Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Faith Under Fire

Gary L. Bauer
Campaign for Working Families

Last week, Pastor Louie Giglio of Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia, had to drop out of participating in Barack Obama's second inaugural festivities. Pastor Giglio had been asked to deliver the benediction because of his church's incredible work fighting human trafficking.

So what was the scandal that led him to withdraw? Embezzlement? Adultery? Not even close. His liberal "sin" was the fact that fifteen years ago he delivered a sermon on why same-sex "marriage" contradicts biblical teaching.

I couldn't help but note the irony. More than a decade ago Pastor Giglio opposed same-sex "marriage." A year ago Barack Obama did too! Should Obama be prohibited from speaking at his own inauguration? Of course I'm being sarcastic. The difference is that liberals knew all along that Obama was really with them.

Pastor Giglio is the latest victim of the religious intolerance that is growing in Obama's America. If you're a parent or grandparent, polling suggests that your children or grandchildren are being greatly influenced by the culture. Under the concept of "Christian love," they don't see why as Christians we should oppose two men who want to get married. They will often retort, "How does that affect me?" Pastor Giglio is an example of how it will affect all of us. Religious liberty is at stake!

Here's a pastor who gave a sermon in his church on the biblical message about human sexuality, and now he's been labeled an extremist by the media and dumped by the White House. Some Christian youth, taken in by the siren song of the popular culture, are inadvertently empowering a radical movement that will make biblical values unteachable. Pastors and youth leaders must confront the issue and lead the young believers in their care.