The Day America Lost Her Birthright
When the Supreme Court outlawed prayer from public schools, it took the side of atheists and effectively established Pluralism as the official "religion" of the state. What has followed from that decision has been the massive erosion of religious liberty. Secular fundamentalists and the ACLU have hounded Christians and dragged them into court for such simple reasons as a teacher wearing a cross to a public school or a student reading a bible during recess in public schools. They have sought to eradicate the Ten Commandments from public display and to remove all references to God in public places and have sought to prevent public officials from uttering God and the Lord Jesus in public prayer. I doubt that any of those Justices had any idea of the consequences of that fateful decision in 1963.
Now, the myopic Supreme Court in Kelo vs New London has unwittingly handed yet another weapon to the secularists to use against the Church. This weapon is that of eminent domain. The Supreme Court ruled this week that city governments can force property holders to sell against their will if the city government wants their land for development. The property will be awarded (sold) to another private owner favored by the city government.
Churches, because of their tax exempt status, will be particular targets for eminent domain from cash-starved city governments. Churches will be at risk if they speak out boldly against, for example, casino gambling initiatives of city governments, or rallying to enforce zoning against pornography outlets in the city. The secularist city mayor will have the weapon of eminent domain to club Churches into silence. The Supreme Court has broken the dam and has unleashed the threat of bureaucratic tyrrany like a flood against private citizens and Churches, all in the name of economic development. America has become just one big real estate for economic development rather than the land of the free and home of the brave.
Like Esau who sold his birthright for a mesh of pottage, the Supreme Court has sold the sacredness of the right of America to own private property in exchange for real estate development. The spirit of Jezzebel who enabled the taking of Naboth's vineyard lives in the Supreme Court today. But all of this is meaningless to a Court which has rejected the Word of God as the foundation of law. Kelo vs New London is but a consequence of that rejection.
June 23, 2005: Another millstone (sic) in the history of America.
UPDATE: Use your remaining rights before the courts take them away too: The Castle Coalition
Now, the myopic Supreme Court in Kelo vs New London has unwittingly handed yet another weapon to the secularists to use against the Church. This weapon is that of eminent domain. The Supreme Court ruled this week that city governments can force property holders to sell against their will if the city government wants their land for development. The property will be awarded (sold) to another private owner favored by the city government.
Churches, because of their tax exempt status, will be particular targets for eminent domain from cash-starved city governments. Churches will be at risk if they speak out boldly against, for example, casino gambling initiatives of city governments, or rallying to enforce zoning against pornography outlets in the city. The secularist city mayor will have the weapon of eminent domain to club Churches into silence. The Supreme Court has broken the dam and has unleashed the threat of bureaucratic tyrrany like a flood against private citizens and Churches, all in the name of economic development. America has become just one big real estate for economic development rather than the land of the free and home of the brave.
Like Esau who sold his birthright for a mesh of pottage, the Supreme Court has sold the sacredness of the right of America to own private property in exchange for real estate development. The spirit of Jezzebel who enabled the taking of Naboth's vineyard lives in the Supreme Court today. But all of this is meaningless to a Court which has rejected the Word of God as the foundation of law. Kelo vs New London is but a consequence of that rejection.
June 23, 2005: Another millstone (sic) in the history of America.
UPDATE: Use your remaining rights before the courts take them away too: The Castle Coalition
posted at 6:54 PM PermaLink
1 Comments:
Good to see that someone noticed another potential impact of the Kelo disaster. But in some respects the "threat" to church property may spur righteous action by Christ's brothers and sisters.
1) Church buildings should be seen not as meeting halls but as (temporary) training facilities for a 'guerrilla' army. (We are God's Army, after all, are we not?) They have no intrinsic value in themselves, save possibly as art (darn few Evangelical churches match the 'Notre Dame' standard, to our shame). As with all of God's created things, church congregational structures have value only as we use them for God's glory and marshalling His forces for operations. So let's don't get overly attached to plots of ground. Operations of the 'guerrilla' Church Militant require mobility, not stasis--the only way the "gates of Hell" can "prevail against us" is if we sit on our duffs and mount no offensives against Hell.
2) Local city councils may appear solidly entrenched in power. But--gates of Hell, anyone? Civil government threats to a church congregation (esp. one growing and theologically and politically aware) may well prove hugely counterproductive to the incumbent council. Suddenly a church body has names and faces to attach to the forces of Hell. And the congregation gains incentive to organize, connect with like-minded church bodies, storm the gates and subject 'Hell' to the Authority of Heaven (acting through God's people). I.e., Church members file for office, marshal votes for their fellow members, and redirect the local government in 'paths of righteousness' rather than the 'way of the ungodly.' Often development projects ecounter major modification when a change of government occurs.
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