H.R. 5 Does Not Deserve a High Five

By: Steve Huston

 

The Equality Act is an egregious and direct assault on free speech, the First Amendment, and the Constitution; not to mention, it’s a secondary assault on the church and the Bible, which is the Word of God. Instead of equality, this bill seeks to raise those of the LGBTQ community into a special class with special privileges, by expanding the language of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include all self-declared LGBTQ designations alongside “race, color, religion, sex or national origin.” It elevates arbitrary feelings to the level of solid, provable fact, thereby undermining order and rational thought. It only serves to further chaos and confusion.

During the debating of this unconstitutional bill in the House of Representatives, the following exchange took place.

Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) ruffled the feathers of Democrat lawmakers when he firmly stood on the Biblical position that God makes boys and girls unique. “When men or women claim to be able to choose their own sexual identity, they are making a statement that God did not know what he was doing when he created them. The gender confusion that exists in our culture today is a clear rejection of God’s good design. Whenever a nation’s laws no longer reflect the standards of God that nation is in rebellion against him and will inevitably bear the consequences. We are seeing the consequences of rejecting God here in our country today.”

To this, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) replied, “What any religious tradition describes as God’s will is no concern of this Congress.”

We should be shocked and outraged by such a response; but how can we be shocked as we’ve watched a majority of our elected officials, from both parties, not only remove God from their platform (either literally or through only paying lip-service) but continually support those things which fly in the face of God and against our Constitution. I might remind you that they have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and to protect it from enemies both foreign and domestic. There should certainly be some moral outrage and righteous indignation over this bill and Rep. Nadler’s response to it.

H.R. 5 should have died instead of receiving a “high-five” from the House; but The Equality Act has been passed by the House of Representatives and is now in the Senate. This bill has been read twice there and is currently on the Senate’s Legislative Calendar for further consideration and vote. Considering Rep. Nadler’s response, if this passes the Senate, we shouldn’t be surprised to see the Bible labeled as hate speech shortly thereafter. When portions of the Bible are deemed “hate speech,” that will also greatly affect the functioning of the church.

The Family Research Council has prepared a 16 page brief on “The Equality Act” that is detailed and easy to understand. I urge you to read it and share it with others. Our freedoms and liberties that have been guaranteed by the Constitution have been slipping through our fingers at an alarming rate. If this bill passes the senate, the church will face attacks never before seen in America.

As Patrick Wood warns in his blog post Congress v. God: Equality Act Sets Up Religious War, “H.R.5 specifically and completely guts the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 and removes any possible legal remedy in the name of religious interference or oppression.” Read these two well done pieces and share them through social media and email. Do what you can to spread the word.

We’ve come a long way since our founding fathers in drifting away from both Biblical and Constitutional integrity. Actually, we’re not so much drifting as we are steadily moving down the stream of progressive, communist, destructive ideology that seeks to dismantle the Constitution and its Bill of Rights, thereby wresting the inalienable rights and liberties from the men, women, and children of this great nation.

We must fervently pray that this bill does NOT pass the Senate; nothing is impossible with God. We need to humbly pray for discernment for fellow-believers; it’s greatly lacking in the church today. We must help to awaken others to what is going on and to help them see how their rights and constitutionally protected religious liberty is on the verge of extinction. I say “constitutionally protected religious liberty” because regardless of what happens in the Senate, we still have the duty as self-governed individuals to stand in perfect liberty, obeying God rather than men. Regardless of whether God allows this bill to pass or not, Christians need to get in to the Word of God and well-understand where God stands on various issues, aligning themselves with Him. Duty is ours; results belong to God! We are responsible to know what we believe, why we believe it, and to stand firm on those eternal truths regardless of what winds, tornadoes, or hurricanes of opposition assail us. Remember, God IS our Refuge and our Strength. “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” Proverbs 18:10

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