← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Blond Knight
Thread ID: 16184 | Posts: 7 | Started: 2005-01-04
2005-01-04 21:55 | User Profile
[url]http://www.covenantnews.com/baldwin050104.htm[/url]
Why Does The Religious Right Ignore Civil Liberties Issues? By Chuck Baldwin The Covenant News ~ January 04, 2005
For all the worthwhile endeavors the Religious Right has championed over the last two decades, it has foolishly ignored issues relating to civil liberties. This is very curious indeed. In fact, it is more than curious; it is downright dangerous!
It seems that the Religious Right has a huge blind spot when it comes to the importance of constitutional government and personal liberties. And that is a monumental understatement! Civil liberties issues do not even appear on the Religious Right's radar screen. Why is this true?
America's Founding Fathers (most of whom were Christians) were strong proponents of personal freedoms. In fact, our entire system of law is predicated upon the belief that rights come from God and that it is the responsibility of government to protect those rights.
So strong was the support for individual liberties that without the trenchant prohibitions against governmental abridgement of personal freedoms contained in the Bill of Rights, the original colonies would never have adopted the U.S. Constitution. Even with those safeguards, there was still sizeable opposition to ratification of the Constitution within the sundry states of Colonial America.
By today's standards, the fear of governmental abuse of power by America's founders would be considered paranoia. However, it was the founders' distrust of government that gave this nation the legal underpinnings to produce the freest country on earth.
However, it seems that if the Religious Right has its way, civil liberties would cease to exist in America. To the detriment of our freedoms and even to our very way of life, the sacred principles contained in the Bill of Rights are repeatedly and routinely ignored by the Religious Right! Why is this true?
Why did we not hear conservative Christian leaders speak out against the federal government's massacre of Branch Davidians outside Waco, Texas, or the murder of Randy Weaver's wife by federal agents near Ruby Ridge, Idaho?
Why is it that we never hear national spokesmen for the Religious Right speaking out against an egregiously unconstitutional Patriot Act, or the Orwellian Department of Homeland Security, or the creation of a SS-style position of National Intelligence Director?
The sad truth is, Americans have lost more constitutional protections of personal freedoms under President George W. Bush than under any president in modern memory. And the Religious Right is either totally oblivious to this reality or party to it. How can this be?
Does not the Religious Right understand that without allegiance to our Constitution and Bill of Rights, all politicians, even those that profess to be Christians, become tyrants? Do our national Christian leaders not comprehend that when freedoms are lost to some, they are lost to all? Do they really not understand that when they allow politicians to dismantle constitutional government, they are forging the chains that will be placed around their own necks?
For the life of me, I cannot understand why the Religious Right ignores civil liberties issues! However, I do understand this: Americans are quickly losing their liberties, and, by its silence and inaction, the Religious Right is equally to blame.
Chuck Baldwin
[email]chuck@chuckbaldwinlive.com[/email]
2005-01-04 22:03 | User Profile
On a related note, check the articles at this blog:[url]http://www.covenantnews.com/freedom/[/url]
2005-01-04 23:42 | User Profile
Good post, BK. Baldwin is an odd creature. Domestically, he's pretty OK Constitutionally-speaking. And internationally, he's pretty anti-interventionist, or at least against reckless use of military force abroad.
But he's also a dispensationalist pastor in a Baptist church, so he has an achilles heel IMO when it comes to Israel.
In some ways he reminds me of Joe Farah, just a little more to the right.
I think at some point between 9/11 and the Iraq invasion he started to wake up to what was really going on with the neocons and their drooling dispensationalist golems.
Lew Rockwell wrote a real good article along the lines of what Baldwin is saying--I posted it here:
[url=http://www.originaldissent.com/forums/showthread.php?p=96607#post96607]The Reality of Red-State Fascism[/url].
2005-01-05 04:11 | User Profile
Blond Knight,
A good article thanks for posting it.
2005-01-05 17:01 | User Profile
It is a good article.
On the point of dispensationalism, I would like to add a couple of thoughts. There are those who confuse dispensationalism with all of pre-millenialism. Dispensationalism is merely a subset of pre-millenialism. Now, exactly where Mr. Baldwin stands on this, I really don't know.
Amillenialsim was largely a creation of Augustine. Historical pre-millenialism was the position of our Lord and His Apostles. Historical pre-millenialism holds that the events of Revelation have not yet come. We are still waiting for the time that God will pour out His wrath on the world. During this time of wrath, there will be severe judgment on both Jews and Gentiles. At the end of the Great Tribulation, a small remnant of Jews will turn to Christ. All other Jews will be banished to Hell.
The historical pre-millenialist does not make the mistake of the dispensationalist - which is one of seeing the Christ-rejecting Jews as being God's people. Paul's epistle to the Galatians makes it clear that all Christians, regardless of ethnicity are Abraham's seed. Jews who reject Christ are outside of the Covenant, Satan is their father, and their destiny is eternal hell fire.
2005-01-05 17:14 | User Profile
Robert,
This is getting off-topic but amillennialists don't reject future events in Bible prophecy. They merely assert that we are currently in the allegorical 1,000-year reign.
[url=http://www.lcms.org/graphics/assets/media/CTCR/endtme-2.pdf]The End Times: A Study on Eschatology and Millennialism[/url] from the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod
2005-01-05 17:33 | User Profile
"This is getting off-topic but amillennialists don't reject future events in Bible prophecy. They merely assert that we are currently in the allegorical 1,000-year reign."
That's a good point, Centinal. Amillennialists are partial-preterists rather than full preterists.
And while it's somewhat off-topic, I did want to point out a misconception which I have frequently seen (i.e. confusing dispensationalism with all of pre-millennialism).