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by Rod D. Martin
May 6, 2016
Georgia has made it abundantly clear: if you hold to Christian morality, your job is forfeit.
It began last year when Mayor Kasim Reed fired Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran for publishing a Bible study that didn’t comport with the LGBT agenda. Cochran had pre-cleared the book with appropriate Atlanta authorities before publication. That wasn’t good enough for Reed, who waited until after publication to lower the boom. Cochran, who was named last month to the Southern Baptist Convention’s Resolutions Committee, is suing the city.
It would have been easy to believe it was just one bigoted mayor. But alas no.
Last week, Dr. Eric Walsh, a renowned public health expert who also serves as a bi-vocational pastor, filed a federal lawsuit against the Georgia Department of public health. Walsh, it turns out, was fired for preaching sermons on the first chapters of Romans and Genesis.
If one can now be deprived of their livelihood for believing the Bible, how is that meaningfully different from a criminal penalty? If it is now functionally illegal to hold a state position while expressing a Christian belief, does the First Amendment even exist in Georgia? And how long can it be until Georgia enforces this radical, discriminatory policy on private employers also?
Probably not very long. Last month, Gov. Nathan Deal (RINO-GA) vetoed Georgia’s Pastor Protection Act, after threats from Disney, Marvel, the NFL and various other large corporations. The Act was truly radical: it would have exempted churches from being forced to hire people who openly oppose and violate their beliefs.
As one Facebook meme put it: “I’m not going to do business with you because of my deeply held personal belief that you must do business with people despite your deeply held personal beliefs.”
In similar vein, First Liberty Institute’s Kelly Shackleford filed a brief this week with the Oregon Court of Appeals defending Aaron and Melissa Klein. The two bakers have already been forced to pay $135,000 in fines for declining to participate in a gay wedding and, in a particularly totalitarian twist, placed under a gag order prohibiting them from even speaking of their beliefs.
The left’s response to North Carolina’s enactment of a law requiring only that biological males respect the privacy of women’s restrooms has been similarly telling. Bruce Springsteen, PayPal and a host of others have made big shows of refusing to do business in the state. Like many of those others, PayPal actually does business in several countries that execute homosexuals. But the devil need not be consistent.
All of this, of course, is exactly the sort of thing leftists assured us (pre-Obergefell) was a crazed fantasy, “scaremongering” by “wingnuts” to raise money for rightwing politicians.
It hasn’t even been a year since Obergefell.
It is not necessary to infringe the rights of homosexuals to protect the privacy of women and little girls in a bathroom (though note well how quickly the left tosses the right to privacy when it doesn’t involve killing a baby). If the left’s logic in the Oregon bakers’ case were applied consistently, Muslims would be forced to serve pork (not gonna happen) and Holocaust survivors would be forced to cater Klan rallies (more likely than the former). Nathan Deal and the Disney Company would (logically speaking) force Mosques to hire NAMB missionaries and MoveOn.org to hire Newt Gingrich and Sean Hannity.
But of course none of those things will happen. The target of the left’s agenda is perfectly clear.
It’s you.
A lot of very pious pastors, especially some of the younger ones, vocally eschew any sort of political involvement, for themselves or for their flocks. But those preachers who think political involvement distasteful are increasingly condemning their flocks to persecution.
They need to snap out of it now, because they’re quickly losing the option to do so.
Some of these gentlemen claim loudly to be ready for martyrdom: jail or whatever may come. I applaud them for that.
But I would respectfully suggest that their families, their churches, and all the rest of humanity might be better served if they were just a bit less ready.
Perhaps a bit less respectfully, I suspect that many of them, having been lazy in liberty, will knuckle under to oppression without a whimper.
It’s all fine to talk bravely about going to jail for your faith. How much better, though, to act bravely before wives and churches are left behind without incomes, or faithful shepherds?
The first duty of those shepherds is to protect their flocks. It is not to tremble for their tax statuses or wait to be eaten by the wolves.
This article was originally published as part of my Beyond the Church Door series in the Florida Baptist Witness.
Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.
Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.
Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.
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