ONE SHOW. TWO MEN. NO RULES..

Within the last week, we have seen the mayor of Houston, Texas subpoena the sermons and communications of five Christian pastors, because they teach against homosexuality. The citizens of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, have threatened two pastors with fines and imprisonment for refusing to perform same-sex marriages. These pastors are under attack for teaching the Bible and living their lives according to the Word of God.

Most recently, Christianity has come under attack one more time. You may have missed it, because the news barely covered it, but the California Department of Managed Health Care has reclassified abortion as a “basic health service” under the Affordable Care Act and ordered all insurance plans in the state to begin covering surgical abortions immediately. The state of California will not honor the federal exemption for churches, although those who work at Christian churches do not support abortion nor would they have abortions.

There are many Christians who get upset when politics are brought up in the church. They think politics have no place in God’s house, but as we see what is happening in our country, in spite of the First Amendment, which is supposed to protect religious rights, the Christian church cannot stay silent. Christian silence will be at our own peril.

Edmund Burke once said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” As story after story is reported about Christians under fire, I would say evil is getting the upper hand, because good, Christian men and women are doing nothing to stop the steamroller of persecution against Christians.

Christian persecution is not new and it is not surprising. Anyone who has read their Bibles knows Christ Himself warned us in Matthew 10:22: “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

He even told us why men would hate us, in John 3:19: “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

Men and women who have chosen the darkness rather than the light are not threatened by anything but the truth and the light. Christ said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:1).

Christ and Christians are under attack because we are the light and it threatens their darkness. The light reveals their evil deeds. No other religion is attack, because they do not have the truth; they do not reveal the lie—only Christ.

If we know the truth and walk in the light of Christ, we cannot remain silent for fear of persecution. As they try to pass legislation against the teachings of Christ, labeling it hate speech, we must speak now while we have the freedom to stand up for our beliefs. If we remain silent, we will eventually be forced to silence or face imprisonment.

Joe Cohn serves as Legislative and Policy Director overseeing that departments team of attorneys and staff tasked with the duties of monitoring and engaging in legislation and regulatory matters. Under his leadership, FIRE has secured numerous victories for free speech and due process issues at the local, state and federal level. 

WHAT IS "HATE SPEECH"

Hate speech in the United States cannot be directly regulated by the government due to the fundamental right to freedom of speech protected by the Constitution. While "hate speech" is not a legal term in the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that most of what would qualify as "hate speech" in other western countries is legally protected speech under the First Amendment. In a Supreme Court case on the issue, Matal v. Tam (2017), the justices unanimously reaffirmed that there is effectively no "hate speech" exception to the free speech rights protected by the First Amendment and that the U.S. government may not discriminate against speech on the basis of the speaker's viewpoint.

In academic circles, there has been debate over freedom of speech, hate speech, and hate speech legislation. 

Under current First Amendment jurisprudence, hate speech can only be criminalized when it directly incites imminent criminal activity or consists of specific threats of violence targeted against a specific person or group.

On The Record with The MadDog, The Pitbull & The Rowdy Reverend discussing the days most controversial subjects and with a non biased No filter approach to Old School Free Speech ... Like it USED to be.