Susan D. Harris
For God or country? Imprisoning Christians in America
By Susan D. Harris
This is what America has been reduced to by those who hate her: A woman crying on a witness stand defending her religious conviction that marriage is between one man and one woman.
This happened largely because so many Christians were cajoled by family members and friends to believe the lie that homosexual "love" surpasses the dark realities of sin.
Kim Davis knows better. The Kentucky county clerk who defied a federal court order to issue licenses to gay couples knows that someday she will stand in judgment before God. She knows that as a person with authority, she will have to give account to God as to why her name is written on pieces of paper condoning an act the Bible calls, "an abomination." So she chose to obey God's authority over man's authority.
As a Christian who has accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior, she knows her name is in the Book of Life:
"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." Revelation 3:5
Names are important. The apostle John tells us:
"But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out." John 10:2-3
In a culture we seem to have lost, a man's name held greater importance in society; being more attached to his actions, his words, and his character.
During the Renaissance, denigrating a man's name was occasion for a duel.
The Classical German writer Goethe wrote:
"A man's name is not like a mantle, which merely hangs about him, and which one perchance may safely twitch and pull; but a perfectly fitting garment, which like the skin has grown over and over him, at which one cannot rake and scrape without injuring the man himself."
Socrates advised: "Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of..."
Kim Davis wants to protect her name not only on earth, but in Heaven too.
In a spectacle that easily rivaled the persecution that drove America's founders to wild, untamed shores, Kim Davis was jailed by our government for refusing to usurp God's authority.
Discussing this cruel and unjust action ordered by U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning, Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly posed a question to Senator Ted Cruz:
"One of the most persuasive arguments (Kim Davis') detractors have is that she was apparently offered...the chance to just have her deputies (issue marriage licenses to gay couples)...She wouldn't have to do it. Now it would be under her authority, she would have to allow them, and the deputies were prepared to do it...and she said no to that...So what are same sex couples supposed to do if you've got the head clerk saying 'no one can do it because of my religious beliefs?'"
Cruz answered in part, "...Number one her name would be on it regardless; and she's saying it's inconsistent with her faith to put her name to it, to being part of it..."
(He went on to describe the recent Supreme Court decision on gay marriage as "fundamentally illegitimate" and urged everyone to read Chief Justice Scalia's powerful dissent on the ruling.)
In the book of Hebrews we find that everyone in authority will have to give account to God for those that followed their orders:
"Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account..."Hebrews 13:17
In refusing to allow gay marriage licenses to be granted, Davis was following God's word as well as guarding the souls of those who served under her.
To those who argue that Davis herself was not obeying those who rule over her, I offer Senator Cruz's sagacious remarks:
"The consequence of that...standard is that Christians can't hold public office; or if they do they must be willing to violate their faith or go to jail. That is not America; that is not how this country works...As Justice Scalia said, it's not the job of five unelected lawyers to be the rulers of 320 million Americans, and to claim, illegitimately, the authority to strike down the marriage laws of all 50 states. That is lawless."
The old Latin phrase, "Pro Aris et Focis," or "For God and country," has now become the soul-searching question: "For God or country?"
Karl Marx said, "The profane existence of error is compromised as soon as its heavenly oratio "pro aris et focis"... has been refuted."
Summarizing the German philosophical critique of religion in 1843, Marx began his "Introduction" with the following observation:
"For Germany, the criticism of religion has been essentially completed, and the criticism of religion is the prerequisite of all criticism."
Today, as Kim Davis sits in prison for protecting her name in the Book of Life, we can now say that, "For (America), the criticism of religion has been essentially completed." The prerequisite has been fulfilled.
What is the next step? According to Marx, once religion (or the "opiate of the people") is painfully peeled away, "the truth of this world" will be established.
There's just one problem with that "truth" scenario. There really is a God who will call us all to account. In short, both Karl Marx – and Kim Davis mockers – can be refuted with a phrase from Col. Jessup in the movie, A Few Good Men: "You can't handle the truth!"
Susan D. Harris can be reached at www.susandharris.com
© Susan D. Harris
September 6, 2015
This is what America has been reduced to by those who hate her: A woman crying on a witness stand defending her religious conviction that marriage is between one man and one woman.
This happened largely because so many Christians were cajoled by family members and friends to believe the lie that homosexual "love" surpasses the dark realities of sin.
Kim Davis knows better. The Kentucky county clerk who defied a federal court order to issue licenses to gay couples knows that someday she will stand in judgment before God. She knows that as a person with authority, she will have to give account to God as to why her name is written on pieces of paper condoning an act the Bible calls, "an abomination." So she chose to obey God's authority over man's authority.
As a Christian who has accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior, she knows her name is in the Book of Life:
"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." Revelation 3:5
Names are important. The apostle John tells us:
"But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out." John 10:2-3
In a culture we seem to have lost, a man's name held greater importance in society; being more attached to his actions, his words, and his character.
During the Renaissance, denigrating a man's name was occasion for a duel.
The Classical German writer Goethe wrote:
"A man's name is not like a mantle, which merely hangs about him, and which one perchance may safely twitch and pull; but a perfectly fitting garment, which like the skin has grown over and over him, at which one cannot rake and scrape without injuring the man himself."
Socrates advised: "Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of..."
Kim Davis wants to protect her name not only on earth, but in Heaven too.
In a spectacle that easily rivaled the persecution that drove America's founders to wild, untamed shores, Kim Davis was jailed by our government for refusing to usurp God's authority.
Discussing this cruel and unjust action ordered by U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning, Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly posed a question to Senator Ted Cruz:
"One of the most persuasive arguments (Kim Davis') detractors have is that she was apparently offered...the chance to just have her deputies (issue marriage licenses to gay couples)...She wouldn't have to do it. Now it would be under her authority, she would have to allow them, and the deputies were prepared to do it...and she said no to that...So what are same sex couples supposed to do if you've got the head clerk saying 'no one can do it because of my religious beliefs?'"
Cruz answered in part, "...Number one her name would be on it regardless; and she's saying it's inconsistent with her faith to put her name to it, to being part of it..."
(He went on to describe the recent Supreme Court decision on gay marriage as "fundamentally illegitimate" and urged everyone to read Chief Justice Scalia's powerful dissent on the ruling.)
In the book of Hebrews we find that everyone in authority will have to give account to God for those that followed their orders:
"Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account..."Hebrews 13:17
In refusing to allow gay marriage licenses to be granted, Davis was following God's word as well as guarding the souls of those who served under her.
To those who argue that Davis herself was not obeying those who rule over her, I offer Senator Cruz's sagacious remarks:
"The consequence of that...standard is that Christians can't hold public office; or if they do they must be willing to violate their faith or go to jail. That is not America; that is not how this country works...As Justice Scalia said, it's not the job of five unelected lawyers to be the rulers of 320 million Americans, and to claim, illegitimately, the authority to strike down the marriage laws of all 50 states. That is lawless."
The old Latin phrase, "Pro Aris et Focis," or "For God and country," has now become the soul-searching question: "For God or country?"
Karl Marx said, "The profane existence of error is compromised as soon as its heavenly oratio "pro aris et focis"... has been refuted."
Summarizing the German philosophical critique of religion in 1843, Marx began his "Introduction" with the following observation:
"For Germany, the criticism of religion has been essentially completed, and the criticism of religion is the prerequisite of all criticism."
Today, as Kim Davis sits in prison for protecting her name in the Book of Life, we can now say that, "For (America), the criticism of religion has been essentially completed." The prerequisite has been fulfilled.
What is the next step? According to Marx, once religion (or the "opiate of the people") is painfully peeled away, "the truth of this world" will be established.
There's just one problem with that "truth" scenario. There really is a God who will call us all to account. In short, both Karl Marx – and Kim Davis mockers – can be refuted with a phrase from Col. Jessup in the movie, A Few Good Men: "You can't handle the truth!"
Susan D. Harris can be reached at www.susandharris.com
© Susan D. Harris
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