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Two Religions

There’s only two religions in the world.

Either God is God or you are.

First of all, “religion” is simply the term given to the way you answer four basic questions:

  • Where did I come? (Origin)
  • What happens when I did? (Destiny)
  • How am I supposed to behave? (Morality)
  • What’s the point of my existence? (Purpose)

How you answer those four questions determines your religious framework. From that standpoint, even the atheist is just as “religious” as his faith based counterpart, the only difference being that the name of his god just happens to match the name on his birth certificate.

Every religion save Christianity provides a way in which you can merit the favor of your preferred deity. With Islam you’ve got Jihad, as a Buddhist you’ve got Nirvana. Jehovah’s Witnesses strive to be among the 144,000 referenced in Revelation 7:4 , Hindus pursue Moksha in order to be liberated from the cycle of death and rebirth. Mormons believe that they can attain the status of gods in the afterlife through their works here on earth. The atheist evaluates his need to be redeemed as well as the source of his redemption according to what he sees in the mirror every morning. In each scenario, you have the ability as a human being to improve your spiritual status.

Christianity, on the other hand, says that you are a spiritual corpse (Eph 2:1). You are dead in your sin and you have no option available to you that can offset your default status as a sinner that is permanently and irretrievably separated from God (Ps 14:3Is 64:6). That’s what makes Christianity distinct from every other religious school of thought – you are completely destitute apart from some kind of miracle that can somehow transform you in the eyes of God from being sinful to sinless.

In that regard, Christianity is not only a standout, it’s the only authentic religion in the way it positions humanity as being utterly subordinate to God as opposed to being somehow comparable to Him.

This goes back to the book of Genesis where satan told Eve that by disobeying God you would become “like God.” (Gen 3:4-5)

Yes, there are many doctrines and creeds, but they all boil down to the same thing in that you are “like God.”

Christianity, however, says you are created and loved by God and it’s because of His Love and amazing grace that you can know Him.

But you first have to accept that you need Him, which is a tall order for those who are determined to be their own spiritual bottom line.

There are only two religions: Either God is God…

…or you are.

For further reading…

Something to Hide

Although it’s not always the case, when you hear someone say, “That’s your opinion,” you’re hearing someone who can’t disagree with what’s being said without sounding selfish or foolish.

Knowing they can’t get people to agree with them, they focus instead on getting people to feel sorry for them by asserting the idea that to be questioned or criticized is a violation of their right to think for themselves and they are now a victim of a cruel and unjust environment.

It looks like this:

  • I can’t get people to agree with me…
  • So I’ll get people to feel sorry for me…
  • Now should someone criticize me…
  • Everyone will side with me.

This is how bad ideas and distorted perspectives get introduced into our society as noble concessions.

You can’t criticize someone who’s in pain without being labeled cruel and intolerant. So by posing as a victim, you don’t have to answer any questions or take responsibility for your actions.

This is the signature tactic of someone who doesn’t have something to say as much as they have something to hide.

But how can you argue with someone who maintains that their reasoning can’t be challenged without you being categorized as hateful and intolerant?

Ask them questions about other situations and let their own answers reveal the lack of logic that characterizes their beliefs.

For example…

Was Hitler justified in killing six million Jews because he was entitled to his opinion?

Of course not.

In the same way, just because you have an opinion doesn’t mean you’re always right.

If you believe yourself to be correct in the way you think, you have to prove that in the context of what happens when your perspective is put into practice. In other words, you have to run the play and show how it moves the ball down the field. If it doesn’t work, then you’re not trying to win the game as much as you’re trying to validate a self-serving mindset.

That’s your opinion.

Not everyone feels that way.

Separation of Church and State.

You can’t force your beliefs on me…

None of these phrases constitute an argument in and of themselves as much as they’re used as way to conceal one’s inability to defend their viewpoint without sounding selfish or absurd. And in some cases, not only do they not have a point as much as they have a hole in their shoe because they’ve shot themselves in the foot and now they want to blame all their pain on the person or the principle that told them not to pull the trigger to begin with.

They don’t have something to say as much as they have something to hide.

 

 

Who’s In Charge?

Who’s in charge?

The Oval Office?

It changes every 4-8 years.

How about the Supreme Court?

They can reverse their decision.1

When our Founding Fathers delivered their Declaration of Independence to King George, they began by answering that question by saying our rights were not dispensed by a monarch, rather they were guaranteed by God.2

Throughout the war, Congress would continue to answer that question by proclaiming a national day of prayer and fasting on sixteen different occasions.3

John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”4 James Madison insisted that before anyone could be “…considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe.”5

Who is in charge?

This is the question you need to ask the person who wants your vote, your subscription or your support.

How you answer that question either puts your name alongside those who signed the Declaration of Independence and ratified the Constitution, or…

…it defines you as someone who wants to replace the One Who is in charge with someone who looks a lot like themselves.

 

 

1. “Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, ending right to abortion upheld for decades”, NPR, Nina Totenberg, Sarah McCammon, June 24, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/06/24/1102305878/supreme-court-abortion-roe-v-wade-decision-overturn#:~:text=In%20a%20historic%20and%20far,half%20century%2C%20no%20longer%20exists, accessed March 10, 2024

2. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”, “Declaration of Independence – A Transcription”, National Archives, https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript, accessed March 10, 2024

3. From July 20, 1775 to August 3, 1784, Congress called for a National Day of Prayer and Fasting. You can read the text as it’s preserved in the Library of Congress and see who it was that drafted each of the Proclamations by reading “The Finish Line,” which you can access by heading out to http://muscularchristianityonline.com/forum/the-finish-line/

4. “From John Adams to Massachusetts Militia, 11 October 1798”, “Founders Online”, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-3102, accessed March 10, 2024

5. “Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments, [ca. 20 June] 1785”, “Founders Online” https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-08-02-0163, accessed March 10, 2024

How Did That Happen?

In the “That’s Your Opinion” series, we talked about how when you subscribe to a viewpoint that can’t be championed directly because of the problems that are inherent to your perspective, you can nevertheless be perceived as credible by shifting the attention away from the subject matter and instead make the conversation all about the way you’re being made to feel.

If you can successfully cast yourself as either a victim or someone who’s in pain, you’re able to avoid that line of questioning that has the capacity to reveal the flaws of your argument. Reason being is that no one can be critical of someone who’s “wounded” without being labeled cruel and intolerant.

In the absence of an objective evaluation, a genuinely ridiculous idea can be embraced as an enlightened inspiration. Not because of its intellectual merits or practical utility, but simply because of the way you’ve been able to manuever the dialog so the focus isn’t on your logic or on your actions. Instead, it’s now on your emotions and by making your sensibilities the only things that matter, you can place a restriction on any questions or comments that pertain specifically to both your thought process and your behavior. Your pain becomes your platform, the problems you create are blamed on other people and your behavior is excused rather than corrected.

You see this everywhere. It’s in the news, it’s in our society, you’ll see it in politics and you’lll see it in relationships as well.

When a person does something hurtful and you call them on it, watch to see how they respond. If they reply by apologizing, you’re dealing with an honest invididual in the context of a healthy relationship.

If on the other hand, they answer by talking more about your reaction than their behavior, that’s not someone who wants to take responsibility for their actions let alone acknowledge that they’ve done something wrong.

It’s not always obvious. You can be in the middle of telling someone that they’re wrong for what they did and suddenly you find yourself apologizing…

How did that happen?

It’s a signature strategy of someone who’s got something to hide as opposed to having something to say is to “react” to whatever correction or questions they’ve having to field by shifting the focus of the dialogue off of their behavior and instead attempt to make it into a situation where they’re being treated unfairly.

It goes back to that verse in Proverbs…

Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright. (Prov 14:9)

You always want to be sensitive to, not just what you’re saying, but also the way you say it (Prov 25:11). But it’s not always about being more patient or more willing to forgive or even a determination to be a better communicator. This is about being wise enough to recognize a tactic if, in fact, a tactic is being used.

That’s Your Opinion | Part II

This is part two of “That’s Your Opinion.” In the first installment, we looked at the way in which the phrase, “That’s your opinion,” is often used as a strategy to prevent anyone from disagreeing with what’s being said by asserting the idea that all opinions have to be certified as valid in order to ensure an environment characterized by compassion and understanding. This is how bad ideas become culturally accepted methodologies. By posing as a victim of an overbearing and intolerant society, one’s viewpoint is embraced as comparable to every other mindset, regardless of what occurs when that perspective is put into practice.

It’s not a statement as much as it’s a strategy to conceal the problems associated with a particular approach.

To prevent this tactic from shutting down what would otherwise be a productive dialogue, you want to navigate the conversation using the techniques used by Christ.

In Part II, we’re going to recap what was discussed in Part I, emphasize the spiritual realities that characterize this contest and that look at some real world examples.

Here we go!

I) Intro: The Dilemma and the Diversion

As someone who subscribes to a perspective on a particular issue that when put into practice results in a world of pain and problems, you now have a dilemma…

You can’t defend your rationale directly, so you create a distraction by posing as an advocate for an open forum where everyone has the right to think for themselves.

This is what is happening when you hear someone say, “That’s your opinion.”

“That’s your opinion” creates a diversion in that you’re now no longer talking about the subject matter. The shortcomings that are inherent to your platform, which stand to be revealed in the context of a legitimate conversation, are overlooked in favor of what appears to be a noble defense of free thinking.

You’re no longer seen as someone attempting to justify your point of view. Now you’re perceived as someone who simply wants everyone to be heard and, because no one can logically challenge that idea, both you and your platform are embraced in the name of diversity and equality.

Meanwhile…

All the problems caused by the way you manage your thoughts and morals are processed, not as those things that are directly related to the flawed perspectives you insist on maintaining, but as pain inflicted upon you by an intolerant society, if they’re perceived as problems at all.

And while saying, “That’s your opinion” is an effective strategy in preventing an incriminating line of questioning from ever being included as part of the debate, it’s one of several phrases that have the same effect:

  • Not everyone feels that way.
  • You can’t force your beliefs on me.
  • Separation of church and state.

With each phrase you have the ability to conceal the flaws of your platform by framing it as an appeal for compassion and understanding.

It’s a brilliant strategy and one that can be identified as having played a crucial role in adding any one of a number of dysfunctional standards to the list of culturally accepted methodologies.

The best way to counter these tactics is to follow the example of Christ in the way He engaged His opponents and that’s what we’re talking about tonite.

II) It’s Not Against Flesh and Blood

Before we get started, let’s ensure we’re beginning with a biblical starting point:

Ephesians 6:12 says:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph 6:12)

Our struggle isn’t against flesh and blood…

The topics that we discuss in today’s society and the Truths that we would champion are more than just talking points. There’s a spiritual struggle baked into these debates that prevent an objective evaluation of the facts and however strong and compelling your logic may be, it will be labeled as flawed and even cruel because of the way the human race wants to see itself as its own absolute.

This is part of what Paul is addressing in the verse we just read.

The underlying question is, “Who’s in charge?” If Christ isn’t your starting point, the individual is basically running the show and anybody who disagrees with them is seen as someone who is challenging their authority and not merely questioning their logic.

This is why in order for real change to occur, you have to step back and allow God to do what only He can accomplish (Jn 6:65; 1 Cor 2:12).

The point of this discussion is not to suggest that a particular debating technique can be used as a supplement to Evangelism or to take away from the sense of urgency that accompanies God’s command to be an effective witness (Matt 28:19-20; Eph 5:15-16).

Rather, what we’re looking at are the spiritual realities that are at play and recognizing the tactics that are often used to shut down a conversation before it can get to a place where the Truth of God’s Word can be presented as Something that is both Strong and Superior to any competing school of thought (Is 1:18; Jn 17:17; 1 Cor 1:18).

The takeaway here is not a replacement for Evangelism, as much as it’s a method you can use to circumvent those strategies that are looking to prevent it.

That said, let’s take a look at how human beings tend to defend themselves when confronted with a Truth they don’t want to hear…

III) The Strategy of the Victim

  • When Adam was asked by God why he ate the forbidden fruit, he blamed Eve (Gen 3:12)
  • When Eve was asked why she ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, she blamed the serpent (Gen 3:13)
  • When Cain was asked where his brother was, he responded by insinuating it wasn’t his responsibility (Gen 4:9)
  • When Moses confronted Aaron about his willingness to create a golden calf, Aaron blamed his fellow Israelites (Ex 32:22-23)
  • When Samuel accused Saul of disobeying the Lord’s commands, Saul blamed his soldiers for pressuring him to compromise (1 Sam 15:24)
  • When Peter was identified as someone who knew Jesus, Peter insisted he was a victim of mistaken identity (Lk 22:54-62)

It’s typical for someone who has something to hide, as opposed to having something to say, to pose as a victim of extenuating circumstances and in that way, either justify their actions or conceal the self-absorbed agenda that motivates their behavior.

When you say, “That’s your opinion,” you’re asserting that all opinions need to be certified as valid in order to ensure a fair and equitable environment. Now, should anyone question the substance of your opinion, they are heard as being antagonistic to the idea of a person having the right to think for themselves.

To disagree with you in any way shape or form is now associated with an attitude that is unfair and unjust.

And you are now a “victim…”

The focus is now on rescuing you from the clutches of a totalitarian system and the fact that you’re driving on the wrong side of the road and justifying by saying you have the right to be happy is either overlooked or embraced as part of ensuring a proper degree of sensitivity is being applied to the wounds you have received at the hands of a tyrannical paradigm.

These aren’t topics, these are tactics. These aren’t subjects, these are strategies.

The validity of one’s perspective is ultimately gauged according to what occurs when that perspective is put into practice. If the result is fundamentally flawed, then not only is your opinion invalid, but it needs to be subordinated to a mindset that yields a better outcome.

But however logical that approach may be, it is anything but reasonable to a person who’s philosophically invested in their fallacy, which is why they will cling to a victimized status in order to avoid having to defend a mindset that cannot be validated as interchangeable, let alone preferable to those dispositions that produce a better result.

IV) Disable and Dismantle

When confronted with the “That’s your opinion” tactic, you don’t want to think of merely “countering” or “blocking.”

When you look at the way God handled all of the previously mentioned scenarios, you see the same technique happening over and over again.

  • Adam and Eve (Gen 3:13) – What have you done?
  • Cain (Gen 4:10) – What have you done?
  • Moses and Aaron (Ex 32:25-27) – Whose side are you on?
  • Samuel and Saul (1 Sam 15:21) – What does God prefer?
  • Peter and Jesus (Jn 13:38) – Will you really?

However the situation appears to obligate God to acknowledge the compromised status of those He is confronting, He maintains the true purpose of the conversation by simply asking a question.

Each question compels a response that does not allow for anything other than a direct answer. Whatever tactics or strategies that might otherwise be deployed in order to reduce visibility, so the consequences of their actions go unseen are effectively disabled and dismantled.

Jesus used this same kind of approach when talking with the Pharisees.

When they attempted to trap Him into saying something incriminating by asking if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, He replied by asking “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” (Matt 22:20).

When the Pharisees were convinced the Christ as committing blasphemy by telling a man that his sins were forgiven, He responded by asking, “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say ‘Get up and walk’?” (Matt 9:5).

Questions have to be answered in a way that resonates as complete and coherent. You risk your entire platform by coming across as evasive and manufactured.

And because a perspective lacking in practical substance can’t hold up beneath the weight of a revealing inquiry, you’re able to completely circumvent what would otherwise happen to the conversation when your opponent says, “That’s your opinion.”

V) Examples

There are any one of a number of issues in our society today that are labeled, “controversial” that remain in that category only because of the way they’re camouflaged as opinions that need to be adopted as part of maintaining an impartial marketplace of ideas.

It is possible, however, to uncover the troubled and sinister dynamics that characterize these topics by being like Christ and asking the right questions.

Bear in mind, though, that even when you’re able to bring certain things to light that might otherwise go unnoticed, the real battle is spiritual, and you want to remain sensitive and obedient to however God would work through you in order to ensure that it’s Him that is being clearly seen and not just a more well thought out worldview (Matt 10:19).

Below you’ll see some examples of how a particular approach to an issue can be revealed as being inconsistent with what’s both logical and True by asking the right question(s).

Use these examples to inspire your own rebuttals remembering that the battle is the Lord’s and your Strength comes from Him.

The negative health consequences of alternative sexuality are made more understandable by first recognizing the nature of the sexual practices at issue. A 1979 survey in the book The Gay Report revealed the percentage of gay men who engaged in the following practices: 99% oral sex, 91% anal sex, 82% rimming (analingus), 22% fisting, 23% golden showers (urination on another), 4% scat (defecation on another). 8 The book’s two authors were of same-sex sexual attraction. A May 2011 medical journal article found that felching (“sucking or eating semen out of someone’s anus”) was a sought-after practice in one-sixth of men’s profiles in “one of the largest Internet websites specifically targeting MSM looking for partners for unprotected sex.” (cmda.org)

Homosexuality

Is Homosexuality the best way to contract and proliferate the AIDS virus?

As of 2021, there are 32,100 estimated new HIV Infections. Of those, 70% were among gay and bisexual men.1

Homosexuality is engaged according to a collection of sexual practices that represent a breeding ground for all kinds of sexually transmitted diseases. In short, it represents a departure from the way the human species is designed. (Lev 18:22; 20:13; Rom 1:26-27)

Abortion

Will your baby live if you don’t have an abortion?

The argument that “It’s my body,” ceases to be a legitimate perspective once you realize that your baby is another human being and not a mere skin tag that can be disposed of. (Gen 1:26; Ex 20:13; Ps 139:13-16)

Socialism

Does everyone deserve a passing grade on a test – even those that didn’t study?

Not everyone has the same work ethic and, in that regard, Socialism doesn’t work because it fails to acknowledge the reality of fools. (2 Thess 3:10)

Christian theology with its idea of a fixed human nature infuriated Marx, who was not just an atheist but a God-hater who denounced religion as “the opium of the people.” His disciples, led by Lenin, always targeted the churches when they came to power. They initiated without apology a campaign of terror, shutting down churches, executing priests and bishops and violating nuns. The horrors were justified as part of the class-cleansing Marx envisioned.

The Founders of the American Revolution rejected those who believed that man was born without any imprint and sided with those who accepted that man was born in the image of God. As the Declaration of Independence states, all men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” The Founders disagreed with those who thought man was perfectible and instead took the Christian position that man’s nature was fallen.2

 VI) Conclusion

Similar to “turning the other cheek,” 1 Peter 3:14-15 needs to be processed as something more than just being able to tell someone that they’re a sinner and they need Jesus:

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Pet 3:14-15)

Among the best defenses of Christianity came from my father who was able to sum up a brilliant apology in two words:

It works.

Christianity is not just remedy for sin in the context of being able to avoid eternal damnation. Godly living puts you in a position of strength in the way you’re able to avoid the practical consequences of sinful behavior as well.

It works.

Those who want to maintain themselves as their own absolute do so at the expense of their own welfare. You can’t identify one “sin” that’s specified in the Bible from a moral perspective and not see how by abiding by God’s Instructions, you inevitably benefit.

You’re better off not being a Homosexual because of what you’re able to avoid in terms of sexually transmitted diseases, some of which are lethal.

You’re better off not having sex before you get married, so you’re not saddled with the kind of responsibility that was designed to be shared by both a mother and a father.

You’re not better off not stealing or murdering anyone because of the repercussions you’ll have to contend with in the aftermath.

As a committed follower of Christ, you’re better off!

It works.

And when someone says, “That’s your opinion,” recognize that, while it’s not always the case, in most instances that’s what someone says when they know they can’t disagree with what’s being said without sounding selfish or foolish. Reason being that the damage done by those things that occur when their opinion is played out in real time can’t compete with alternative perspectives that work out much better.

Hence the need to conceal the flaws in their argument by posing as a champion for an open forum, by saying…

“That’s your opinion.”

Don’t let these tactics silence the Strength of Scripture. Be ready to ask those questions that facilitate an objective evaluation of the mindset in question and let the lack of reason that characterizes their argument serve as a spotlight that can then be pointed at a better approach and ultimately to the Son of God Himself.

 

  1. “HIV Incidence”, “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention”, https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/overview/in-us/incidence.html, accessed November 15, 2023
  2. “What Americans Must Know About Socialism”, Lee Edwards, Ph.D, December 3, 2018, “The Heritage Foundation”, https://www.heritage.org/progressivism/commentary/what-americans-must-know-about-socialism, accessed November 15, 2023

That’s Your Opinion | Part I

I) Here’s Your Challenge

You have a perspective on a particular issue that when it’s put into practice results in a world of pain and problems.

Yet, it’s something that falls in line with your preferences, so now you have a dilemma…

How do you champion your viewpoint without sounding either outrageously selfish or absurd?

Part of what makes this especially challenging is that you have to retool the very definition of all that’s right, good, moral and just. If you are to successfully position your viewpoint as something that is comparable to every other approach, despite its flaws and liabilities, you’ve got to introduce some new standards in order to make your platform look credible.

You have to be your own absolute.

But it’s really not that hard.

All you need to do is use one of several phrases that frame the debate in a way where you are perceived as someone who’s merely advocating an environment where everyone’s opinion is credible. Now you can not only win the debate, but you can also make every other opposing mindset look sinister because those who are on the outside looking in aren’t hearing your opponent challenge your logic. Rather, they’re hearing them as being against the very concepts of compassion and understanding.

You have a number of comments to choose from:

  • Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
  • Not everyone feels that way.
  • You can’t force your beliefs on me.
  • Separation of Church and State.

Every one of these phrases has one thing in common: It changes the way you’re now no longer heard as someone trying to justify themselves. Instead, you’re heard as someone being “forced” to subscribe to something you don’t agree with.

You are a victim of a totalitarian system, and now you can’t be criticized or corrected.

The focus is now neither on the subject matter nor on the flaws of your argument. Rather, it’s on the character of the person who’s daring to question the validity of your approach because of the way you’ve been able to characterize them as overbearing and intolerant.

The direct line of questioning that has the capacity to reveal the flaws of your argument…?

Silenced.

The challenge of having to account for the damage done by the approach you subscribe to?

Not your responsibility.

No one wants to be labeled intolerant or judgmental or homophobic or racist…

So, in the context of one, well timed comment, you can shift the attention away from what’s being discussed and instead focus on the apparent character flaws of those who disagree with you. And in no time at all, you create a level of intimidation to the point where no one wants to say anything at all.

II) Your Battleplan

You can’t drive on the wrong side of the road and justify it by saying you have the right to be happy. At some point, you have to be able to certify your way of thinking as credible according to what happens when your battleplan is put into action.

If you’re forcing people into the ditch or you’re causing head on collisions, then your opinion needs to be subordinated to a different approach that yields a better result.

What you think and how you feel is important. But when you establish yourself as your own bottom line in order to avoid taking responsibility for the organic outcome of those processes you have endorsed, you’re not a victim of anything other than your own poor decision making.

You can’t shoot yourself in the foot and then turn around and blame all your pain on the one who told you not to pull the trigger to begin with.

III) Basic Math

Imagine telling someone that 2 + 2 = 4 and they respond by saying, “You can’t force your beliefs on me!”

Think about it!

They’re not declaring themselves to be right nor are they insisting that you’re wrong.

In some ways, they’re not really adding anything to the conversation, but it’s not what they’re saying as much as it’s what they’re doing.

They’re creating a distraction.

We’re not talking about math anymore. Now you’re having to contend with being labeled a tyrant and until you’ve vindicated yourself, the idea that 2 + 2 = 4 is suspect due to the way you’ve been indicted as being cruel and opinionated.

Of course, since you’re the only witness for the defense, your testimony isn’t especially compelling. You can’t really defend yourself because everyone expects you to insist that you’re innocent.

Meanwhile…

The person who said, “You can’t force your beliefs on me” is able to create their own version of mathematics.

2 + 2 can equal whatever they want because, while the conversation began by discussing the sum of two integers, it was altered by insinuating that you’re hateful and mean. Now everyone’s feeling obligated to perceive you and your platform as being inappropriate and any notion of a genuinely accurate calculation is no longer a priority.

Given some time, this kind of dynamic can actually produce an anomaly where 2 + 2 can equal anything but 4 because of the way basic addition is now characterized as unenlightened and immoral.

IV) Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

When Cain killed his brother Abel, God confronted Cain by asking him, “Where is your brother?”

Cain’s got a problem.

He can’t answer the question directly because by doing so he would be incriminating himself. So, he does the equivalent to what we’ve been talking about by asserting the idea that he is being questioned by an Individual Who is domineering and demanding.

Cain responds by asking God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

In other words, “I’m not responsible for my brother, therefore I can’t know for certain where he is and for You to assume that I would know represents a level of presumption that is neither fair nor appropriate.”

Cain tries to set himself up as a victim. He’s basically telling God, “That’s Your opinion.”

But look at how God responds.

He says, “What have you done?”

God’s Holy, so His Motives are beyond reproach. But the issue isn’t the purity of His Disposition, it’s the fact that Abel is dead and by refusing to submit to Cain’s line of questioning, God is able to maintain the true purpose of the conversation by focusing on what Cain has done and those things that have happened as a result.

Cain’s attempt to conceal both his way of thinking as well as his behavior by indirectly accusing God of having unreasonable expectations is the same methodology being deployed by people who would defend their viewpoint by saying…

That’s your opinion, you can’t force your beliefs on me, not everyone feels that way.

Even the separation of church and state is often nothing more than a veiled attempt to distract attention away from the consequences of a person’s behavior and instead make it all about the status of an individual’s emotional sensibilities.

I don’t care what the Bible says, I’m going to do whatever I want to do regardless of the problems it may cause and if you don’t agree with me, well…

That’s your opinion.

V) Conclusion

As believers we are often opposed by people who would attempt to shut down any meaningful dialogue by saying, “That’s your opinion.”

You want to be ready to process that response as something that is, at least potentially, not so much a contribution to the conversation, but as a tactic to tailor the conversation in a way where any Truth is compromised because of the way it’s now associated with an implied intolerance for the thoughts and feelings of others.

Should you find yourself in that situation, you want to take your cue from God’s Example and respond by simply asking the right questions.

Results and Outcomes as opposed to Feelings and Preferences.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and you can’t force your beliefs on someone else. But you’re not being overbearing when you’re simply evaluating those things that result from when a person’s perspective is put into practice.

An “opinion,” according to the dictionary is, “a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.” When God questioned Cain about Abel’s whereabouts, He wasn’t attempting to discern something that couldn’t be known for certain. There was no need to speculate. Cain’s response was an attempt to distract from those things that could be readily observed in order to perpetuate the idea that any notion of his being guilty of anything sinister was based on something wholly subjective.

And that’s the point.

When someone tries to navigate the dialogue in a way where everything remains relative in order to sustain the idea that there is no definitive right or wrong, you can counter that strategy by doing the very same thing God did with Cain: Replace subjective ideas with observable facts.

And not just some of the facts, but all of the information that’s relevant to the dialogue.

So, the next time you hear someone say, “That’s your opinion,” you can respond by saying, “No, these are observable facts” and then proceed to make your case. By bringing the focus of the debate back to what can be known and not merely felt, you’re able to prevent preferences from becoming principles and bad ideas from becoming accepted methodologies.

Making Your Point vs Making an Appeal

Talking to a skeptic about the Reality of Christ can be a real challenge.

In some cases, they’re genuinely curious. They recognize the elegance of the human experience and the complexity of the universe as something that has to have been designed for a purpose as opposed to it being nothing more than an infinite collection of lucky accidents.

In other instances, you’ve got a cynic that is resolved to maintain a desperate grasp on the idea that they are their own absolute and they’re not interested in listening as much as they’re interested in talking.

Should you make the mistake of trying to build your case according to a sequence of truths, there’s a good chance you’ll be stopped in your tracks before you can even make your point.

It’s not because what you’re saying lacks validity as much as it’s an approach that can be easily compromised simply by disagreeing.

Should your argument be built according to a series of talking points that build on one another, all your critic has to do is question the substance of just one of your assertions and your whole platform has now been compromised because of the way you have to pause and “prove” a portion of your perspective that usually falls way short of what you’re actually trying to communicate.

Sometimes it’s a legitimate question, but a lot of times, especially when you’re contending with someone who doesn’t want to listen as much as they want to mock, villify and undermine what you would say about Jesus, it’s a tactic designed to shut you down while simultaneoulsy enhance their mindset without them having to say a word.

You see this played out in a big way especially when it comes to historical references to Christ.

A Complete Fabrication

Anytime you suggest that there are secular references to Jesus Christ as Someone Who actually lived, you’ve got a real problem on your hands because the atheist needs Jesus to be a complete fabrication.

If Jesus was Someone you could actually speak with and listen to, then He becomes a far bigger problem in the mind of the skeptic who needs to convince both himself and everyone else that there is no absolute save the bottom line of the individual. It’s not just the Substance of the gospel and the question of sin that has to be discarded. The very “idea” of Christ has to be reduced to a ridiculous albeit popular non-entity that has no place in intelligent conversation.

And so they engage in a campaign where things like the portion of Josephus Antiquities that references Christ by name is dismissed as an unethical edit made by an enterprising scribe that was never written by the original author. The persecution of Christians spearheaded by Nero in 64 AD is a complete fabrication and John Tyndale was not burned at the stake for laboring to create an English version of the Bible.

Even the verbiage of the Declaration of Independence that references the “Creator” as the source of one’s rights is reduced to a token courtesy that has no real historical or spiritual substance given the way our Founders were supposedly Deists as opposed to orthodox Christians.

The thing that makes this so toxic and at the same time so exhausting is that, while the conversation has the look and feel of a reasonable evaluation with the goal being an equitable treatment of all faiths and an accommodation of those who may not subscribe to the gospel, the inevitable result is a distorted perception of our nation’s spiritual heritage which then segues gracefully into a godless culture and a humanistic marketplace.

It’s not a search for answers as much as it’s a resolve to silence the answers as they were articulated by our Founding Fathers who were looking to the Bible for both their Inspiration and their Resolve.

It’s not the “separation of church and state,” it’s the re-creation of the church and state as institutions that worship the individual and God is dismissed altogether.

But you can’t do that without inventing an entirely different past…

…nor can you question the historical Reality of Christ without assaulting the Christian doctrine as a whole.

You’re not just “disagreeing” with the gospel or “questioning” the integrity of the Scriptures.

You’re actually implying much, much more.

A Fool or a Fiend
Not Getting Rich
Jesus doesn’t offer power or wealth in exchange for believing in His Identity as the Son of God. Rather, He invites you to “take up your cross and follow Him.” (Lk 9:23; [see also 1 Tim 6:10])
Not Making a Good Impression
In the aftermath of Christ’s Resurrection, the disciples, who are now absolutely convinced the Jesus is the Christ, are now speaking out publicly and in so doing are infuriating the Saducees. In Acts 5 you can see how the disciples’ resolve was rewarded by threatening them with their lives and then having them flogged (Acts 5:17-41).
No Room for Rivals
In Acts 17:7 you see the lethal aspect of beliving in Christ from the standpoint of a Roman legislature in that you were proclaiming allegiance to a king other than Caesar.

The First Disciples Were Liars

In order for Christianity to be false, you have to include several default scenarios that must be in place if Jesus is a myth and the gospel is a scam.

First, the original apostles were liars. If the Resurrection was a hoax, then they were lying when they said that Christ has risen.

Yes, the Ten Commandments forbid lying (Ex 20:16) and Jesus was morally perfect (Heb 3:15). But somehow the disciples saw no conflict in lying about the fact the Jesus rose from the grave (Acts 4:10).

That makes no sense.

Every Christian That’s Ever Believed is Either a Fool or a Fiend

You’re Not Getting Rich, You’re Getting Killed

Early Jewish converts to Christianity were not getting rich nor were they getting applauded for subscribing to Christ as the Son of God. As a Hebrew, you were putting yourself at odds with the established religious hierarchy who saw your creed as heretical. From the perspective of Rome, any reference to a “king” other than Caesar was considered a capital offense (Acts 17:7).

Even prior to the persecution by Nero in 64, Christians were getting harrassed as seen in Acts 8:1. After the Edict of Milan, although Christians were no longer targeted the way they had been, believing in the gospel, a commitment to printing the Bible in English or a desire to communicate the Message of Christianity to foreign countries was often enough to warrant abuse, torture and oftentimes death.

Given the lack of benefits and the sacrifices that were often made, you have to be either a fool or a fiend to believe in Christ if He was a myth.

What Are You Thinking?

In the immediate aftermath of the crucifixion, if there was, in fact, a body that could be recovered and you knew it, you were knowingly misleading people in a way that could cost them their lives.

‘That would qualify you as a detestable human being –  a genuine fiend.

Then again, if you could do some thinking for yourself and determine that the Resurrection was not real, yet you made a point of declaring yourself a believer, you’re a fool given the way in which you have now pitted yourself against the authorities that have the legal means to end your life.

And you’re not gaining anything by doing it!

That would make you a fool.

Consider Who You’re Talking To

In subsequent centuries, while distortions of the gospel could translate to wealth and power, neither legitimate Reformers nor authentic Missionaries were benefitting by championing the cause of Christ.

Again, if you’re aware of the fallacy that characterizes your faith, either your character or your intelligence can be rightfully regarded as flawed and you are either a fool or a fiend.

But when you consider the intellectual substance of men like Martin Luther, John Locke or Copernicus, these are not “fools,” rather these are academics that have contributed significantly to the way we see ourselves and the world around us.

And to accuse people like Mother Theresa or Albert Schweitzer as being sinister in any way shape or form is ludicrous.

And yet, should you insist that Christianity is for non-thinking people, you either hold these people in contempt or regard them as hopelessly gullible.

And that makes no sense.

The Writers of the Ancient World Were Frauds

The Atheist and the Christian

You’ll hear Atheists sarcastically refute the idea that one has to be religious in order to be moral.

They’re not wrong.

You can be a moral person and not have the slightest regard for God or Christ.

The issue isn’t so much what constitutes moral behavior, although the Christ-follower and the Atheist will most likely disagree on some issues like Homosexuality and Abortion. Rather, the issue is what compels you to be moral?

In his book, “Mere Christianity,” CS Lewis describes it this way:

Supposing you hear a cry for help from a man in danger. You will probably feel two desires—one a desire to give help (due to your herd instinct), the other a desire to keep out of danger (due to the instinct for self-preservation). But you will find inside you, in addition to these two impulses, a third thing which tells you that you ought to follow the impulse to help, and suppress the impulse to run away.

Now this thing that judges between two instincts, that decides which should be encouraged, cannot itself be either of them. You might as well say that the sheet of music which tells you, at a given moment, to play one note on the piano and not another, is itself one of the notes on the keyboard. The Moral Law tells us the tune we have to play: our instincts are merely the keys.

The Atheist doesn’t hold himself accountable to God. In his mind the “Moral Law” – the thing that compels him to behave in a certain way – is the one who stares back at himself in the mirror every morning.

It’s not about whether something is right or wrong as much as it’s the foundation upon which I build my resolve to do what’s right.

That’s what distinguishes the difference between a Christian and an Atheist.

He Can’t be Real

As has been already stated, acknowledging Jesus as a historical figure – apart from any kind of religious context – represents a dangerous concession for the atheist.

If Christ can be validated as a legitimate person, then you have what amounts to a natural segue to an objective acknowledgement of His Words and His Actions; most of which resonate as incredibly noble.

An atheist’s contempt for religion is founded on an unwillingness to submit to any authority other than the one they’re comfortable with. Yet they can’t be heard as someone who is critical of charity or compassion so it becomes strategic to shut down any attempt to refer to Jesus as a verifiable reality by insisting that…

But in order for this to be true, then every falsification has to have had some kind of motive that would make it not only reasonable but genuinely beneficial to promote a lie.

Why Are You Doing This?

Bear in mind that the Resurrection is an absurd marketing campaign. Given the way many of the world’s religions are capable of winning converts simply by promising eternal rewards or temporary fulfillment, asserting the idea of a bodily Resurrection is a bizarre and unnecessary overreach if all you’re trying to do is win friends and influence people.

At least, that’s what a lot of religious mystics are able to accomplish simply by being charasmatic as opposed to positioning themselves as a resurrected corpse.

Everything we know about the disciples suggests they died as obscure martyrs and not as wealthy and powerful individuals.

To maintain that the gospels are nothing more than a collection of lies, you have to justify why these men would document these fabrications especially given the political and spiritual landscape they occupied at the time.

Not only are they championing a ridiculous claim, they have nothing to gain by promoting the idea that Christ had risen from the grave. Rather, they had literally everything to lose.

That makes no sense.

Josephus

In a similar vein, if you’re going to insist that every secular reference to Christ is an “interpolation,” then you have to do more than elaborate on “what” was changed, but you also have to provide a substantial reason as to “why” it was changed in the first place.

How does changing or adding some verbiage to Antiquities written by Josephus translate to a marketing strategy? What do you stand to gain by editing the words of Tacitus?

Eusibius is a Fraud

Among the things we have confirmed now is that all surviving manuscripts of the Antiquities derive from the last manuscript of it produced at the Christian library of Caesarea between 220 and 320 A.D.
, the same manuscript used and quoted by Eusebius, the first Christian in history to notice either passage being in the Antiquities of Josephus. That means we have no access to any earlier version of the text (we do not know what the text looked like prior to 230 A.D.), and we have access to no version of the text untouched by Eusebius (no other manuscript in any other library ever on earth produced any copies that survive to today). That must be taken into account. (Richard Carrier)

Critics want to insist that the references to Christ found in the writings of Josephus and Tacitus were lies introduced by Christians that took it upon themselves to transcribe a copy of the original and corrupt it by adding content that gave credibility to the historical reality of Christ and the substance of the Christian doctrine.

For example, in Book 18 of Antiquities written in 93 AD, it says this:

At this time appeared Jesus, a very gifted man—if indeed it is right to call him a man; for he was a worker of miracles, a teacher of such men as listened with pleasure to the truth, and he won over many of the Jews and many of Gentile origin as well. This was the Christ; and when at the instigation of our leading men he had been condemned to the cross by Pilate, those who had loved him at the first did not cease to do so; for on the third day he appeared to them alive again, the inspired prophets having foretold this and countless other wonderful things about him. Even now the group of people called Christians after him has not died out.1

This was quoted by a man named Eusibius who put together a history of the early church called “The Ecclesiastical History” in 313 AD. It was a massive undertaking and something that had never been done before. In subsequent centuries he would become known as the “Father of Church History.”

Eusibius was a student of Pamphilus who trained under Origen, one of the earliest and more important Christian scholars.  Under Origen, Pamphilus established a library containing over 30,000 volumes. Eusibius undoubtedly had access to this library and because he was so meticulous in his citations we can know for certain where he was getting his information from.

This is significant because some of what Eusibius references has since been lost so in his documentary we’re given access to resources that no longer exist.

He also had the ability to reference texts like Josephus’ Antiquities that, although it was obviously a copy of the original, it was a transcription written within 200 years of the original as opposed to now where the oldest manuscript we have today was written in the 12th century – over a thousand years removed from the original writing.

Eusibius quoted the above text, not once, but three times. In addition to the above text, Eusibius quotes Josephus prolifically throughout his book.

Historian John Michael Wallace-Hadrill makes an astute observation by saying:

It is in any case exceedingly improbable that Eusebius himself is to be held responsible for the alteration of Josephus’ text, as some have held him to be. If he had perpetrated what would be one of the cleverest frauds of literary history, can we believe that he would have treated his own fraud in the almost casual manner of quoting the Testimonium differently on three occasions?2

The fact that both Josephus and Tacitus reference Christ is understandable given the impact Christ had regardless if you believed Him to be the Son of God or not. The fact that we’re still talking about Him today demonstrates that whatever happened in Jerusalem that first Easter morning resonated as more than just a Facebook post and would’ve been worthy of mentioning as part of a “Year in Review.”

No doubt, Eusibius recognized how the substance of his account would be enhanced by including the irrefutable dynamic of an impartial, secular reference to Christ. But would the temptation to quote a forgery be enough to offset the very real chance of him being revealed as a fraud?

He’s writing the history of the church and attempting to present Christ as the Son of God. How do you accomplish that by lying?

It’s one thing if you’re mistaken or perhaps some concessions can be allowed should you choose to overlook or minimize certain aspects of the past in order to preserve the dignity of specific individuals.

But here you’re talking about the very Identity of Jesus Christ. Being able to cite Josephus honestly would be advantageous but the Substance of the Christian doctrine does not depend on the observations of a historian. Therefore to risk the integrity of your work as a whole for no reason other than the chance to incorporate a secular Jewish perspective into your text…

…makes no sense.

Tacitus

Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman historian who lived approximately between AD 56 and 120. Robert Van Voorst says Tacitus “is generally considered the greatest Roman historian” and his Annals is his “finest work and generally acknowledged by modern historians as our best source of information about this period.”3

At one point, Tacitus says this:

Therefore, to squelch the rumor, Nero created scapegoats and subjected to the most refined tortures those whom the common people called ‘Christians,’ [a group] hated for their abominable crimes. Their name comes from Christ, who, during the reign of Tiberius, had been executed by the procurator Pontius Pilate. Suppressed for the moment, the deadly superstition broke out again, not only in Judea, the land which originated this evil, but also in the city of Rome, where all sorts of horrendous and shameful practices, from every part of the world converge and are fervently cultivated.4

The fact that you have a Roman historian who, by virtue of the way he describes Christians as a people group, “…hated for their abominable crimes” and proliferators of a “deadly superstion” is obviously not a believer – that fact the he references Christ as Somone who was executed by Pontius Pilate is a huge vote of credibility for the Christian doctrine in that it validates Jesus as a real person and that He was put to death by Pontius Pilate.

Critics swarm to this text like flies to sugar because of their need to undermine anything that could potentially qualify Christ as Someone that actually existed.

Their criticisms target the way in which Christ is spelled “Christus,” thus referring to someone else. They also attempt to assert that the Christians referenced by Tacitus is actually a different sect of people and not Christ-followers…

Here it’s a bit easier to recognize the improbability of what the atheist needs to be in place in order for their criticisms to carry any weight.

Apart from their critique resonating more as a desperate search for flaws than it does an honest evalutation, if it were something authored by a renegade Christian, the text would be far more complimentary of the Christian doctrine as opposed to it being addressed as an “evil” and a “horrendous and shameful practice.”

Again, to be critical to the extent where you feel justified in dismissing the text altogther…

…it just doesn’t make any sense.

So How Do You Do This?

When you look at the way Jesus engaged the Pharisees, you see a method being deployed from time to time that those who are familiar with the techniques used in a debate would recognize as the Socratic Method.

Basically, you’re posing a series of questions that compel your opponent to answer in a way that complels them to make your point for you.

You see Jesus using this method when He asks the Pharisees to tell Him whose image is on the Roman coinage (Matt 16:26). He made His point about working on the Sabbath when He asked the Pharisees what they would do if they saw one of their flock had fallen into a pit (Matt 12:11).

In the context of this conversation, what you want to do is ask your critic questions based on the three things that we covered here.

For example…

How could the first disciples feel comfortable about lying about Christ’s Resurrection if God commanded them not to lie?

Would you feel comfortable calling Copernicus or Mother Thersa an idiot?

Explain to me why a historian would risk being labeled a fraud for lying about something that could easily be verified?

The idea is to expand the scope of the conversation in a way that compels your opponent to acknowledge the way in which their cynicism and arrogance translates to a scenario where some of the most brilliant minds and compassionate human beings are held in contempt.

It’s then when the fragility of their platform is revealed as something that’s based more on pride than principle and you now have an opportunity to elaborate on the True Substance of the gospel and the practical impact it has on one’s life.

There’s a difference between making your point and making an appeal.

Use Christ’s example in the way you champion your convictions and you’ll be able to make your point. Otherwise, you come across as though you’re asking for concessions.

Your faith is stronger than that…

…and so is He.

 

 

1. “Eusebius’s Quest for the Historical Jesus”, Jonathan Armstrong, “themelios”, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/eusebiuss-quest-for-the-historical-jesus/, accessed February 8, 2023

2. Ibid

3. “Evidence That Demands a Verdict”, Josh McDowell, Sean McDowell, PhD, 2017, Harper Collins / Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN, p150

4. Ibid

Who Makes the Rules?

A great deal of the tension that exists in our society today – be it a cultural anomaly or a political argument – can be resolved by simply considering how you would answer one fundamental question.

Who makes the rules?

We’re not talking about the person who occupies the Oval Office nor are we looking to the Justices on the Supreme Court.

Rather, we’re talking about something even more foundational and to arrive at that bottom line, we’re going to look at a sequence of definitions and realities that begin with what serves as the basis for all governments and then building on that in a way that reveals the source of all the angst that characterizes the discourse pertaining to politics and morals.

The goal is to do this in a manner that’s irrefutable, regardless of your political persuastion or spiritual convictions in that it’s not so much about a perspective as much as it’s a common sense treatment of what otherwise is a volatile exchange of ideas and opinions that’s based more so on passion than principle.

Here we go…

What is “Religion?”

From a purely philosophical standpoint, every religion answers four basic questions:

  • Where do I come from (orgin)?
  • What happens when I die (destiny)?
  • How am I supposed to behave (morals)?
  • What’s the point of my existence (purpose)?

Regardless of creed or deity, every religion proposes an answer to those four questions. And it’s how you answer those four questions that defines your religious framework and dictates the way you define yourself and the way you process the world around you.

Bear in mind as well that using this approach, Atheism can be appropriately categorized as a “religion” in that it too proposes answers to these questions, the only difference being that the name of the Atheist’s god matches the name on their birth certificate.

Amazing Grace

According to Scripture, you are a spiritual corpse (Eph 2:1). You are dead in your sin and you have no option available to you that can offset your default status as a sinner that is permanently and irretrievably separated from God (Ps 14:3Is 64:6).

That’s what makes Christianity distinct from every other religious school of thought – you are utterly destitute apart from some kind of miracle that can somehow transform you in the eyes of God from being sinful to sinless. And the only way that can happen is through the Solution God engineered through the death and resurrection of His Son.

There Are Only Two Options

While there are many religions, there are only two options.

Either God is God or you are.

Every religion on the planet empowers the individual with the ability to faciliate their own salvation. Either by doing something or making some kind of sacrifice – you’re able to put enough spiritual points on the board to merit the favor of your preferred deity.

Christianity, on the other hand, says that the the only thing you contribute to your salvation is the sin that makes it necessary.

So, while other religions place you in a position where you are “god-like” in that you can accomplish what needs to be done in order to rate an enhanced supernatural status, the gospel of Jesus Christ defines you as utterly destitute apart from the life God offers as a gift and not as something you can earn.

Either God is God or you are.

Every Government is Based on a Church

Every government that has ever existed is ultimately based on the way you define a human being which is an extension of one’s religious framework. From that standpoint, you are no longer talking mere policy as much as you are now entering the realm of theology.

A Monarchy, for example, is looking at a person’s bloodline to determine their rank and title. A Socialist will categorize an individual under one of two headings: Either the Bourgeoisie or the Proletarians – the Bourgeoisie being those who own the means of production, and the Proletariat – the worker who suffers beneath the weight of an oppressive Capitalist system.

The Six Types of Government

Consider the way Aristotle outlined the Six Types of Government.

Rulers Correct Deviant
One Ruler Monarchy Tyranny
Few Rulers Aristocracy / Republic Oligarchy / Plutocracy
Many Rulers Direct Democracy Anarchy

The idea is that you can have different formats, all of which can conceivably work depending on the character of the “rulers.” When the goal is to govern for the good of the community, you have what’s categorized  as “Correct.” On the hand, when those who are in positions of authority govern for the good of themselves, it’s then when you have the “Deviant” verison of that particular approach.

But regardless of the virtue that is present or the corruption that is apparent, you have an underlying way of defining those who are being governed.

However you craft your approach to the way in which human beings are to be governed, your starting point will always be the way in which you characterize the individual.

You’re either created or you’re merely sorted.

This is part of what makes the Declaration of Independence so significant because of the way it bases its content on the fact that all men are created equal. But this is also why any effort to suggest that the “separation of church and state” translates to a scenario where there is neither a need nor a desire for a “religious” premise to be included in the way a country’s government is to be defined is revealed as being logically flawed. It’s there by default because of the manner in which the essence of the individual is being evaluated.

It’s Not About the Freedom of Religion

Because government is a fundamental extension of the way a human being is defined, you have a religious dynamic in place because you’re either seeing humanity from a purely secular standpoint or you’re seeing him as someone who is made in the image of his Creator. Again, this goes back to the fact that while there are any one of a number of “religions,” there are only two options: Either God is God or the individual is his own deity.

When you hear someone launch a verbal assault on the presence of the Christian doctrine in our nation’s founding and its continued influence in our legislative landscape today, it’s usually spearheaded by a passionate appeal to their interpretation of the “separation of church and state.”

While much of their content can be refuted by demonstrating the lack of context that characterizes their platform, the structural flaw of their argument is the way in which they want to position their viewpoint as one that replaces Christianity with a spiritual vacuum where no “religious” statement is being made or acknowledged.

But that is a philosophical impossibility because of the way every governmental system is founded on the way in which a human being is to be defined.

What they want to present as “freedom of religion” is actually an attempt to asssert a different religious hierarchy where the individual is his own absolute. They’re wanting to either ignore or qualify every reference to Christianity in a way where it is stripped of any significance and in so doing promote the idea that there is no Authority save the one that is consistent with their preferences.

That’s Your Opinion

At this point, we have…

  • Revealed how religion, from a purely philosophical standpoint, answers four basic questions and it’s how you respond to those questions that dictates the way you see yourself and they way your process the world around you.
  • Demonstrated how there are many religions but only two options: Either God is God or you are based on the way every religious school of thought empowers the individual with the ability to facilitate their own salvation with the exception of Christianity.
  • Shown how every form of government is based on a “church” in that every legislative framework is built on the way that particular approach defines a human being. Given that philosophical starting point, the contemporary usage of the phrase, “separation of church and state” is revealed not as a noble effort to foster the freedom of religion as much as it’s an attempt to replace Christianity with a spiritual paradigm that says the individual is his own Absolute.

Confronted with a platform that’s difficult to refute without conceding the selfish character of their argument, it’s here where the most vocal advocates of the separation of church and state will say, “That’s your opinion.”

While it’s not always the case, more often than not, when you’re involved in a debate and someone says, “Well, that’s your opinion,” you’re hearing that person attempt to avoid the line of questioning that has the potential to reveal their platform as being fundamentally flawed. So, rather than stay engaged, they retreat behind the premise that suggests everyone is right all the time which is by default accompanied by the idea that to disagree with whatever they believe represents a form of oppression.

On the surface, it has the appearance of cooperation and compassion. But in the hands of those who have something to hide more than they have something to say, responding to an argument by saying, “That’s your opinion,” is a tactic designed to make their platform appear logically and morally comparable to whatever other options may exist, regardless of how nonsensical or unsustainable their perspective may be.

And that’s the problem…

What Actually Happens

The fact that a person has the “right to be happy,” or the “right to choose” or, “is entitled to their opinion” doesn’t mean that every option that’s available to them translates to the same outcome.

At some point you have to evaluate the mindsets being considered according to what actually happens when those viewpoints are deployed.

We’re not talking about your feelings, my beliefs or the rules you want to dismiss as corrupt simply because they prevent you from being your own bottom line. Rather, we’re talking about those things that result from the perspective you subscribe to.

If someone is driving on the wrong side of the road it’s hard to imagine that person defending their being in the wrong lane by saying, “You accusing me of driving on the wrong side of the road is a manifestion of an oppressive society and you’re making me feel uncomfortable.”

Yet that is the approach taken by someone who wants to ignore the practical results of their perspective and instead focus only on the way they feel. To their way of thinking, anything that’s wise, healthy or beneficial is secondary to whatever it is that best promotes the idea that they are in charge.

Who Makes the Rules?

You Can’t Make Me Believe

Saying, “You can’t make me believe…” is neither a defense nor an indictment. You’re not defending your position nor are you challenging the substance of your opponent’s argument. All your doing is attempting to assert the idea that your perspective is somehow superior, not because of it’s logical density but because you’re uncomfortable with what’s being said.

Your discomfort doesn’t qualify as a rebuttal nor does the damage your philsophy creates gets overlooked simply because you prefer a different approach.

Every argument and school of thought has a starting point – a collection of assumptions that dictate the direction and the strength of the line of logic that proceeds from that philosophical baseline.

If your perspective on a particular issue begins with the belief that there is no God, then you’re inevitably basing your mindset on a human agency – be it a court, a legal document or a cultural trend. All of these things can be altered to accommodate a shifting consensus and are therefore fluid.

This can be a very handy tool in the hands of someone who’s looking to promote a specific agenda that requires a noble sounding justification in that you can sound compassionate, yet be morally bankrupt because of the way you guage the difference between right and wrong according to an adjustable scale.

But if, on the other hand, you believe that the Bible represents the Authoritative bottom line on the human experience, your perspective will be based on Something that does not and can not change, thus providing a dependable approach that isn’t compromised by dynamics that can be corrupted.

Who Makes the Rules?

Whatever polls, soundbytes, headlines or subject matter experts you compile, at the root of your argument will be either a Divine Absolute that gives it weight and substance or it will be a human preference that can be challenged and overruled.

The reason the Declaration of Independence resonated as a cause and not just as a complaint is because we referenced the Creator as being the Standard that showed how the monarchy of King George violated the rights that were not his to dispense but were God’s to guarantee.

It’s because God makes the rules that we can embrace them as tools that strengthen the barriers that prevent the deterioration which causes us to stumble and fail both on a personal and national level.

They’re free and they work.

But to the individual who chooses to engage his existence believing himself to be his own bottom line, he will condemn anything that challenges his authority as cruel and antiquated. Determined to process safeguards as limitations, he blames the pain and problems caused by his personal regime on either the God Who supposedly doesn’t exist or the people who aren’t willing to certify his calamities as accomplishments.

This is why it can be a difficult conversation to navigate. Those who dismiss the Reality of God’s Influence in the universe and in their lives will insulate themselves from any correction or criticism by insisting any system or opinion that doesn’t reinforce their mindset constitutes an attack that qualifies them as wounded and oppressed.

But the fact of the matter is, they’re simply trying to create new standards of behavior in order to avoid being held accountable for both their actions and their chosen perspective.

As long as the dialogue is defined as a noble activist fighting against an oppressive and opinionated system, the odds will swing in their favor when it comes to determining what’s a fair and appropriate approach to politics, morals, medicine and religion.

But let the conversation be steered according to who it is that’s making the rules to begin with and you’ve got a much more revealing exchange. Once it becomes apparent that their concept of justice and morality are founded on an entirely different foundation than the one upon which our nation is built, their topics are rightly perceived as tactics to replace rabbis, priests and pastors with lawyers, judges and magistrates.

Before you can make the right decision, you first have to establish what is True.

And in order to figure out what is True, you first have to identify the One Who defines the Truth.

Who makes the rules?

Let that be where you begin and sensation will give way to substance, the real problems can now be discerned and the answers you seek can now be discovered.

The Separation of Church and State

In 1947, a discontented taxpayer brought before the Supreme Court a situation he felt was wrong in that a tax funded school district provided reimbursements to parents of children who were taking public transportation to private religious schools. His name was Arch R. Everson. He wasn’t bothered so much about the reimbursements being given to kids who were going to public school or some kind of secular, private institution. It was the students who attended religious schools he believed should be excluded from these reimbursements because, in his mind, it was a violation of the First Amendment.

He lost his case in the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals. Undeterred, he took his rant before the Supreme Court where Arch was again defeated.

The Supreme Court told Arch that the bill was constitutional in that the monies were being distributed to both religious and secular parties, hence there was no law being enacted that was establishing a specific religion.

Arch was wrong in his reasoning, but he received a significant consolation prize, even if he wasn’t aware of it.

In the discourse that occurred between the Supreme Court Justices, the phrase, “separation of church and state” was used in the context of their statements. Arch and those like him could now refer to verbiage used by the Supreme Court to further the ridiculous notion that this phrase, used by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Baptist Association of Dadbury Connecticut, represented a comprehensive summary of the intent and scope of the First Amendment.

It isn’t, it never was and it never will be. At least it won’t provided people take the time to read and understand the historical context of Jefferson’s words as well as the First Amendment and even the Supreme Court’s rulings in 1947.

Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist had this to say about the “separation of church and state” phrase:

But the greatest injury of the “wall” notion is its mischievous diversion of judges from the actual intentions of the drafters of the Bill of Rights… The “wall of separation between Church and State” is a metaphor based on bad history – a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned. (H.R. 4922 Introduced in House, June 12, 2002)

There’s a vast difference between the expression of religion and the establishment of a religion.

But honestly, the reason we’re even having to address this nonsensical interpretation of  First Amendment is because many in the church today content themselves with the expression of religion rather than the establishment of religion in their own lives.

So, as we champion the correct interpretation and application of the First Amendment, let’s start by ensuring that we ourselves are not guilty of the separation of church and state by separating the Truth of God’s Word and the way in which it needs to be made manifest in our everyday affairs.

It’s What You Do Believe

javamanWhen you hear an atheist talk about what they don’t believe, it’s often articulated in a way that sounds as though his perspective is based on an empirical foundation characterized by reason, science and compassion.

  • There’s nothing mystical or “miraculous” about their approach to the human experience.
  • They don’t subscribe to anything other than what can be proven and observed.
  • They don’t believe in Creation, they’re not overly concerned about life after death and they have a real problem with any kind public reference to the Christian faith in that they see it as a violation of the “separation of church and state.”

But, here’s the thing…

It’s not what you don’t believe, as much as it is what you do believe.

When you pop the hood on the philosophical framework subscribed to by the atheist who supposedly refuses to accept anything other than what can be scientifically verified, you encounter some scenarios where a fantastic leap of faith is required in order to justify their mindset. In addition, you’ve got an approach to morality and one’s sense of purpose that reeks of personal preferences more than absolute standards which is like a football player insisting he scored a touchdown, not because he moved the ball down the field, but because he moved the goalposts.

As a born again Christian, you see yourself as someone who was on Christ’s screen long before your parents ever met. You were “fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps 139:14)” and equipped with everything you need to make a difference and not just an appearance (2 Pet 1:3). You embrace the moral guidelines coming from God as “tools” and not just “rules” that allow you to, not just succeed and prosper (Josh 1:8; Matt 6:33), but also avoid all of the pain and baggage that goes along with driving on the wrong side of the road (Matt 7:26). And when it’s all said and done, the curtains come up and rather than the show being over, the real performance begins (Rev 21:1-4).

As an atheist…

You’re a pointless piece of machinery that exists due to a series of lucky accidents that simply ceases to function the moment you cease to breathe with a purpose and a perspective on ethics that you basically make up as you along.

Doesn’t sound nearly as sophisticated now, does it?

It’s not what you don’t believe, it’s what you do believe.  And when you look at what an atheist actually believes – what they submit as a substitute for God, as far as explaining the origin of life and a basis for morality and significance – their platform is revealed as the nonsensical attempt to declare themselves as their own deity.

It’s not what you don’t believe, it’s what you do believe.

Bonus: The atheist platform is presented as being a non-spiritual approach to the human experience. But regardless of it’s substance, it is nevertheless a “religious” framework in that it functions in exactly the same way as a faith based paradigm as far as it being a response to those questions pertaining to creation, life after death, moral absolutes and one’s sense of purpose. From that perspective, any complaint coming from the mouth of an atheist about the “separation of church and state” is not so much as a “concern” as much as it’s a campaign to establish their “religion” as the only religious school of thought permitted in public. In that way, they are the very thing they claim to despise.

The Liberal and the First Amendment

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