America’s ‘wall of separation’ is blocking practice of faith posted by John Sorensen on Feb 15, 2013

Congressman Randy Forbes of Virginia – a recipient of the D. James Kennedy Distinguished  Christian Statesman award and a friend to this ministry – sent me a column he wrote for the Washington Times that I believe you should read and circulate.

In the piece, Rep. Forbes clearly and concisely outlines the concerns I have stated with the current trajectory of the United States and our ability to share the Gospel freely.  He also provides recent examples of how our rights as evangelical Christians are in danger due to this current environment, including the Louie Giglio incident I expressed concern over recently.

A part of Congressman Forbes’ article is below; I recommend you read it in its entirety.  May the Lord preserve these United States of America as one nation, under God.

-jbs

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Catholic adoption agencies have been forced to close their doors in Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., because their religious beliefs about marriage were deemed unacceptable by their jurisdictions.

A graduate student in Michigan was expelled from a counseling program because her religious beliefs about marriage were deemed unacceptable by school officials.

Christian pharmacists in Illinois were told to find other professions because their religious beliefs regarding when life begins were deemed unacceptable by the state.

Private business owners are facing enormous fines because their beliefs about when life begins have been deemed unacceptable by the federal government.

Pastor Louie Giglio did not deliver the closing prayer at President Obama’s inauguration ceremony because his religious beliefs about marriage were deemed unacceptable by the administration.

In January, our nation celebrated Religious Freedom Day, commemorating the anniversary of the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, in which Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no man shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion.”

Compared with others around the world, people of faith in America enjoy extraordinary freedoms. Our lives are not in danger. We do not face imprisonment or torture for holding unpopular convictions.

Yet when people of faith are restricted from fully participating in society — owning businesses, entering the medical profession or providing much-needed charitable services — an intolerable trade-off has occurred. The government has exceeded its boundary, and the figurative wall between church and state must be strengthened.

Click here to read the entire article