{"id":440,"date":"2011-04-06T14:07:54","date_gmt":"2011-04-06T18:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/?p=440"},"modified":"2011-04-08T13:59:41","modified_gmt":"2011-04-08T17:59:41","slug":"are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society.html","title":{"rendered":"Are we headed for a God-free society?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Chaplains working at a Florida hospice for the terminally ill were told they would\u00a0no longer allowed to say the word \u201cGod\u201d to staff members.<\/p>\n

At about the same time several police chaplains lost their jobs for praying \u201cin Jesus name\u201d in Virginia. The Virginia Senate\u2019s Justice Committee voted along party lines to kill a bill which would have restored the rights of Virginia State Police chaplains to pray publicly \u201cin Jesus\u2019 name.\u201d<\/p>\n

These developments about a year ago\u00a0delighted humanist Greg Epstein who said he is building \u201ca God-free model of community\u201d that he hopes helps humanists increase in numbers and influence. Epstein says an increasing number of people have no religion, an apparent reference to the latest American Religious Identification Survey which claims 15 percent of respondents in 2008 said they had no religion, nearly twice the number of 1990.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a broader acceptance of those with no faith, as indicated by President Barack Obama\u2019s mention of non-believers in his inaugural address,\u201d Epstein told reporters. \u201cThere are so many millions of people out there who basically share our views, that we\u2019ve got room for everybody. What we\u2019re doing here at Harvard University has got to grow even more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clergy who open the Indiana House of Representatives in prayer have been forbidden to pray in Jesus\u2019 name, according to the Indianapolis Star. Judge David Hamilton has required \u201cany person chosen to give the invocation be instructed it must not advance any one faith or be used in bid to convert listeners.\u201d Judge Hamilton\u2019s ruling included the prohibition of invokers praying in Jesus\u2019 name.<\/p>\n

Does prohibiting Christians from praying in Jesus\u2019 name violate the \u201cfree exercise\u201d clause of the Constitution of the United States?<\/p>\n

The Constitution prohibits any law that blocks the \u201cfree exercise\u201d of religion, however, increasingly Christians are told that prayers must be generic and inoffensive to citizens with differing religious or secular views.<\/p>\n

Forbidding Christians to pray in Jesus\u2019 name violates our guarantees of free speech in the Bill of Rights.<\/p>\n

Prohibiting Christians from praying in Jesus\u2019 name also violates the authority of Almighty God. The reason we pray in Jesus\u2019 name is because the Word of God instructs us to do so. If we do not pray in Jesus\u2019 name, we ignore the very Word of God that we believe and teach.<\/p>\n

In the early church, the apostles were commanded not to teach in that \u201cname\u201d (Acts 5:27, 28). To which they responded, \u201cWe ought to obey God rather than men\u201d (Acts 5:29).<\/p>\n

Praying in the name of Jesus is prevalent throughout the New Testament. Wonderful works were done in His name (Acts 3:6). Eternal salvation comes through His name (Acts 4:12).<\/p>\n

Men have access to the very throne of God and receive promises of answered prayer through His name (John 14:13, 14; 15:16; 16:23, 24).<\/p>\n

Therefore to deny Christian ministers the right to pray in Jesus\u2019 name is to cause them to disobey the teachings of God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n

The apostle Peter gave encouragement to believers facing similar persecution in his day. He writes, \u201cIf ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified\u201d (1 Peter 4:14).<\/p>\n

Want to read more? CLICK HERE<\/strong> <\/a>to read whether faith in Jesus is just too shocking for the news media to handle.
\nCLICK HERE<\/a><\/strong> to consider more about why the media is offended by people of faith
\nTo read “Why do they want to censor Jesus?” CLICK HERE<\/a><\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Is Jesus an illegal word that cannot be uttered in public anymore? CLICK HERE<\/a><\/strong>
\nCLICK HERE<\/a><\/strong> to read about recent legal efforts\u00a0to ban\u00a0church bells
\nAnd CLICK HERE<\/strong> <\/a>to consider a British journalist’s concern that Christianity is becoming criminalized in Western society.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chaplains working at a Florida hospice for the terminally ill were told they would\u00a0no longer allowed to say the word \u201cGod\u201d to staff members. At about the same time several police chaplains lost their jobs for praying \u201cin Jesus name\u201d in Virginia. The Virginia Senate\u2019s Justice Committee voted along party lines to kill a bill…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,97,101,83,107,12,88,102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-catholic","category-history","category-inspirational","category-political-correctness","category-prayer","category-students","category-u-s-constitution"],"yoast_head":"\nAre we headed for a God-free society? - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are we headed for a God-free society? - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chaplains working at a Florida hospice for the terminally ill were told they would\u00a0no longer allowed to say the word \u201cGod\u201d to staff members. At about the same time several police chaplains lost their jobs for praying \u201cin Jesus name\u201d in Virginia. The Virginia Senate\u2019s Justice Committee voted along party lines to kill a bill…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-04-06T18:07:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-04-08T17:59:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/files\/2011\/04\/police-chaplain-badge_design.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are we headed for a God-free society? - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are we headed for a God-free society? - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars","og_description":"Chaplains working at a Florida hospice for the terminally ill were told they would\u00a0no longer allowed to say the word \u201cGod\u201d to staff members. At about the same time several police chaplains lost their jobs for praying \u201cin Jesus name\u201d in Virginia. The Virginia Senate\u2019s Justice Committee voted along party lines to kill a bill…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society.html","og_site_name":"On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars","article_published_time":"2011-04-06T18:07:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-04-08T17:59:41+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/files\/2011\/04\/police-chaplain-badge_design.png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society.html","name":"Are we headed for a God-free society? - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/files\/2011\/04\/police-chaplain-badge_design.png","datePublished":"2011-04-06T18:07:54+00:00","dateModified":"2011-04-08T17:59:41+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/files\/2011\/04\/police-chaplain-badge_design.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/files\/2011\/04\/police-chaplain-badge_design.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/04\/are-we-headed-for-a-god-free-society.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are we headed for a God-free society?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/","name":"On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Rob Kerby","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/author"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":467,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440\/revisions\/467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}