Freedom of Speech is under attack like never before in this country. What’s worse, very few are even aware of it or seem to care. If something isn’t done fast, we will lose the rights great patriots of the American Revolution fought and died for.

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         In March of this year the Secretary of State made a chilling statement against the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and freedom of speech in particular. I’ll get to that shortly. But first I will present a lead-in quote he made a month after the first one. This man is supposed to uphold the Constitution. He claims to be a Christian. Before he was Secretary of State he was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. This is what he said about his job there:

         “I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole, it was like (laughing), we had entire training courses! It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment.”

           I have no idea what he was talking about with that last line, but the fact of the matter is that elements within our government have been in the lying, cheating, and stealing business for many years and it has grown much worse over time. This is no great revelation. Government officials admit it readily. And the American people in general, by majority, have apparently always accepted it. When the honorable Secretary made the preceding quote he got great applause and much laughter. The audience had no problem with official lying, cheating, and stealing. Perhaps their spouses cheated on them and they were fine with it. Perhaps they had their houses robbed and saw no problem. Perhaps they found out that good friends had been lying to them and about them for years and they just didn’t care one way or the other.

THE LORD JESUS MADE NO EXCEPTIONS

        Perhaps this fallen, broken world of sin which rejects the love and leadership of its Creator must resort to such tactics for survival and defense. Perhaps American officials have no choice but to violate the Lord’s teachings. And perhaps this is defensible against foreign enemies. But lying, cheating, and stealing should never be practiced against fellow Americans.

         Regarding any possible exceptions or caveats in His teachings, however, the Lord Jesus has never and will never okay lying, cheating (covenant breaking), and stealing for any reason, and whoever practices such sin is on their own and wholly responsible. He has never justified these otherwise blatant sins and never will. He has never said it is appropriate to engage in these sins on occasion, or use them as means to do a job. There will never be any lying, cheating, or stealing in heaven. This is what He said about the people who will never get into heaven:

         “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” [Revelation 21:8]

          Here is a refresher on the Ten Commandments, numbers seven, eight, and nine:

         “You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” [Exodus 20:14-16]  

         Yet, it is okay to violate the Lord’s commandments for the sake of “national security.” I submit that the only reason these practices got started long ago by wholly dishonorable men is because they could not possibly care less about what the Lord Jesus thought or what He taught. As the years went by the lying, cheating, and stealing (and justified officially-sanctioned murdering, mass murdering, and multiple mass murdering) just kept getting worse. The American people didn’t know early on. This is why so many revelations of wickedness perpetrated by those in high positions of power never came out until decades later. Too much time had passed to do anything about it. Yet, the practices continued and greater efforts went in to keeping the skullduggery secret. In time, it was no longer the perpetrators of the crimes who were made to pay, but those who exposed them. This is in part why the Lord Jesus was murdered. He exposed the gross immorality and evil of those among His people ruling over His people.

         “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. [John 8:43-44]  

TRASHING AMERICA

         Have you ever noticed, over the last half century or so, how America is incessantly trashed by Americans? Telling the truth and exposing secret evil is one thing but hating America is quite another. Have you noticed that Americans can say pretty much anything they want against their country? This has been happening on college campuses for decades, for example. Not only is America being trashed, early American history is being trashed. The Founders are being trashed. I’m referring to people such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. I’m referring to the great patriots who gave it everything they had to found this country. Well, their names are increasingly being dragged through the mud. What’s always interesting is the people doing this. They must think themselves to be far superior to everyone else. They have created in their own little minds a false morality and faux moral high ground that is actually more akin to a septic tank.

         Since it apparently is just super fine for Americans to trash their own country, one assumes it must be okay to do the same to other countries. Our current President, early in his administration, had something to say about certain $%#@* countries. But he is not doing so much about defending freedom of speech at the moment. I hope he will. I hope somebody will. The big tech companies are deplatforming, censoring, and silencing Americans to their heart’s content and nobody in Washington seems to care. Yet, one can say anything one wants against America and other countries. Well, except for one. There is one country you must never criticize or hold to account. This is what I was referring to early in this article when I said the Secretary of State made a chilling statement this past March that was even worse than the “lying, cheating, stealing” statement he made in April.

         Here you go:

         “The United States stands with the Jewish people and Israel in the fight against the world’s oldest bigotry. This bigotry is taking on an insidious new form in the guise of anti-Zionism. It’s discussed by our media. It’s supported by certain members of Congress, none of whom I suppose are here tonight. Don’t get me wrong, criticizing Israel’s policies is an acceptable thing to do in a democracy. But criticizing the very existence of Israel is not acceptable. Anti-Zionism denies the very legitimacy of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. Friends, let me go on record: Anti-Zionism IS anti-Semitism. The Trump administration opposes it unequivocally and we will fight for it relentlessly.”

         I’m an American. I’m a Christian. I don’t have a dog in that fight. I care that the United States of America as founded has a right to exist. I care that American freedoms and rights remain intact and protected. I care that the Constitution is honored as bedrock law. I care that righteousness and light overcomes evil and darkness in this country. The citizens of every country should feel that way about their respective countries. But it would great if the honorable Secretary would talk about Christian persecution in America and the world. It would be great if he mentioned standing with the Lord Jesus and that this current administration promoted the Lord to a greater and more vocal degree. Christianity is disappearing in the Middle East and those who rule Israel both politically and religiously have nothing but utter contempt for the Lord Jesus.

         It might also interest otherwise unaware Americans and Christians, especially Christian Zionists, to know that there are a great many Jewish people and Jewish religious leaders, in America and abroad, who are not Zionists and that there are many Jews who outwardly oppose Zionism. Not only that, but within the current Israeli rhetoric whipping up war against Iran it must be noted that the largest Jewish population in the Middle East after Israel and Turkey is in Iran. Iran is also home to a large Christian population relative to such in that region of the world. Therefore, these clear facts add even greater weight regarding those Jews who oppose the Zionist warmongers to the former quote by the honorable Secretary in that these people have now been characterized as anti-Semitic Jews.

         Now, let that sink in. Can you figure it out? And I’m not referring to a mere handful. As an example, just to get started, if you are interested in the subject of Jews against Zionism, you can go here. Since a great many Jewish American citizens oppose Zionism, criticize it, or at the very least remain consciously noncommittal, does it now mean their first amendment rights have been subverted? Should they be concerned? One wonders what these Jewish people may know to take such a stand. Why are they against Zionism? One also wonders how they will eventually react to this new official policy violating freedom of speech and conscience once it becomes more entrenched. There are strong moves at present to actually make it law. What then?

         It is also quite curious that the central focus of such new laws is always anti-Semitism and perhaps “Islamophobia,” but never anti-Christianity. Why is it always okay to trash the Lord Jesus and Christians in America? Could it be because certain powerful forces have an agenda to do just that and most Christians refuse to speak out about it?  

THE FIRST AMENDMENT

           Here is the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America:

        Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

         The rights contained in the First Amendment are the rights of all American citizens and these rights are protected by the Constitution. Whoever violates these rights of Americans is breaking the law and is subject to prosecution. Period. Well, actually, that’s no longer true. The Constitution is still there, of course, but first amendment rights have been hollowed out over time, as have other rights in the Bill of Rights, especially the Fourth Amendment.

         Once violations become routine, freedom gets turned upside down and innocent law-abiding Americans are left to fend for themselves against great odds. This will all get straightened out at the Judgment, however, and the unrepentant minions of evil will get theirs. However, everyone on the planet currently has an ongoing great opportunity to get right with God before that fateful occurrence. His free grace extends to all. Until then, Americans, and especially real Christians, might want to keep in mind what eventually happened to the Lord in His time.

         Speaking of which, the Lord refused to be silent. He is the one who created freedom of speech. He is the one who grants it to all people everywhere. Part of His very purpose was to reveal light and showcase the truth. In that process, He was not afraid to expose those who were lying, cheating, and stealing while in the guise of religious or political legitimacy. Regardless of what they thought or the illicit means they thought they needed for success, He never supported or justified such violations of the Torah. One might also note that He called those people serpents and vipers, which is quite the pejorative since it references, in the minds of those Torah violators in positions of great power, the following:

         Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made… [Genesis 3:1]

          They all knew exactly what He meant.

THE ABUSE OF GOD-GIVEN LIBERTY

         The history of humanity is a history of abuse against God-given rights. Whoever knows real history including ancient history and Biblical history knows this. Evil people always manage to rise to the top to rule masses and they inflict said masses with such things as lying, cheating, stealing, slavery, and abuse. Most of all, they restrict personal freedom to their heart’s content. They absolutely loathe and despise liberty. This is in part why there has always been such unrest in the world. People fight for basic rights against evil people in power who hate them and only use them for their own benefit. They treat people worse than animals. With this background it is amazing that America was ever founded. It is a miracle that we possess the rights we have. It should be needless to say, but a great price was paid to obtain them.

         Regarding freedom of speech, the Founders were addressing primarily what may be termed political speech in that an American may address verbally or in print whatever they may want to articulate regarding their personal beliefs and interpretations of Constitutional principles, and legally question whatever its government does and what government officials and office holders speak forth and practice. The people are to act as a governor and disallow evil illegal practices and especially practices that violate freedom and liberty. This country is supposed to be presided over by We the People. But those who wrested control long ago laugh at the concept and trash it every day. They only care about themselves. They lie, they cheat, and they steal.

         Freedom of the press regards the literary freedom to write and publish whatever we want within the limited confines of not violating the rights of others. We used to have a free press in this country long ago but it was subverted by powerful people who use what they call a free press for mere monetary gain and propaganda purposes. There used to be a much greater appreciation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights in this country not long ago. It was often the left side of the equation that stood up for freedom of expression, speech, and the press, but the left of a generation ago, though it was obviously saddled with extremists, is nothing whatsoever like the crazy left of today, which advocates for censorship and the dissolution of Constitutional rights.

         The point is that Americans have rights that the vast majority of the people in the world do not have and have never had. The rulers that the citizens of other countries choose or allow to be in power refuse to grant them such rights. As far as they are concerned it’s their problem. If they don’t like what’s going on in their country, they can do something about it. That’s what the founders of America did. Yet now it is Americans who are subverting those very rights in their own country. The evil people advocating for overthrowing the Constitution are very few but they have had great success in manipulating and deceiving weak minded and willingly ignorant people to actually agree with their subversive agenda. Is it possible that enough Americans will stand up at this time and fight for their Constitutional rights and protections? Do enough Americans still care about civil liberties? Do Americans even know anymore what their rights actually are? How many Americans have actually heard of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?

         Freedom is a great thing. When the people are free to know the truth they can hold evil people accountable and from gaining power over them. When people lose this freedom they have no chance to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Evil people take over. It then becomes an almost impossible fight. The American Revolution was one such impossible fight but against all odds the original patriots won that battle and secured the great and many rights we have.

THE LION FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH

         But a much, much greater fight than this took place two thousand years ago when one single Man stood up to the entire world of sin and faced off against the evil people who lied, cheated, and stole to gain it. He won a great victory and continues winning every day. Real Christians continue to support Him and live for Him. He possesses all power and authority in both the earthly and spiritual realms, and He always takes care of His own.

         So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” [John 10:7-10] [1]

            © 2019 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.

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[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.