Our Bill of Rights and religion

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

I find it alarming how so many churches cow down to the government during election years. The government tries to hinder our rights when we speak out against a party or politician. Government officials and some leftist groups claim we are being "political" when we speak out. These groups seek to transform us into a political entity. By transforming us into a political machine, they try to force laws upon us to censor our speech all in the name of "fairness."

The church has every right to call people out by name and speak out against those who support things we deem sinful. The church has a moral right to inform its members about political agendas. We have a right to point out a politician's views and discuss what will happen if elected to office. We are doing nothing wrong because it is our duty as Christians to warn our people about supporting policies that the Bible calls sin.

The government has no right to tell us we cannot speak out about current issues from our pulpits. The Bill of Rights forbids these types of threats, so why do we fear the government? Why do we cow down and allow this type of abuse? It's time to stand up for our liberties and rights by upholding our Constitution.

I'm not saying that we are to pass laws based on our religion. In the Bill of Rights it says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," which clearly forbids basing laws on religion. The Bill of Rights also says,"Congress shall make no law... prohibiting the free exercise thereof" which is directly referring to religion. We are given the right to freely practice our religion. We use our freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and the freedom to assemble peacefully to practice our religion. We do not have the right to create laws based on our religious preference, trying to force people into our system of beliefs. The government has no right to make laws and issue threats from the IRS, trying to herd us into politically correctness by overlording what we can preach, circulate, and teach concerning our faith.

I fully support the freedom of religion and the freedom from religion. I am offended by some people's condemnation of Christianity, but it is their right to do so. These citizens are protected by the Bill of Rights just like I am, therefore I defend their rights as well as mine.