Bryan Fischer
Guarding God-given rights isn't theocracy
By Bryan Fischer
In the Sept. 3 edition of the Lewiston Morning Tribune, editor Jim Fisher accuses me of working to impose a Christian theocracy on Idaho and working with others to do the same to America. Perhaps I can take a moment to lay out a Judeo-Christian philosophy of public policy, and let the Tribune's readers make up their own minds about how radical these views are.
Quite simply, we believe that man is a created being, that the God who created us has granted us certain fundamental rights, and that neither man nor government has the moral authority to deprive us of those rights. These God-given rights include the right to life, the right to liberty and the right to private property.
It is essential for sound public policy that we recognize that these rights are a gift to us from God. They do not come to us from man, which is the only other option. There is no third alternative: our fundamental rights either come to us from God, or they come to us from government. The sad lesson of history is that if men believe our rights come to us from government, not one of those rights is safe.
The purpose of government is not to grant these rights, but to guarantee them and protect them. The moment a government begins to deprive its citizens of any of their inalienable rights, it begins to forfeit its moral authority to govern.
I will happily take my stand next to Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison, Samuel Adams, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin, who believed these same things and founded our nation on those principles. If that makes us all theocrats, then I will gladly plead guilty and let Mr. Fisher assign me to share a cell with the founding father of his choice.
Consequently, because God has granted to human beings an inalienable right to life, it is the responsibility of government to protect that right, whether the human being is in the womb or out of it, even when human life is in its embryonic stage of development. As Dr. Seuss put it, "A person's a person, no matter how small."
Therefore, we resist embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of human life, but fully support adult stem cell research, which is ethically benign and is already being used in over 70 therapeutic applications. Embryonic stem cell research, meanwhile, has yet to be used to treat a single disease.
To say that this philosophy of governance, rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition, produces something as stifling and oppressive as a Muslim theocracy is false on its face. A Judeo-Christian view of public policy will fiercely protect the right of every individual to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, but there is simply no tradition of religious tolerance in Muslim countries. For instance, it is still illegal even to practice Christianity in Saudi Arabia, and converting from Islam to Christianity is punishable by death in many Islamic countries.
To argue, as Fisher does, that there is no fundamental difference between Islam and Christianity and what they produce can only be done in willful ignorance of the truth. As columnist Craige McMillan said recently, "When you can't tell the difference between Mother Teresa bathing a leper and bin Laden blowing up a Jew, you really are beyond hope of ever displaying more intelligence than a rock."
A high regard for religious liberty in America means that we will protect the right of all citizens to acknowledge God in the Pledge of Allegiance without punishing those who don't. We will protect the right of Christian chaplains to pray in the name of Jesus, without compelling Jewish or Muslim chaplains to do the same. We will protect the liberty of public officials to post the Ten Commandments, without compelling anyone to believe in them or even read them. And we will support the right of citizens to vote on returning the Decalogue to Boise's Julia Davis Park, particularly since letting people vote on something doesn't force anything on anybody.
We will guard Mr. Fisher's freedom of the press, and ask in return only that he protect our freedom of religion and our right to full participation in the political process. Let's protect liberty, as well as justice, for all.
© Bryan Fischer
In the Sept. 3 edition of the Lewiston Morning Tribune, editor Jim Fisher accuses me of working to impose a Christian theocracy on Idaho and working with others to do the same to America. Perhaps I can take a moment to lay out a Judeo-Christian philosophy of public policy, and let the Tribune's readers make up their own minds about how radical these views are.
Quite simply, we believe that man is a created being, that the God who created us has granted us certain fundamental rights, and that neither man nor government has the moral authority to deprive us of those rights. These God-given rights include the right to life, the right to liberty and the right to private property.
It is essential for sound public policy that we recognize that these rights are a gift to us from God. They do not come to us from man, which is the only other option. There is no third alternative: our fundamental rights either come to us from God, or they come to us from government. The sad lesson of history is that if men believe our rights come to us from government, not one of those rights is safe.
The purpose of government is not to grant these rights, but to guarantee them and protect them. The moment a government begins to deprive its citizens of any of their inalienable rights, it begins to forfeit its moral authority to govern.
I will happily take my stand next to Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison, Samuel Adams, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin, who believed these same things and founded our nation on those principles. If that makes us all theocrats, then I will gladly plead guilty and let Mr. Fisher assign me to share a cell with the founding father of his choice.
Consequently, because God has granted to human beings an inalienable right to life, it is the responsibility of government to protect that right, whether the human being is in the womb or out of it, even when human life is in its embryonic stage of development. As Dr. Seuss put it, "A person's a person, no matter how small."
Therefore, we resist embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of human life, but fully support adult stem cell research, which is ethically benign and is already being used in over 70 therapeutic applications. Embryonic stem cell research, meanwhile, has yet to be used to treat a single disease.
To say that this philosophy of governance, rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition, produces something as stifling and oppressive as a Muslim theocracy is false on its face. A Judeo-Christian view of public policy will fiercely protect the right of every individual to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, but there is simply no tradition of religious tolerance in Muslim countries. For instance, it is still illegal even to practice Christianity in Saudi Arabia, and converting from Islam to Christianity is punishable by death in many Islamic countries.
To argue, as Fisher does, that there is no fundamental difference between Islam and Christianity and what they produce can only be done in willful ignorance of the truth. As columnist Craige McMillan said recently, "When you can't tell the difference between Mother Teresa bathing a leper and bin Laden blowing up a Jew, you really are beyond hope of ever displaying more intelligence than a rock."
A high regard for religious liberty in America means that we will protect the right of all citizens to acknowledge God in the Pledge of Allegiance without punishing those who don't. We will protect the right of Christian chaplains to pray in the name of Jesus, without compelling Jewish or Muslim chaplains to do the same. We will protect the liberty of public officials to post the Ten Commandments, without compelling anyone to believe in them or even read them. And we will support the right of citizens to vote on returning the Decalogue to Boise's Julia Davis Park, particularly since letting people vote on something doesn't force anything on anybody.
We will guard Mr. Fisher's freedom of the press, and ask in return only that he protect our freedom of religion and our right to full participation in the political process. Let's protect liberty, as well as justice, for all.
© Bryan Fischer
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