Rights and Freedoms

Rights and Freedoms

Tony Campolo the American evangelist wrote,
“I contend the state ought to do its thing and provide legal rights for all couples who want to be joined together for life. The church should bless unions that it sees fit to bless, and they should be called marriages.”
           Tony Campolo.
Campolo makes a compelling point, after all we live in a secular democracy. And it is the government and people of that democracy that choose what is called what under the law.
The democracies we live in, in the west are at least as diverse as the Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire had things going on that Christians and Jews would have found contrary to their moral and ethical standards. Yet the Bible does not mention anywhere that the disciples or Jesus spoke out against Rome’s authority.
In fact with the Emperor Nero in power and persecuting Christians the apostle Paul wrote,
“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”  
                                                                                                                                     Romans 13:1 
The Gospel of John records this exchange at the trial of Jesus between Pilate and Jesus,
“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” 
 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above...” 
                                                                                                                                      John 19:10,11a
As Christians we need to respect the government and the beliefs and lifestyles of those around us.
Only when governments or others start to restrict our rights or the rights of others should we be speaking out against them.
For me the best way to ensure our rights as Christians to practice our faith is to stand up for the rights of others even if we don’t completely agree with them.
It is only when, not just Christians, but men of all faiths, beliefs and lifestyles fail to stand together for the God given right to freedom of choice that oppression can arise. We only have to look at Nazi Germany to see that.
At the height of World war two Martin Niemoller a German cleric wrote,
“When they came for the Communists, I did not stand up, because I was not a Communist. When they came for the Jews, I did not stand up, because I was not Jewish. When they came for the Catholics, I did not stand up, because I was not a Catholic. When they came for me, there was no one left to stand up.”
Martin Niemoller
In order to be effective as Christians I firmly believe we need to stand up for the beliefs and lifestyles of others. Only by doing so do we keep dialogue between ourselves and others. And upon  that dialogue could depend the eternal resting place of the people we meet
Please think about it