Tolerance

Tolerance
In 2008 America, atheists placed a sign next to a manger scene that says there is no God. They claimed their rights were being violated and that Christian symbols on public property also violated the separation of church and state. Gay people were demanding equal rights and the right to be married by the state. A group of them even invaded a church service and took over, demanding their rights. Moslem minorities were demanding special public schools. Illegal aliens were waving Mexican flags and demanding a right to vote in the U.S. What is the answer to all this chaos? What is the deciding factor in a pluralistic society?
In any nation, the majority rules unless a tyrannical minority, or a just law seizes it. Either “might” or “right” will rule. Minorities have the legal right to believe what they want, but they do not have the right to “take over” by force. So, they resort to “might” (i.e. force).
Pagans dominated Babylon and God sold His people into Babylonian captivity because of the broken covenant. He commanded His people to submit to Babylon and to pray for the peace of the place. Daniel and his three friends purposed in their hearts to not defile themselves with the king’s food because it had been sacrificed to demons. This tells us that faithful believers can tolerate the dominant culture and still not be defiled by it. We can be in the world and not of it. As a minority, it is rude to demand our rights. It is not only rude; it is presumptuous, arrogant, and intolerant unless the law requires it as in the case of Martin Luther King. But even in that case, force was not used nor should it be.
When Persia freed God’s people to return to Jerusalem, there were minorities in Palestine that did not tolerate the rebuilding of the Jerusalem culture. In this case, the Jews were right in resisting them because the law had given them permission and had even partially financed them.
Then, when Greek culture took over the world, Antiochus Epiphenes made a concerted effort to impose it on the Jewish minority by force. He made a law against circumcision and forced Jews to offer incense to Apollo. The religion of the one true God was hanging by a thread. He sacrificed a pig on the altar of the Temple and placed an idol in the Temple court. A small group, led by the Maccabee family blew the trumpet, fled to the wilderness and raised armed resistance. Against impossible odds they prevailed, recaptured Jerusalem and cleansed the Temple. Happy Hanukkah.
Daniel had prophesied that this would happen over 400 years previously. He said that the reason for this trial was the sins of the Jews themselves (Dan 8). He also said there would be a faithful remnant that would do exploits for God (Dan 11). The Maccabees were the faithful champions that saved our godly heritage.
Now let us go back a few thousand years to the time of Abraham. He lived in a world of idolatry, but had enough freedom to establish a godly culture within his own camp. God told him he would have a descendant through whom all nations would eventually be blessed and that the land of the Amorites already belonged to him. (The only way to be blessed is to be a child of Abraham. Only those who enter the covenant of Abraham are blessed with special grace. Others are blessed with common grace. God rains on the just and the unjust alike. That is common grace. Special grace makes us acceptable to God. Common grace does not.)
God told Abraham his descendants would live in Egypt under a pagan culture for four generations and would not return to rule that land until then because the cup of wrath for the Amorites was not yet full. Four hundred years later Moses led them out of Egypt and God commanded them to destroy the inhabitants of that land because of their idolatry and degenerate culture. It had become so degenerate that it had to be destroyed in order to eventually bless all nations. The pollution of degenerate cultures had to be stamped out. There was to be no tolerance because the situation demanded it. God’s Law must dominate. Jesus defined love as the fulfillment of the Law. The destruction of pagan cultures was necessary “tough love” in order to save the world. A few must die in order to save many.
But God’s people failed to drive out all the idolatrous inhabitants of the land and God sold them to their enemies as judgment. Under oppression they then cried out to God and He rose up a judge to deliver them. This happened several times until there was no remedy and they were finally taken to Babylon in 606 BC.
In spite of these failures and judgments, the prophets predicted a Savior would come and all the ends of the earth would remember and turn to the Lord; all nations would bow to Jehovah (Psalm 22:27). They said that His kingdom would destroy all the others and that His kingdom would never be destroyed. He came, was crucified and arose in fulfillment of prophecy. He ascended to the Father and is now ruling with all authority in heaven and in the earth. “Yes. All kings shall bow to Him” (Psalm 72).
The most powerful pagan empire of all time ended up bowing to him 300 years later. But no sooner had that happened than barbarians from the north destroyed it. Then those same barbarians bowed to Him and became Christian Europe.
But now Europe and the West are living in a “post Christian” era. They have forgotten God just as the Jews did before they were carried to Babylon. The humanism of the French Revolution has taken over the culture in Europe and a minority in America now rules. Due to the Puritan foundation of America, Christians are still a majority, but are being defiled by the minority that is in control of the media and the education system. Eating the king’s food is defiling Christians and their children cannot even speak the language of Canaan.
The “Amorite” minority of the secular progressives are now changing the laws and the culture by means of tyrannical activist judges and legislators. The Hollywood culture and the educators love it so and cheer them on so they can be free to fornicate and destroy our children. It is not enough for them to do it privately. They have an agenda to impose their culture on Christians. They tolerate every pagan abomination, but do not tolerate God’s Law and Judeo Christian culture unless it is practiced in private. Their culture must be dominant by all means possible. They by no means tolerate Christian culture. “Why do the nations rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth take counsel together against the Lord and against His Christ, saying, ‘Let us break their bands asunder and cast their cords from us.’ He that sits in the heavens shall laugh and make fun of them” (Psalm 2).
When gay people insist on “coming out,” they force us to accept their culture and to violate our own conscience. It is either their culture or ours. It cannot be both. Neutrality is a myth. By tolerating their culture, we violate ours. When they object to “Don’t ask; don’t tell,” they impose a tyranny on the majority. They want their way and will throw a fit to get it. They will cram it down our throats if they can and make people feel guilty for not tolerating them. God hates the sin and loves the sinner.
The reason this is happening to America is the same reason it happened to the Jews. God sold them to their enemies because of their own sins. Godly principles made America great. Godly laws and culture gave birth to prosperity, and the daughter is eating the mother. God warned His people that after He prospered them they would forget Him.
What were the sins of Christians that caused this? Bad theology. Gnostic dualism that separates the sacred from the secular and says, “The Lord is coming soon anyway, so why dominate the culture? Why polish brass on a sinking ship?” Christians abandoned the theology of the Puritans that made America great. They cut off the legs of the trunk with a truncated gospel that seeks to escape the world instead of changing it. That is a gospel without legs and not the full gospel. They think “getting saved” is just a matter of going to heaven and they forget that the purpose of salvation is not going to heaven. The purpose of salvation is to restore all things as they were in Eden. Our prayer should be “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The pastors have also swallowed the lie of “separation of God and state.” Many of them actually believe that preachers have no business getting involved in cultural issues and politics. Can you name one man of God in the Bible that was not involved in politics and/or cultural issues?
The eclipsing of the Puritan Hope is the cause. The Calvinist Reformers and the Puritans brought the Reformation and the Great Awakenings that changed the world and brought great liberty and justice like the world had never seen. In spite of their dark times and persecution, they believed the knowledge of the glory of the Lord would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. The Puritan Calvinists brought a new kind of government called republican democracy and capitalism. The first constitution in the history of mankind was written as a result of Puritan Calvinist Thomas Hooker’s sermon in 1639 Connecticut. “Freedom under law” was their watch cry. It is true that at first the Massechusetts Bay Colony inherited some of the medieval errors by not tolerating heresies, but in a few decades they moderated. This then resulted in liberty and justice for all. But sin was not tolerated.
The current “secular progressives” tolerate sin, but do not tolerate God’s Law. God’s word does not tolerate them because God’s love wants to bless all nations and the only way to do it is by the kingship of His Son. He says to the nations and their rulers, “Kiss the Son lest He be angry and you perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little” (Psalm 2:12). He says that the nation and kingdom that will not obey His Son shall be destroyed (Isa 60:12). Unless there is a radical reversal, God will replace what we knew of America with a socialist godless culture. This will result in financial downfall similar to what happened with every other socialist experiment. But just as Christian Britain was replaced by Pagan Anglo Saxons, and re-converted by the Irish missionaries, so others like Chinese Christians will re-convert America.
Jesus promised that He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Daniel’s vision saw that His kingdom would grow and grow until it becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth. God promised His Son, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession” (Psalm 2:8). That prayer, because God so loved the world, shall be answered. The meek shall inherit the earth.
When Christians are a minority as they are for example in China, we submit to majority rule as long as we are not required to disobey our God. Christians are the best citizens of any country. They work hard and do not commit crimes. True Christians are willing to pay the price for civil disobedience unto death.
In Christian nations, minorities must submit to the majority, also.
The progress of the atheistic and humanistic French Revolution has taken over much of American culture by means of treasonous activist judges. Instead of submitting to the original intent of the Constitution, they interpret it as a so-called “living” document and re-invented it according to their personal preferences. The Supreme Court in the 1890’s declared America to be a Christian nation, but in 1948 Justice Black reversed that with the new doctrine of “separation of church and state.” Based on that decision, the Court kicked God out of the public schools in the early sixties. The “hippie belch” out of the bottomless pit followed that. Then came the Court decision to legalize abortion in the early 70’s.
These decisions were unlawful and treasonous. Therefore, Christians are obligated to resist them and be willing to pay the price. The law of King Jesus must be obeyed. We must obey God rather than men (Acts 2).
The argument of the secular progressives now is what is called “multiculturalism.” Christianity is the only true multicultural nation. Babel’s attempt to unite everyone under one single government resulted in confusion and division. But on the Day of Pentecost God poured out his Spirit on people from all nations. They spoke in several languages, but understood each other because they were united under One Head. The secular progressives seek to “head up” everyone under the headship of “equal rights.” Their aim is to “cut off” our Head. The cutting off of heads in the French Revolution continues today.
A true Christian nation allows freedom of religion as long as others do not try to replace Christian culture. Christianity is what brought freedom of religion in the first place. The humanist faith of the secular progressives is a religion. Religions are based on presuppositions that are taken by faith. Evolution is a dogma taken by faith. Atheism is a religion. They presuppose the Bible is not true and base all their science and reason on that. Christians presuppose it is true and base all their reason on that. “Why do the nations rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing?” The real reason the Bible is rejected is because they have an “axe to grind.” They consider its laws to be “binding cords.” “They gather together against the Lord and against His Christ saying, ‘Let us break their bands asunder and cast their cords from us”’ (Psalm 2). They hate God’s Law and want to be “free.” They reject the notion that sin results in slavery. “He that sins is a slave” (John 8:34).