
Dr Ada M Fisher
Seeking to avoid antagonizing the politically
correct crowd or incurring the IRS’s wrath, too many pulpits pull their punches
on public policy which goes against what they believe. Is the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” or
thou shalt not murder for with the former none of us would eat? Is justifying pedophilia, cross dressing or
other indulgences of what used to be considered perversions in the name of
compassion consistent with The Word?
Religion is designed not just to honor G-d, but help
us know the commandments while helping us make it through the day and into the
night. When the pulpit houses
adulterers, child molesters and those tipping and creeping on the wild side,
what’s the congregation to believe? When
the Imams fail to speak out against the violence directed at those not
believing in Islam or Christian ministers take a radical position showing a
lack of compassion for those with whom they differ, is this a disservice to
their faith?
The lack of public outrage from the orthodox and
conservative ministries at proposed shared bathrooms in support of North
Carolina’s HB2 legislation, requiring privacy in restrooms based on genetic
expressions of sexuality not personal preference, is telling. Whether the needs of the few outweigh the
desire of the majority for privacy is not the struggle being depicted. Even the Georgia ACLU’s interim director,
Maya Dillard Smith was allegedly forced to resign after her young daughters
were confronted in a women’s restroom by grown transgender males with deep
voices. What’s a mother or father to say
to their young children?
The massacre at the Orlando, FL Pulse gay facility is an example of a religious posture taken to
the extreme which can be disastrous for non-believers in that faith. This isn’t about gun control for if someone
wants to kill you, they’ll find a way and try to justify it in the name of the
tenets which underpin their religion or deluded belief system.
The brouhaha over the loss of millions in revenue
from those bent on trendy political correctness via economic blackmail against
institutions and states supporting the right to privacy for those who are male
or female is an intriguing dilemma. The
suppression of the constitutional right to bear arms in the name of stopping
mad men with terrorist inclinations is naïve.
Religious institutions can’t be exempt from the law or hide behind
a constitutional veil of religious freedom when its clergy and others commit
acts of violence in the name of their God, abuse children or swindle money from
its congregants. By the same token the
IRS shouldn’t have the power to coerce churches into submission and force them
to be silent on edits or public policies which go against what they represent
or are crucial to who they are. If folks
don’t like what is being said find another center of worship and quit giving
them ones money.
There are
limits to religious liberty in a democratic republic. If churches use public funds for child care
centers, hospitals or other operations then they must follow the laws of the
land. If governmental statues are
enacted on marriage and in other arenas which conflict with those of the
church, those who disagree shouldn’t take governmental monies. If people disagree with a religious doctrine
they should find another non-violent outlet for the expression of their
religious beliefs. But does the
church’s freedom of speech allow them to preach without censorship that which
it believes is right even if it sounds sexist, racist or some other “ist”?
It is
inevitable that it will become increasingly difficult to follow G-d’s laws in a
secular society. As other cultures and
religions increase their presence in American society, the laws of the land on
the rights of women or child abuse as examples, the church should not be
allowed to stand in the way of the protection of individual freedoms. If Same Sex marriage thinking prevails, will
we allow multiple wives to accommodate some Moslems or Mormons? What about their religious freedom? Is it not written, “For what shall it profit a
man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? KJV Mark 8:36” What about the rights of the
majority?
In
the movie “Silence of the Lamb”, Hannibal Lector feasts on the delectable
brains of those he perceived as doing a disservice to humanity via their
actions. By not challenging assumptions
which go against their religious foundations, the ministry may be fostering
brain rot and dishonoring all that they stand for. There may be no brains for Hannibal, the
cannibal, to eat or to legislate reasoned “Common Sense Public Policy.”
Dr. Ada M. Fisher is a
PHYSICIAN, licensed teacher , previously elected school board member, former
medical director in a fortune 500 company, AUTHOR, gifted Public Speaker and
THE nc rEPUBLICAN nATIONAL cOMMITTEEWOMAN. Contact her at P. O. Box 777;
Salisbury, NC 28145;DrFisher@DrAdaMFisher.COM. [Her book, Common Sense Conservative
Prescriptions Solutions for What AIls Us, Book I IS available through Amazon.com.