Sunday, November 23, 2008

Hate Speech and the Bible

By Cheryl Ingram

Oprah Winfrey seems to desire the domination of religious discourse by Universalism. Because of her significant level of influence in both entertainment and political arenas, Christians are being persuaded into converting to her worldview or being less vocal about their own. She referred to Barack Obama as "The One" and was instrumental in his rise to the White House.

Oprah and the Obama's have been longtime friends. The Obamas have expressed that they accept Oprah's message of "many paths" to having an "experience with God". Barak and Michelle have professed that they are Christians. The problem is that their former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, taught them that Jesus is not the only way, hell isn't real, heaven will accept practicing homosexuals, and black liberation theology is a foundational truth. Oprah transitioned from attending the church led by Rev. Jeremiah Wright to becoming a catalyst for the global promotion of Universalism through radio, television, and the Oprah magazine.

She accepts the New Age Bible, A Course in Miracles, as being one of her sources of truth. It states that there is no sin. How convenient. If there is no sin, then one can behave in any way they deem appropriate. That is the theory of relativism. Everything is relative. What may be sin for one is not necessarily sin for another. Hence, a mother's right to have control over her own body trumps the right of the life inside her womb.

The Bible is clear concerning the issues of the life of the unborn child, Homosexual acts, and living together before marriage. Passages relating to these important Christian values are not based on "obscure" scriptures as Barack Obama has mentioned in his book, The Audacity of Hope. Yet, the philosophy of Oprah and Obama is permeating our culture with a vengeance. Traditional Christianity is viewed by these pundits as old fashion, out dated, and ignorant. Christians are being led astray and coerced into silence or compliance by the mere fact of a media or political person's powerful communication abilities.

In my new book, The Oprahfication of Our Culture, I call this acquiescence cultural Christianity. The time has come for followers of Christ to avoid accommodation by being "uncultured" Christians. Believers must refuse to draw back into our storm shelters and complain. Be vocally confident about your morals and values! Take a stand and no matter what happens, keep standing! Don't be browbeaten into reticence.

Are we still a center/right country or are we advancing more toward the extremist left in ideology? Three states, California, Arizona and Florida, just asserted conservative values by passing constitutional amendments corroborating traditional marriage as being between a man and a woman, a real hindrance to the homosexual agenda. Yet, lawsuits have been proposed in California to try and abrogate the will of the people. Is a church leader open game for litigation by pundits who challenge him to quote the Bible from his platform, because their perspective of scripture is that of "hate speech?" Does the Bible breach certain assumed civil rights? Do those civil rights negate the freedom of speech and of religion we have appreciated for over two hundred years in our awesome country? Where does the path that we are on lead?

It seems that the prophet Isaiah perceived this period in our history when he said, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20 The Amplified Bible

Things seem to be turning upside down. Practicing Christians are depicted as hate mongering extremists for simply differing with "politically correct" views of the cultural establishment in New York, Washington and Hollywood. In spite of these very unrelenting, well staked, fanatical, left predisposed voices, Christians are warned to be watchmen on the wall and sound the alarm (Mark 13:35-37). God's Holy Word is not hate speech. It is the axiom of righteousness in an morally decadent world. Sit not in quietude. Be aware, pray and, be vocal. Stand out for truth.

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