Render, we are told by scripture, unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and render unto God the things which belong to God.
It is therefore extremely important that we understand what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God. There are indeed things which are political, cultural, financial which may properly belong to Caesar. But even then, virtually every issue of the day has moral ramifications and consequently, God is involved more or less.
But, what is the duty of a Christian or conservative when Caesar crosses the line, enters the Godly realm, creates laws, policies and actions which are in fact IMMORAL and contradict and defy Godly mandates. What then becomes the duty, the stand of the Christian in such cases?
If what Caesar does is immoral, even evil, then in fact we cannot render unto Caesar what he wants. If Trump, McConnell and Pelosi or any of our 50 states engage in word or deed contrary to true morality, Judeo – Christian morals and ethics, then we have a DUTY to resist. There is no option of such a Christian and American citizen to compromise, get along or do nothing. Resistance is proactive, and we the Christian people are required, REQUIRED to resist. There is no other moral option.
There are critical and ever growing issues which affect both Christians and conservatives, which government at all levels moves away from traditional values. Perhaps the most important one is:
ABORTION.
Abortion is legal everywhere in our country as a result of the insidious supreme court decision ROE v. WADE. The killing of innocent babies in the womb can occur at any time, first trimester, or second, or even third. It is just incredible that a civilized society could allow the killing of a baby 7, 8 or even 9 months old ready for this world but never to enter it alive. PRO-CHOICE, the so called right of an expectant mother allows her to choose death over life. And at any time in those nine months of gestation. ANYTIME FOR ANY REASON. And now there is more, in New York, Virginia and potentially any number of other civilized American states. There is legislation in New York which allows the killing of a baby even after birth, out of the womb when the killing failed in the womb. There is this innocent baby, creation of God almighty, now out of the womb and into the real world and that baby can be killed, slaughtered, murdered by abortion doctors if the mother so desires. This legislation in New York was sponsored by Governor Cuomo who claims to be a practicing Catholic (absolutely unbelievable) and proudly asserts that he separates his personal views as a Catholic on abortion from his so called political duties and not only champions abortion in the womb, but now OUT OF THE WOMB! Amazing, stunning, shocking. The Roman Catholic Church should excommunicate this incredible hypocrite! And, this church should stand up and condemn this legislation and the New York Governor and legislation which actually authenticates and condones MURDER! If anyone, including a so called physician killed a baby one or two days old not subject to abortion attempts, that person would be tried for first degree and malicious murder. But the New York legislation exonerates such murder in the most despicable ways. My company the Crawford Broadcasting Company is blessed to own radio stations in Buffalo, and Rochester, and Albany New York. We know and interact with tens of thousands of New Yorkers. It is impossible to believe that these people and thousands of others would not rise up, and not only protest, but engage if necessary in civil disobedience to defeat this horrendous legislation, to have it revoked. It is immoral, it is EVIL!
Abortion is murder, first degree, intentional murder pure and simple. It is the law of the land but it should not be. Caesar did this, but Caesar crossed the line and preempted the realm of God. It is, millions feel, the MORAL DUTY of every Christian to resist abortion in any form, at any time, in any way. What do you think? What do you believe?
Then, say some, there should be exceptions which allow abortion on moral grounds in the event of rape, incest or for the protection of the life of the mother. Do you agree with that?
Some estimate that since Roe v. Wade, allowing abortion in the 1970s was passed, there may have been as many as 50 million MURDERS – ABORTIONS in America and the world over. That is as many killings as there were in all of the second World War! Again, abortion is murder. Do you agree and if so what are you going to do about it?
The second major issue of the day of concern to Christians is the so called:
LGBTQ AGENDA.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and now QUEER. Whatever you and I think, scriptures, if you believe them, indicate the agenda is wrong, unbiblical and unnatural. But, now it is legal, CONSTITUTIONAL in the United States. There are full rights everywhere to practice the lifestyle of all five, including marriage and adoption. There is aggressive education at work at every level, including the very young, to promote the lifestyles. Men with men, women with women, men and women practicing both lifestyles, heterosexual and homosexual, and the ever growing TRANSGENDERS. Men who wish to become women and do so and women who wish to become men and do so. And now the QUEER. Lifestyle different, untraditional, one of defiance and rebellion where ANYTHING GOES. Marriage is no longer a union between one man and one woman. And you can be sure that marriage will be further defined and all kinds of so called unions will occur and be authorized in the future.
But if you disagree and you stand up, especially vocally, you can be threatened, intimidated and accused of bias, prejudice and of course:
HATE.
Liberals and progressives have taken over the word HATE, and it seems as though whoever first accuses someone else of hate, wins the day. If Christians stand up and resist the gay agenda, they are hateful, prejudiced. But if Christians dare to verbally retaliate and accuse their accusers of hate speech and actions against Christianity and Christians, it gets nowhere. What are your beliefs and opinions regarding the LGBTQ agenda? If you disagree, do you dare to stand and say so?
And then there is:
EUTHANASIA.
Mercy killing. Assisted suicide. The right to die. The free, fundamental and so called constitutional (?) right to die. So many people, Christians and more, wonder seriously if there is such a right to die. Life is so precious, God–given. Whether young in the womb or at life’s end, life is precious. Life has meaning. God for the Christian intends that life should be lived to the fullest and to the very end. There are ways to relieve pain. There is the love of caregivers, family and friends, wonderful support. Relationships built through the years continue to have value, perhaps in some cases even more so when the end is near. There is a different kind of love, relationship, wisdom and experience and sharing which can occur in the end days which may not have existed before. The treatment of the elderly and the incapacitated identifies the true values and morals of any society. It is the duty of every doctor, so says the oath they take, to preserve life, to do no harm. Assisted suicide, like abortion, can be viewed as nothing more than MURDER, even if CAESAR authorizes such killing by legislation. Our family did everything humanly possible to keep our mother alive when she was dying a horrible death of cancer. We knew she would want to live every single day possible no matter the pain. Assisted suicide was never an option.
Do you believe in such an option? Would you allow a family member or friend to exercise that option if they were in any way functional, relational and able to communicate. Would you? Euthanasia is a very serious moral issue and ever – growing.
And then there is:
STEM CELL RESEARCH.
There are essentially two kinds, there are stem cells which are embryonic, the beginning of life, in fact for the most part life itself and stem cells from the rest of the body. Embryos can be harvested for the purpose of experimenting with stem cells and for research purposes. Christians are rightly so against that. For there are other stem cells elsewhere, stem cells which can be used even by an individual, their own stem cells for their own health purposes. There seems to be no moral issue in that case, but there surely is when embryos are harvested and used simply for experimentation and research. Extracting embryos seems much like and similar to the concepts of abortion where human life, the start of it, the God–given cells, stem cells and otherwise are used for purposes other than what was divinely intended. There is a large moral difference between utilizing other body stem cells for your own purposes, or research, or otherwise, a very large difference than experimenting with the life-producing stem cells of embryos. What do you think? What is your view on stem cells, embryo and otherwise? Many believe that stem cell research holds the key to any number of CURES for the injury and disease of today. Do you agree? Would you support the continuation and growth of stem cell research, especially embryonic stem cell research?
And then there is:
HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
World wide, even to some extent in our own great country, human beings, especially the young are forced into labor or sexual conduct. They are virtually held prisoners, especially females, subjugated, abused, considered no more than chattel, even bought and sold like slavery of old. It is a serious problem which can often be ignored or not dealt with. It is a vicious practice, evil, immoral and of course illegal.
But there are more benign forms of human trafficking. There is child molestation and abuse. The world knows of such abuse practice by any number of Catholic priests. Children everywhere can be beaten and subject to the cruelest behavior without any real recourse. Parents, particularly some fathers can inflict physical punishment often in excess to their very own children and even at times others. Some parents, both father and mother, can intimidate, threaten and even punish non-physically their young with dire consequences. They traffic in humans psychologically, verbally and socially. Such conduct creates serious problems which can, later on, produce serious social difficulties and even violence and criminal behavior. This lack of love, trafficking in intimidation can be every bit as harmful as physical violence or abuse. These are serious problems world wide and in our very own country. They require that we as Christians stand up, expose them and do everything in our power to rectify and prevent them from happening. Human life is precious at any stage. There is never any justification for molestation, abuse and worst of all HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
Have you ever experienced that in your life, with your friends or family? Do you know of cases of abuse or molestation and if so, have you dealt with them? They exist everywhere and will continue to do so unless we stand up and prevent them.
We live in a day and age called post – truth. Morality, in any traditional Judeo – Christian sense, is on the wane. In fact, in so many ways it is virtually ignored as this day and age promotes:
ANYTHING GOES.
YOU are your own moral source, they say. You decide right and wrong. Let your conscience, however sensitive, be your guide. But, modern day liberal and progressive thinkers, you really have no right no matter your conscience to find ways to justify abortion, the gay agenda, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research and human trafficking, none at all? They are wrong, all of them, evil at the extreme and destructive of human beings, society and our culture. It is the duty of every Christian, real and authentic Christian to stand up and RESIST as scripture admonishes no matter the consequences.
Thus saith the Lord. Are you listening?