Freedom of Religion is the first freedom in the First Amendment of the very first and most brilliant freedom document ever written by mankind.
Nobody and nothing can legally interfere with the practice of religion legitimately practiced, so says the First Amendment, including and especially Congress, House and Senate which is absolutely and unconditionally forbidden to establish a religion or abridge the practice or free speech of religion. No matter this clear, direct and unequivocal prohibition by our beloved Constitution and its First Amendment, there has never been a day and age where RELIGION, including and especially Christianity is abridged, threatened or curtailed like the things which are happening today. Scary times indeed, especially for those who are Christian, who sincerely, genuinely, and unapologetically love the Christ of Glory and unabashedly proclaim that faith and love to all the world. They – we are targets like never before.
But the courts, federal and state, continue to apply current thinking, modern day interpretations of the Constitution, treating it as organic and not fundamental, not originalist, not plain and fundamental in language and essentially do what they want especially when liberals, radicals and progressives control the judiciary. We live as our former President Barack Hussein Obama so famously said in the world of post truth, that is the only truth that matters is whatever advances your cause that day, the truth du jour, and in so many ways, the judiciary ignores the fact – truth of the Constitution and the protections of the freedom of religion in the First Amendment and they do what they want, fashioning their own version of the truth. We live in a day and age of legal uncertainty where WE THE PEOPLE never know what will come next, what the rules are, what the rule of law is and in so many ways what we can count on and how we should live our lives. There seems to be little authority, there is hardly any respect for tradition much less history, and American history and there is much chaos, anarchy and revolution happening everywhere even in our very own country. Witness the Antifa – Black Lives Matter driven riots and destruction in Portland, and in Seattle, and at one time in Philadelphia and other cities as well. One homicide can trigger the destruction of hundreds of millions of dollars of property and result in the loss of any number of innocent lives. That same indifference and disrespect carries over in some cases to religionists and the practice of religion itself. So many biblical scholars studying prophecy believe strongly that this is the beginning of the END TIMES.
Now more than ever, the once ironclad and predictable authority of the Roman Catholic Church is challenged, and challenged in many different places. That is especially so in the nation of Germany. Catholic clergy in Germany now begin to bless gay couples across Germany, and marry them in defiance of a recent Vatican ban on the practice. This rogue clergy defies the authority of the Church and Catholic Priests and Lay Ministers are planning coordinated ceremonies to bless gay relationships in about 100 Catholic Churches and other venues in Germany now and forevermore. They are performed as a protest against the Vatican declaration in March, approved by Pope Francis prohibiting the blessing of same sex relationships on the grounds that:
GOD CAN NOT BLESS SIN!
Real and fundamental Catholic authority regards same sex relationships and especially marriage as:
SIN!
Ever since the election of Pope Francis in 2013, his Church has contended with deepening divisions between Church conservatives, many of whom are in the United States and Africa and progressive clergy such as those in Germany and elsewhere in Europe who do not wish Church prohibitions against divorce and homosexuality. These divisions, these rifts which may in time lead to a serious schism in the Catholic Church seem to continue to grow for there are apparently tens of thousands of Catholic laity and clergy who want fundamental change in the Church which is now not happening.
There is now underway a national synod of German Catholics which is debating a number of changes in the Catholic Church, including the ordination of women, greater roles for lay people in Church governance and the revision of Church teaching on homosexuality among others. No matter biblical admonition, the teachings of the Catholic Church and its storied spiritual history, these rogue Catholic individuals do not respect the apostolic tradition nor do they care about the majority of faithful believers in the UNIVERSAL CHURCH. They seem to be saying that there is no such thing as moral absolutes nor can the Church as presently constituted be the final authority with regard to these new and changing western morals. The Church, they say, adjusts to and compromises with the secular in order to be current and relevant. Though not Catholic, I find this incomprehensible. These men and women, progressive, rogue and even radical do not have the courage to break away from the Catholic Church, practice their view of religion in some other way but are determined to fundamentally change a church 2,000 years of age in ways which the Pope, the Vatican officials and the vast majority of laymen do not approve.
No matter the official proclamation of the Catholic Church and the Pope, taking strong positions regarding homosexuality and the ordination of women among others, Catholic Churches in defiance of Rome hung rainbow pride flags from their facades or belltowers in support of the LGBTQ agenda and homosexual marriage. More than 700 Priests and Deacons signed a petition stating they wouldn’t refuse a Catholic blessing if requested by gay couples. In response to this disobedience to church authority, one conservative Catholic said:
“It is an enormous scandal (blessing gay marriage), a terrifying sign of heresy, schism and the collapse of the Church.”
Those were the words of retired German Cardinal Walter Brandmuller who lives in the Vatican. Most conservative Catholics if not all feel that way and are deeply concerned with the integrity and hegemony of their church.
Others have said that not only is the authority of the Catholic Church questioned, but so is the underlying biblical admonitions with respect to LGBTQ and homosexuality in both Old and New Testaments. But these radical laity and clergy simply want the Roman Catholic Church to change, adjust to their points of view, to current morality (or the lack thereof), recognize the signs of the times and change traditional Catholic thinking, theology and principle to the way they wish. They have no scriptural basis for what they demand, none whatsoever.
There is compromise everywhere in the practice of religion. It is an age of the individual run rampant, the breakdown of religious authority, the interpretation away of direct moral commands and a supreme indifference to tradition, Church history and most especially the Bible, once the unquestioned authority of some four billion people in this world. This new apostasy and false teaching, this new sense of compromise are critical signs of the beginning of the END TIMES, so says the scripture. There are, we are told, more than two billion Roman Catholic believers and worshippers in the world. So that, roughly one in four human beings consider themselves Catholic, including our very own President Joe Biden, a supreme compromiser and the importance of the Catholic Church has never been greater. Pope Francis has never been really firm in his teachings in some of these critical matters and if the Catholic Church is to survive and maintain its position in the world, the Pope and all Catholic clergy must stand up and protect, preserve and defend what has always been true and real CATHOLICISM. There remain critical differences between Roman Catholics and Protestants, true Catholics and Evangelicals. But at a certain point, all who name the name of Christ must stand up, and stand together, and fight the fight of faith, and champion FREEDOM OF RELIGION the world over or eventually there will be no freedom of religion. American radicals and progressives are determined to rid the public square and eventually all of our country of religion, including and especially Christianity. They despise religion of any kind and they are determined to eliminate it. Germany seems well on the way, at least Roman Catholic Germany. So that, the only answer is revival, the renewal of faith and belief in the Lord of Glory, the Jesus Christ of the Bible. It seems as though unless a person is deeply committed to and in love with Jesus Christ:
ANYTHING GOES.
Like what is happening in the Roman Catholic Church in Germany.