HUFFPO: CHRISTIANITY HAS ONLY ITSELF TO BLAME FOR ITS DEMISE? A Rebuttal, Pt 2

(Continued from Part 1)

A LINE-BY-LINE RESPONSE TO A HUFFINGTONPOST ARTICLE BY BYRON WILLIAMS–MY RESPONSES, IN CAPS.)

Moreover, it is a mistake to compare Christianity’s recent public efforts with those of the Civil Rights Movement of the ’60s. The purpose of that movement was not to move the country to the limited contours of its particular doctrine, but rather to move the nation toward the promises it already made to all of its citizens.
 
ALL CHRISTIAN EFFORTS ARE PUBLIC EFFORTS FOCUSED ON PREACHING THE WORD UNTO SALVATION, AND CONFRONTING EVIL.  RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IS EVIL EVEN WITHOUT THE CONSTITUTION, JUST AS ANY NUMBER OF SINS AND INJUSTICES.  SO YES, SUPPORTING CIVIL RIGHTS FOR ALL PEOPLE OF COLOR IS COMPARABLE TO CHRISTIAN MOVEMENTS TO PROTECT CHILDREN, LIBERATE WOMEN, FEED THE POOR, PROVIDE FOR THE WIDOW AND ORPHAN, HEAL THE SICK, AND CONFRONT THE WOLF, IN ALL HIS FORMS.
 
The viewpoint that is deemed in the best interest of the church in its private morality cannot be the rationale that justifies denying the civil rights of individuals in the public morality.
 
HOMOSEXUALS DO NOT POSSESS SPECIAL CIVIL RIGHTS, EITHER BY NATURAL LAW, OR BY THE CONSTITUTION.   GOD’S MORALITY IS VERY PUBLIC, UNIVERSAL AND IT STANDS AS THE LAST WORD.  IT IS ANATHEMA FOR THIS “PASTOR” TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE IN A LIFE OF SIN, AND CONDEMN BELIEVERS FOR ADHERING TO GOD’S WORD.  IN SO DOING HE BRINGS JUDGMENT UPON HIMSELF. 
 
The primary failing within much of American Christianity’s latest pursuits in the public arena is its inability to see where its faith and the Constitution coalesce.
 
2 CORINTHIANS 3:17 “NOW THE LORD IS SPIRIT, AND WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS THERE IS FREEDOM.”  OUR FAITH AND OUR CONSTITUTION COALESCE AROUND THE TRUTH OF GOD AS EXPRESSED IN SCRIPTURE.  IT IS CLEAR BYRON IS THE ONE WHO FAILS TO SEE.
 
The Bible does not offer a commandment to “like” something, but it does command that one love. Doesn’t that suggest that in the Christian tradition one must embrace the arduous task of loving that which they may not like?
 
FIRST, WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE GOD WITH EVERYTHING IN US, AND DEMONSTRATE THAT LOVE BY OBEYING GOD’S LAWS AND BY GOOD WORKS ON BEHALF OF OTHERS.  ANYONE PROMOTING THE IDEA PEOPLE SHOULD DISOBEY GOD IS THE SPIRIT OF ANTI-CHRIST, AS THIS AUTHOR DEMONSTRATES.
 
CHRISTIANS, INSPIRED BY CHRIST (WHO IS GOD) WERE THE FIRST TO LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY BUT THAT HAS NEVER INVOLVED CALLING SIN GOOD, IGNORING EVIL OR DISOBEYING GOD.  INDEED, WHEN CHRISTIANS ARE MOST FAITHFUL IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD, THE CHURCH THRIVES.  WHEN CHRISTIANS COMPROMISE AND ACT LIKE HYPOCRITES, DISPLAYING WEAKNESS AND COMMITTING SIN, THESE ARE THE TIMES THE CHURCH WITHERS. 
 
ALL THE GREAT AWAKENINGS LEADING TO REVIVAL STARTED WITH CHRISTIANS REPENTING, FOLLOWED BY GREAT MOVEMENTS OF THE SPIRIT IN EVANGELISM. 
 
REPENTENCE IS A GREAT ACT OF HUMILITY, EMBRACING UNPLEASANT TRUTHS, AND SUBMITTING TO THE WILL OF GOD.  CALLING SUCH A REMARKABLE ACT THE ROAD TO ARROGANCE DISPLAYS REMARKABLE IGNORANCE.   
 
Likewise, the Constitution was not written based on what the majority approves. I would argue the barometer for one’s support of the Constitution is to embrace the concept of something that involves a specific issue they may philosophically oppose.
 
Both are difficult endeavors. It is understandable that one would advocate for a simpler path. But an honest examination suggests no such path is available. Even if it were, it is unable to make the individual better.
 
The Christian church at its best is an institution that offers guidance through the complexities of the human condition, humbled by the reality that there are some questions for which “I don’t know” is the only appropriate response. Failing to pursue this valiant undertaking creates an arrogance that undermines its best intentions.
 
And any religion defined by its worst attributes of its own making can only look in the mirror to seek the guilty party for its demise.
 
IN TRUTH THE CONSTITUTION SIMPLY LAYS OUT THE ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT IN SUCH A WAY AS TO LIMIT GOVERNMENT, PROVIDING PEOPLE THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF LIBERTY POSSIBLE, REGARDLESS OF THEIR FAITH. 
 
FURTHERMORE, IT WAS CHRISTIAN PEOPLE WHO PROVIDED FOR THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE IN THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THAT CONSTITUTION. 
 
REMEMBER, THE EARLY SETTLERS FLED EUROPE IN PART BECAUSE OF GOVERNMENT-ENTRENCHED CHURCHMEN ACTING LIKE DICTATORS.  THE AMERICAN CHRISTIAN OF TODAY IS NOT INTERESTED IN DICTATORSHIP, BUT HE IS VERY INTERESTED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, KNOWING THE CULTIVATION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IN A PEOPLE PROVIDES THE GREATEST GOOD FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER, REGARDLESS OF RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION.  SO MANY FAIL TO UNDERSTAND A SOCIETY CAN PROMOTE INDIVIDUAL RIGHTEOUSNESS WITHOUT CREATING A STATE CHURCH, AND THAT PUBLIC VIRTUE IS MANDATORY TO THE ESTABLISHMENT AND FURTHERANCE OF LIBERTY, FOR ONLY VOLUNTARY ACTION POWERED BY VIRTUE PROVIDES THE SENSE OF COMMUNITY REQUIRED.
 
THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE TO MAINTAIN ORDER IS DICTATORSHIP. 
 
THIS AUTHOR SEEMS TO THINK THE ADVANCE OF CIVILIZATION BASED ON VIRTUES SUCH AS THOSE ENUMERATED IN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS WAS A HUGE MISTAKE, SERVING TO EXPLAIN THE DECLINE OF THE CHURCH IN THE MODERN AGE.  THE COMMANDMENTS DO TEND TO EXCLUDE UNREPENTENT SINNERS.  WOULD THE AUTHOR DEMAND GOD SUBMIT TO UNIVERSAL SALVATION?
 
RATHER, THE DECLINE OF THE CHURCH THESE DAYS IS NO DIFFERENT THAN OTHER DECLINES, FOR DECLINE IS INEVITABLE WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE STRAY FROM HIS TRUTH, PREFERRING RELIANCE ON HUMAN “WISDOM” AND THE DOCTRINES OF DEMONS.  (NOTE BYRON CLAIMS TO BE A CHRISTIAN WHILE SUPPORTING HOMOSEXUAL RIGHTS AND SAME SEX MARRIAGE.)
 
NATIONS ARE BLESSED AS THEY PROCEED RIGHTEOUSLY (IN RIGHT RELATION TO GOD IN DOING RIGHT) AND THEY ARE CURSED WHEN THEY PROCEED OTHERWISE.
 
THIS AUTHOR, LIKE MANY WITH THE SPIRIT OF ANTI-CHRIST, SEE A GROWING REVIVAL AND SCRAMBLE TO DERAIL IT, RESORTING TO RIDICULE AND DECEPTION TO “DECEIVE EVEN THE ELECT, AS IF THAT WERE POSSIBLE.”  LIKE THE ENEMY OF THEIR SOULS, THEIR EFFORTS ARE LIKE A MIST BEFORE THE POWER OF THE ALMIGHTY WHO COMES TO JUDGE THE QUICK AND THE DEAD.
 
FINALLY, IF YOU THINK THE KING OF KINGS WILL DRY UP AND BLOW AWAY JUST BECAUSE OF A FEW BAD PRESS RELEASES, YOU ARE SUICIDALLY MISTAKEN.

Image: http://theysmell.com/creepy-churches-that-have-been-abandoned/