In
Colorado students objecting to a similar policy were threatened by police and
their school district. Pacific Justice
Institute is defending them.
California’s
Bathroom Bill – AB 1266 – was subject to a successful petition drive for a
referendum. It too was disqualified by
Secretary of State Debra Bowen who refused to turn over petitions to Pacific
Justice Institute for a state guaranteed right of review. This one went before a judge who ruled
petitioners had a “right to privacy” that trumped the right of review; again
the ruling is as irrational as it is illegal and unconstitutional. Who signs a petition and then hopes nobody finds
out they signed?
It
doesn’t end there in California. The
State Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) has decided the Knox-Keene Act
requires all employers – including churches – must provide abortion services
for their employees if they offer health insurance to them. This travesty comes in the wake of the recent
Supreme Court Decision in favor of Hobby Lobby and against the Obama
Administration (of which state health bureaucrats are well aware) attempt to
force non-church – yet Christian owned – businesses to do the same thing. Even the Obama Administration admits it has
no power to force churches into this kind of grisly compliance. The new state regulations took effect August 22. What they achieve is to once again
demonstrate that the largest criminal enterprise in our nation is government –
in terms of reach and impact – at local, state and national levels. Citizens need to just say no – and the
persecuted pastors of Houston are doing just that.
We
need to say more than a rhetorical “No.”
We need to clog the courts with lawsuits demanding our legitimate
rights; we need to vote for leaders with a record of operating within the
limitations of constitution and Word of God.
That means doing our homework in primary seasons, when the alternatives
are all available. There can be no more
choosing of lesser evils, as though evil knows degrees. And when push comes to shove we need to say –
en masse – “Go ahead, arrest me.” This
is what brought about civil rights reform in the sixties and seventies, and
there are more of us at risk now than there were then – as though mere numbers
matter. Truth is if one is at risk all
are at risk; this is hardly a new idea.
In Acts 5 Peter and John told the Sanhedrin
to do what they must, but “We must obey God rather than men.” Jesus said to render to Ceasar only what
belongs to him, and to God what belongs to Him.
Obedience here carries infinite blessing, for Jesus also says, in
Matthew 10:32, that those who acknowledge Him before men will be acknowledged
by Him before God. I don’t want to spend
time in jail, but for that kind of blessing it is well worthwhile if I must.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living
As Ambassadors of Relationships and The
Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by
e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
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