When appeals to the highest court in the land were denied, Hobby Lobby decided to do the only thing that a faithful follower of Christ could do. They decided to defy the law. They know it means that they might very well lose their business, their homes, and their freedom. They know it means each and every one of their more than 500 employees will most likely lose their jobs next year because of it. However, they are willing to sacrifice all of that for the sake of Jesus Christ because He is the reason they have any of it in the first place.
When, and not if, individual Christians who are also determined to be faithful followers of Christ find that the government's laws require disobedience to God in order to comply, we must not give in. We must not remain silent. We must not obey. While Catholic teaching does require obedience to all just laws, any law that defies God's laws is not a just law. We are not only not required to obey those laws, we are required to actively work against such laws.
Every Catholic who is truly Catholic, every Christian who truly seeks to follow Christ, must stand in defiance of the HHS mandate. We must oppose this effort by the government to force us to pay for birth control, abortion, euthanasia, sex change operations, and any other thing that defies God's will. We must not only stand in defiance of these things but we must speak out about them as often as we can, as loudly as we can.
However, speaking out against them isn't enough. We must also seek to educate others as to why we are so diligent in speaking out against them. We must not allow the press or the media to define our reasons and to misinterpret, whether unintentionally or deliberately, the logic and reason we bring to the situation. We made this mistake with the issue of birth control and abortion. We made this mistake with the issue of homosexual "marriage". Now we face an uphill battle to reshape the opinion of the public, to re-educate people so that they see our defiance not as an attempt to oppress others or take something from them but as a legitimate attempt to free them from oppression and give back to them something that has been taken from them: their dignity.
Our defiance will be misrepresented by the main stream media, this much I promise. The main stream media wants to paint all Christians as unreasonable, illogical, and oppressive. We must make sure that when we take a stand against the government tyranny, we devote equal time to understanding the reasons why we are defying it. We stand on a battle field, but this is a battle to win hearts and change minds. Our weapons are words. We must learn to use them effectively, efficiently, and to know how to shape them to combat the work of our opposition. Know what you believe. Know why you believe it. Learn to explain it and teach it. Don't get angry when you're challenged. Think it through and then answer the challenge. Truth is on our side. Logic is on our side. Reason is on our side. Use them, and you will set the captives free.
When, and not if, individual Christians who are also determined to be faithful followers of Christ find that the government's laws require disobedience to God in order to comply, we must not give in. We must not remain silent. We must not obey. While Catholic teaching does require obedience to all just laws, any law that defies God's laws is not a just law. We are not only not required to obey those laws, we are required to actively work against such laws.
Every Catholic who is truly Catholic, every Christian who truly seeks to follow Christ, must stand in defiance of the HHS mandate. We must oppose this effort by the government to force us to pay for birth control, abortion, euthanasia, sex change operations, and any other thing that defies God's will. We must not only stand in defiance of these things but we must speak out about them as often as we can, as loudly as we can.
However, speaking out against them isn't enough. We must also seek to educate others as to why we are so diligent in speaking out against them. We must not allow the press or the media to define our reasons and to misinterpret, whether unintentionally or deliberately, the logic and reason we bring to the situation. We made this mistake with the issue of birth control and abortion. We made this mistake with the issue of homosexual "marriage". Now we face an uphill battle to reshape the opinion of the public, to re-educate people so that they see our defiance not as an attempt to oppress others or take something from them but as a legitimate attempt to free them from oppression and give back to them something that has been taken from them: their dignity.
Our defiance will be misrepresented by the main stream media, this much I promise. The main stream media wants to paint all Christians as unreasonable, illogical, and oppressive. We must make sure that when we take a stand against the government tyranny, we devote equal time to understanding the reasons why we are defying it. We stand on a battle field, but this is a battle to win hearts and change minds. Our weapons are words. We must learn to use them effectively, efficiently, and to know how to shape them to combat the work of our opposition. Know what you believe. Know why you believe it. Learn to explain it and teach it. Don't get angry when you're challenged. Think it through and then answer the challenge. Truth is on our side. Logic is on our side. Reason is on our side. Use them, and you will set the captives free.
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