It would seem that the Church is actually at its weakest today than ever before. Christians do not seem to have played a pivotal role in the ruling which made abortion no longer a constitutionally protected right. Christians seem to have lost the war against the diversity of sexual desires and gender identities which we perceive as normal. Christians have watched as marriage has dropped in popularity and children virtually disappeared in the homes of most of us yet some are warning against the Church somehow taking away the freedoms so jealously afforded by the liberal and progressive forces in our land. Indeed, the whole of the West seems to be on the same page in this.
But somehow those same liberal and progressive folk seem content with Islam. According to the evidence and the state of affairs in the Middle East (though not alone), Islam appears to be the greater threat to the great American way of life but you would not know it. Muslims have done a profound job of compelling or forcing the hand of those on the forefront of culture war yet liberal and progressive Christians have little to say in protest to this. On the other hand, Christians are positively demonic in the eyes of the liberal West. Who represents a greater threat to the status quo of the world? Is it Islam with its militant repudiation of all the liberal and progressive values OR is it Christianity, which, by and large, has seemed to accommodate the secular values that it is supposed to reject? The world has decided that Islam is a victim that needs to be protected from the big, bad Christian demon -- just like all the liberal and progressive values that Western culture holds dear.
Honestly, I wish that Christianity acted like the institutional threat it is generally seen to be by liberal and progressive Western culture. Of course, there are pockets of threat but Christianity has hardly provided a uniform and solid front against the liberal and progressive secular culture. Yes, I do believe that Christianity is an existential threat to the values and ideals held by secular progressivism and even the shallow and tepid Christian form of the same thing. I just don't see how the world around us can judge us to be such a threat since so much of Christianity has capitulated to those values and positions. That is my sadness. I wish we were something to threaten the world with a real difference and not just a lukewarm version of ourselves. Oddly enough, I guess, the stereotype of Christianity feared by the liberal and progressive West is actually worse than the reality.....
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Martin Luther wrote this in his _Bondage of the Will_:
“The world and its god cannot and will not bear the word of the true God: and the true God cannot and will not keep silence. While, therefore, these two gods are at war with each other, what can there be else in the whole world, but tumult?
“Therefore, to wish to silence these tumults, is nothing else, than to wish to hinder the word of God, and to take it out of the way! For the word of God, wherever it comes, comes to change and to renew the world. And even heathen writers testify, that changes of things cannot take place, without commotion and tumult, nor even without blood. It therefore belongs to Christians, to expect and endure these things, with a stayed mind: as Christ says, 'When ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be not dismayed, for these things must first come to pass, but the end is not yet,' Matt. xxiv. And as to myself, if I did not see these tumults, I should say the word of God was not in the world. But now, when I do see them, I rejoice from my heart, and fear them not….
“I see indeed, my friend Erasmus, that you complain in many books of these tumults, and of the loss of peace and concord; and you attempt many means whereby to afford a remedy, and (as I am inclined to believe) with a good intention. But this gouty foot laughs at your doctoring hands. For here, in truth, as you say, you sail against the tide; nay, you put out fire with straw. Cease from complaining, cease from doctoring; this tumult proceeds, and is carried on, from above, and will not cease until it shall make all the adversaries of the word as the dirt of the streets. Though I am sorry that I find it necessary to teach you, so great a theologian, these things, like a disciple, when you ought to be a teacher of others.”
Just like the Israelites of old, church age Christian believers have often compromised their faith to be accepted by secular society,, falling into various forms of idol worship, and incorporating the values of ungodly practices and philosophy into their worldview. The rebel in our natures and the effectiveness of seductive sin continually wars against our souls. It is more like a cycle than an endless decline, because God still remains sovereign over the church and the affairs of men. The malaise in our own culture which fails to see popular opposition against abortion by many Christians, and other sinful practices, speaks to the accommodation that many of the brethren feel today. But we still see many faithful Christians as well, who do stand up for Christ and the word of God. In this they do not hesitate to express their first trust and loyalty is to the Lord openly. However, they are often not headline news. Devoted Christians who try to be neutral concerning sin and social issues in order to be accepted will never rest, nor be free of of anxiety. They will remain double minded, and never have rest and comfort of conscience. Recently, Fox News reported that a Catholic order here in New York, nuns who operate a facility for the sick and elderly poor, have been ordered by the New York State Health Dept to comply with state laws granting special rights to LGBTQ plus patients, including self described trans individuals identifying as other than their biological gender. New York State wants the nuns to also use the preferred pronouns of their patients, and for each caregiver nun to be enrolled and “certified” to care for LGBT plus individuals “in compliance” with the enacted rules the state is demanding. The Catholic order is suing New York State, claiming the rules are discriminatory and go against the clear teachings of the church. Essentially, the order is being forced to affirm sinful values, even as there is no evidence that the nuns treat any LGBT plus patients without compassion. Do we think this news will garner national headlines? Do we think the nuns will be supported by the American Christian community? It will hardly be a footnote. Yet, opposition in a carnal and pluralistic society is what Jesus warned us to expect, and indifference even among professing believers as well. Nevertheless, the psalm of David says to simply turn to God, despite opposition and persecution. Psalm 71: …”Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked. Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For You are my hope, O Lord God. You are my trust from my youth. By You I have been upheld from my birth. You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You.” Soli Deo Gloria
In her April 13, 2026, Federalist article, “Democrats Aren’t Far Behind Canada In Efforts To Ban Christian Speech” (https://thefederalist.com/2026/04/13/democrats-arent-far-behind-canada-in-efforts-to-ban-christian-speech/) Brooke Brandtjen stated, in part:
“Canada’s dominant Liberal Party has introduced legislation that may soon make Christian speech illegal.
“In March, the Canadian House of Commons passed Bill C-9, also known as the ‘Combatting Hate Act.’ The bill was introduced under the guise of mitigating antisemitic attacks in the wake of Hamas’ violent attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Liberals claimed it was developed to protect religious communities, but C-9 eagerly expanded to prohibit public displays of ‘hate,’ including ‘Islamophobia, homophobia, and transphobia’.”
Brandtjen goes on to describe legislative efforts in California and New York to legalize the censorship of “hate speech”.
None of this appears to apply to increasingly rampant Christophobia hate speech, which is promoted by the mainstream Enemedia.
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