Thought for Today
Leviticus 19:17 You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.
Psalm 26:5 I hate the company of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked.
Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Matthew 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Romans 12:9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;
This morning, during a news segment on one of the network morning shows, I heard mention of the fact that the Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments today on 2 cases involving free speech. Since the ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America, free speech has been a contentious subject. The First Amendment to our Constitution reads, “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.”
The shorthand, classic example of free speech that can be prohibited is that it is not allowable to yell “FIRE!” in a crowded theater. That does make sense; but . . . how often does common sense intrude into our daily lives?
In recent years, we have struggled with trying to set Constitutional limits on hate speech. Most of us agree that there is such a thing as hate speech and that there should be some limits on hate speech. The problems, of course, are in agreeing on a definition of what constitutes hate speech, agreeing on the limitations of hate speech and on who enforces those limits.
The issue is especially pertinent today because this is an election year. We are in the midst of the political primary election cycle. The public airways are full of political advertisements. And, we are a nation divided . . . almost evenly.
The issue is further compounded by the 2 major military conflicts currently being waged. The airways and news reports are full of stories about both conflicts, although, currently the Middle East conflict is dominating over the European conflict.
In both instances, much of what is being said, by candidates vying for nominations or proponents of either side in the military conflicts is at best biased and borders on hate speech, hate for anyone who dares support the other side. Sadly, in both instances, some of the speakers identify themselves as Christians.
Faith and politics have always had an uneasy alliance. History suggests that theocracies have proven as intolerant and repressive as democracies or any other form of government. As all of us listen to public and even private discourse today, the truth is that there are sincere, faithful Christians on both sides of almost every contentious issue. There are people of every faith, every religion and of no religion who examine and ponder the same evidence and draw diametrically opposed conclusions.
Does government, our own government in the cases before the Supreme Court today, have a right or duty to monitor public discourse? Does government have a responsibility to do so? And, where do institutions of faith, churches, Christendom stand in relation to such rights, duties and responsibilities? In today’s world and throughout all human history, these have been important questions. Our own country exists in large measure due to the efforts of other governments on other continents attempting to restrict free speech.
As Christians, Jesus has offered us some clues: “Luke 10:27 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." also, "Matthew 22:21 Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." The ‘Devil’ is, of course, in the details and in the deciding. Maybe, for us all, the answer is in the repeated line of the hymn What a Friend We Have in Jesus, “Take it to the Lord in prayer.”
Stay safe, take it to the Lord in prayer, trust God,
Pastor Ray