Obamacare: The Continued Assault on Religious Liberty in America

In concurrence with the opening of the 220th General Assem- bly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the “More Light Pres- byterians” held its National Cel- ebration Dinner on June 30, 2012. Advocating for more inclusion of homosexuality in the liberal denomination, the group chose Bishop Gene Robinson to have the keynote address. Robinson has cre- ated much upheaval in the Episcopal Church, after being the first openly homosexual man to be appointed as Bishop in the church.

According to The Christian Post, July 2, 2012, Robinson energized his audience by his complimentary dec- laration that: “It was not that many years ago when our churches, yours and mine and most others, were ab- solutely certain what God thought of us ... and because of your courageous work, there are a lot of confused people out there and that is a huge step forward.” He stated further: “I like to think of it as holy chaos.”

The Rev. Patrick David Heery, an ordained minister in the PCUSA, and editor of Unbound (described as “an interactive journal of Chris- tian social justice”), com- mented concerning this: “[Robinson] referred to this confusion as the ‘holy chaos’ of people beginning to question what they once held certain. Chaos is of course not always popular among ‘decently and in or- der’ Presbyterians, but this was a night for a new kind of church.”

The Pittsburgh Gazette quoted Robinson as declaring, “We will live to see the day that the Church of Jesus Christ, in whatever form it is, will repent from what it has done to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people the way it has repented of slavery.” He further stated that “We [the churches] taught them hate,” and stated that the churches are largely responsible for this terrible sin of “hate.”

The apostate who has willfully denounced and twisted the clear teachings of Scripture is certainly in “chaos” and “confusion,” but it is anything but holy.

The true child of God, believes that “the word of God is quick, and pow- erful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The obedient Christian, instead of championing what God clearly calls sin, prays with David: “With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy com- mandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:10,11). In- stead of confusion, David says, “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the sim- ple” (Psalm 119:130).

In defiant boldness against the Word of God, Rev. Heery ends his ar- ticle in Unbound: “The change is not complete: there is still much work to be done. But, to borrow an image from Bishop Robinson, we are dancing to the center of the church, where we have known we always belonged.” Pray that these false teachers will some day have true repentance in their hearts and will in- stead confess: “… our con- fusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God … and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God” (Jeremiah 3:25).

Thanks to Elder Chris Salerno, of Bethany Bible Presbyterian Church of Glendale, CA, for pro- viding some of the documenta- tion used in this article.