Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI200483B
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00:01 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider.
00:03 Before the break, I was sharing 00:05 what was an editorial in Liberty, 00:07 on a loss of innocence, 00:08 particularly, as relates to religion 00:11 in the United States. 00:12 And indeed, in our world. 00:15 I've got to say that, 00:17 in this ongoing pandemic shock to the world system, 00:22 it's a shock, socially, economically, 00:25 and indeed religiously. 00:27 In this ongoing pandemic shock, 00:30 I've been startled at how easily 00:33 formal religious activities just ceased. 00:37 And as I once, 00:38 I think road people slunk away to their homes, 00:40 into their beds, 00:42 into their video games and religion stopped. 00:46 I mean, it's not that simple. 00:47 And, of course, all generalizations fall down 00:49 in the particular. 00:51 There are many wonderful stories 00:54 of faith outreach and of individuals 00:57 whose faith has been strengthened 00:59 and that they still communicate adequately 01:02 with Zoom and other things. 01:03 I don't doubt that. 01:05 But in a general sense, 01:07 religion did abay unquestioningly 01:10 initially at least, 01:12 general calls to cease to stay home 01:15 and not worship and so on. 01:19 I'm not sure anybody going into this thought 01:22 that it would be so many months 01:23 from a global pandemic emergency. 01:27 And even as I record this, 01:29 I'd be very surprised 01:31 if it's not closer to the end of 2021 and the beginning 01:35 when things return to a sort of normalcy, 01:38 although masks might be here to stay, 01:41 since the pandemic lineup is sort of an assembly line. 01:46 COVID-19 might be followed by COVID-21, and so on. 01:52 But it has troubled me 01:53 that the churches went away so easy. 01:56 And as I followed the news, like everybody else, 01:58 my attention was gathered 02:01 to or drawn to a story of a church 02:05 in the Los Angeles area, faith community, 02:10 pastored by John McArthur, 02:15 its pastor I think of like about 40 years. 02:17 I mean, he's pretty much spent his whole career 02:20 pastoring this mega church, membership of 8,000. 02:24 And I did some investigation of them. 02:26 They'd come to prominence 02:28 because they were meeting in defiance 02:29 of the California Governor's edicts 02:32 that forbade churches to meet formally indoors 02:35 or indeed for a while, even outdoors. 02:38 But I found to my surprise 02:41 that McArthur early on had done 02:44 what many Christians thought they should do, 02:46 he cited the Apostle Paul's dictates 02:50 that we should obey the authorities 02:51 and be subservient and so on. 02:52 And he cited that publicly, they ceased to worship, 02:55 went home and wait, tried to wait it out. 02:58 But then he became aware. 03:01 First of all that 03:02 this was going to go a long time. 03:04 He became aware that 03:05 that certain panic steps were perhaps over blown, 03:11 and he became aware that 03:12 the churches were being restricted 03:14 where some other activities were not. 03:16 So as of the moment, even as I record this, 03:19 they are meeting again, 03:20 and I traveled to Los Angeles and attended the church, 03:23 they were, 03:24 by my count 3, 000 people in the second service 03:27 as many in the first there were hundreds, 03:29 but in other meetings and on the campus, 03:32 they were perhaps 500-600 meeting under a large tent 03:36 in an outdoor service. 03:38 Unfortunately, none of them wearing masks 03:40 'cause I thought 03:41 it's a reasonable protection against contagion. 03:44 And no particular effort made to social distancing. 03:46 So in that regard, 03:48 I think they're being foolish and presumptuous. 03:50 But they are being protective 03:53 of the Christians' obligation and right 03:55 under the Constitution and under divine mandate 03:58 to meet together and to worship and honor God. 04:02 And I found the service to be very mainline, 04:07 I found the attendees 04:09 to be Middle America personified. 04:12 And I have to admire what they're doing, 04:15 even if legally they're under hazard. 04:17 They're losing their parking lot privileges. 04:20 They're under injunction 04:21 from the authority's threat of huge fines 04:25 and perhaps even imprisonment for the pastor. 04:28 I've often said before on this program, 04:31 and through Liberty Magazine, 04:34 that we live under a bit of a misapprehension 04:36 in the United States 04:38 where the Constitution protects religious practice. 04:41 We cannot expect, 04:43 should not expect that in every instance, 04:46 the way is open before us 04:47 and there is no impediment to our practice of religion. 04:50 There is nearly always a price to pay for conviction 04:54 and for faith loyalty, 04:57 and they may have to pay the price 04:59 but I admired them 05:00 for acting on their convictions. 05:02 And it is at least a thought experiment 05:05 as we continue in this never ending, 05:08 it seems like COVID shut down in the world. 05:11 Are people of faith going to give in permanently 05:15 to officials and a state mandate 05:19 that might say that you know what, 05:21 what you count as your civil liberties 05:23 as your autonomy and indeed 05:25 your very right to worship God is going to be held back now 05:28 because we think it's such a great emergency. 05:32 What about those through the Dark Ages 05:35 who worshiped on pain of their life, 05:38 from persecution? 05:39 You know, what about those 05:42 who went as missionaries into areas 05:44 where their life was at immediate peril 05:46 from any number of sources, 05:48 disease, as well as the mythical cannibals 05:52 and not mythical, but you know, the story cannibals and the, 05:57 and those that exist even now in places like Pakistan 06:00 who will kill a Christian 06:01 on a single incitement from a village 06:03 that they have profaned certain of their holy rights. 06:08 People of faith have died and risked, 06:10 and done whatever necessary to worship the Lord. 06:13 And I think in the middle of this COVID, 06:15 we need to think again, 06:16 are we allowing the emergency 06:19 to overwhelm our religious prerogative? 06:23 Are we allowing it to overwhelm the call from heaven 06:27 to gather together to honor the Lord 06:30 by worship and by religious activities? 06:34 I am not convinced 06:36 that there was any forethought into in California 06:39 or any other state, 06:41 forethought into restricting religion. 06:43 But I am equally convinced 06:45 that there's been a developing 06:47 dismissal of religion 06:48 is important to the public good. 06:50 And so under mandates 06:53 that in typical legislative language, 06:55 they'll say, you know, you have this right 06:58 unless there is a compelling, governmental reason. 07:03 We should be aware of that, 07:05 because it's always compelling from a contrary point of view, 07:08 that doesn't respect the importance of your right 07:11 as a Christian or another faith believer. 07:14 And we have entered the stage 07:16 where separation of church and state is one thing 07:19 but the separation of the individual 07:22 and those in authority 07:24 and they respect an understanding of religion 07:27 has reached a state where we cannot presume that 07:31 they will automatically be respectful 07:33 of the need to worship in a group setting. 07:37 And so, you know, 07:38 I have to endorse and thank groups 07:42 like the Faith Community Church in Los Angeles, 07:47 who have at least stood on their convictions, 07:50 foolishly without masks, but that's the subtext to it, 07:53 stood on their convictions, 07:55 and said that we will worship God 07:57 no matter what. 07:59 That is the stuff of the reformation, 08:01 which their pastor often refers to. 08:04 The Protestant Reformation 08:05 which once defined an American populace, 08:09 not just as Christian but Protestant Christian, 08:12 which gave them a special awareness 08:14 of the stakes in standing for faith, 08:17 against persecution, against harassment, 08:20 and always for the integrity and the liberty of action 08:25 that comes from being a free man, 08:27 free under the Creator God 08:29 and in this country free under the mandate of rule 08:32 by the people, for the people. |
Revised 2020-12-05