It has become clear that the Obama Administration believes conservative, biblical Christians may be a threat to our national security.
In a gathering at George Washington University, John Carlin, Obama's assistant attorney general for national security, announced the Justice Department has created a new position of domestic terrorism counsel to combat the "real and present threat" of domestic extremism.
That would be Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS, and Jihadists sneaking into our country posing as Syrian refugees, right?
Wrong.
The criteria for the list of suspects is based on what they "believe," not their "propensity for violence."
Associated Press is reporting that Bremerton School District is in negotiation with Coach Kennedy. As of this morning they say his employment status is "unchanged."
In the meeting, John Carlin praised groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center "that dedicate themselves to examining what the threat is, observing it, and reporting on it," adding that the work of SPLC "is very important" to that of the Department of Justice.
It is well known that SPLC has placed both American Family Association and Family Research Council on their official "hate list" because both organizations practice "hate speech."
Both organizations are labeled as organizations who "put out anti-gay materials."
Translated: Both organizations are biblical Christian in their views, and put out literature that advances biblical beliefs---including those biblical beliefs regarding homosexual behavior, same-sex "marriage", etc.
My friend Bryan Fischer with American Family Association and host of the radio program, "Focal Point With Bryan Fischer" says, "The real threat, according to the president and his minions, is coming from the Family Research Council and American Family Association."
In reading and reviewing the comments and the tone of the comments made at George Washington University, there is no doubt that a lot of attention is focused on conservative biblical Christian beliefs.
Carlin praised the work of SPLC, saying, "When it comes to hate and intolerance, no single ideology governs."
SPLC's Intelligence Project Director Heidi Beirich, who co-chaired the meeting, was pressed as to why FRC and AFA would be on their "Hate List."
She said, "I think there's a common misunderstanding about the way you get on our Hate List. We post groups on the basis of their ideology, not whether they're violent or not."
So their focus is on beliefs, not actions.
This is in sync with the vision of President Obama to "remake" America.
Overreaction?
I don't think so.
Beirich said some organizations become violent, some not. She said for example the American Renaissance organization puts out "reams and reams of information about why black people are inferior, it lies basically, so black people are dumber, they're psychopathic, they're more violent."
"In the same way," she said, "groups like Family Research Council and American Family Association do that but what they're putting out is anti-gay material so gay people are pedophiles, or molesters, or whatever the case may be, and that's why they're on the list and that's the direct analogy."
This is the continuing mantra of the homosexual activists---"our cause is just like the legitimate Civil Rights movement." It is not.
No one with right thinking can equate ethnicity and a chosen sexual behavior.
Merely identifying these 2 Christian organizations as "Hate Groups" creates the possibility of violence against the Christian organizations.
Keep in mind that only a couple of years ago, the SPLC's "Hate Group Map" was used by domestic terrorist Floyd Corkins to identify the Family Research Council as his target for a planned massacre.
The grace of God, and the bravery of an unarmed security guard at their building, prevented what could have been one of the worst mass shootings in US history.
True biblical Christians do not hate anyone. We see the darkness and consequences of sin and seek to share a better way through Jesus Christ and the redemption and restoration He provides for each person who accepts His claims as God and Savior.
Many see the negative erosion of our cultural foundations by homosexual and abortion activists.
Some Christians choose to remain silent, believing that is safe.
Other biblical Christians understand the mandate of the gospel, and rather than remain silent, they obediently speak the Truth as they have opportunity.
Silence is sin. Actions can have consequences. Decision time.
Fischer says, "We are simply determined to tell the moral, spiritual, and physical truth about non-normative sexual behavior."
"Disagreement is not hatred, and the Truth is not hate speech," he writes.
Jesus predicted this. In John 15:18 Jesus says, "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. (19) If you were of the world, the world would love its own;..."
This same teaching from Jesus is also found in Matthew and Mark.
How will all this play out in our times?
A look at the early Christian church in Rome reveals a clear picture of the intensity of hate that can be focused on true biblical believers. And what it can look like.
I have at least 12 volumes in my personal library that specifically deal with the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Much of that history includes a narrative about the Christians in the culture at that time.
Think about this:
The idea of another religion was not concerning to most Romans, because they already had a number of religions within the Roman Empire---like the Cult of Isis and Mithraism and Bacchus which involved sexual rites.
Diversity.
Christianity, however, became a problem to the Romans because they already considered themselves religious, and Christianity, with its monotheism and absolute truth, posed a threat to their own religious system which tolerated and celebrated several religions from other nations.
Inclusiveness, Tolerance, and Multiculturalism was foundational to the Empire. And it was practiced---except in the matter of Christianity.
Unlike all the other religions, Christians refused to sacrifice to the gods of the current culture, instead proclaiming theirs was the only one true God. Romans were both angered by their narrow views and threatened. Threatened because people were accepting the narrow, unacceptable views of Christianity.
The Romans believed that their society was protected by the "pax deorum"; the peace, or agreement with all the other gods. These gods supposedly protected their cities, towns and empires in exchange for sacrifice and worship.
Christians refused to accept the blended religious practices of that day. But the Christian church continued to grow.
Since Christians refused to follow the cultural trends, pagans believed that Christians were endangering themselves and everyone else around them.
Roman leaders who actively looked for ways to suppress Christianity, seized the opportunity to further persecute the Christians, as the public became more accepting of the persecution---after all, the Christians were putting the rest of society at risk because they were defying the gods. They were unpatriotic.
Domestic terrorism---in a sense.
You can connect the dots.
There is no amount of Political Correctness, Inclusively, Multiculturalism or so-called Tolerance that will create a "more perfect union."
Only the Truth and principles of God's Word can build the more perfect union our Founders envisioned. And they knew it. And so must we.
Jesus also said, "These things have I spoken to you, so that you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
Although Rome may burn, while leaders fiddle, the Kingdom of God is forever.
Stand Firm. All Is Well.