One thing that I love about America is the First Amendment. Among other important things it guarantees free speech. Frankly it sometimes goes overboard, as in allowing people to burn our flag, display pornography on television, and say some of the most outrageous vile things, but Americans are free to say pretty much anything they like and overall that is just swell with me.
Fortunately we also have the right to choose not to listen and/or adhere to the free speech of others and we can change channels or cover our ears and shout: nah –nah-nah-nah and drown out what we don’t want to hear. That right is quite often refreshing to me when I read my daily e-mail response to Words for the Day. Yesterday was a prime example when I was once again chastised by a bunny hugging anti-hunter for a recent post in Words for the Day.
This lady railed for several pages about the cruelest of travesties that she has seen levied against innocent animals, everything from people setting cats on fire, to shooting them in the eyes with pellets, to people taking them out of cages to slaughter them “just for the fun of it”.
I exercised my first amendment right to briefly write her back and tell her that I really didn’t have time for this and to please bother someone else with this hysterical nonsense. Hunters aren’t responsible for all that crap and it is utterly ridiculous to put the blame there.
I informed her that I absolutely love to hunt and fish and I mentioned that if she didn’t like hearing about my escapades into the field, then she could just unsubscribe; (in fact I went ahead and unsubscribed her myself to save her the trouble).
I mean she obviously loves animals, but let me tell you, so do I, and so do millions of other responsible hunters and fishermen that comprise the overwhelming majority of sportsmen in the world. We realize that wildlife has its place in God’s plan, and in part that is right beside the mashed potatoes, gravy, and black eyed peas. – Would you please pass the biscuits?
Some people refuse to listen and I refuse to converse with someone who wants a monologue. I don’t insist that everyone believe everything I espouse; that is the nature of the First Amendment. We can be tolerant of each other’s belief systems and people are free to believe whatever they like; however no one can force us to listen to utterly ridiculous ideology, (like the bunny hugger mantra). I might add that we might want to enjoy this while we can, because Obama and his millions of minions may just strip us of that right if he gets re-elected.
Nowhere is the First Amendment more important than when assuring our right to freedom of religion. Our constitution assures millions of Christians the right to boldly celebrate their faith in Jesus Christ.
Yesterday I was the guest speaker for a business ethics class at Florida State University and was telling the students how I’ve used the Bible not only for personal redemption, but also as a guide for personal and business success. I told them that the Bible is without question the best guide for both personal and business ethics ever written.
One very famous man , Thomas Jefferson, recognized this value and worked diligently to safeguard religious freedom. Not only was he our third president, but he was the principle author of the Declaration of Independence and he valued freedom of speech and choice with zeal and unbridled passion.
He valued the Bible in this regard, but unfortunately just for its ethics. Sadly he didn’t believe that Jesus was God. He even created his own version of the Bible, now on exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History. He cut and pasted together his Bible and stripped it of anything divine. There are no miracles … and no Resurrection in his modified Bible.
Apparently Jefferson was unwilling to accept anything that couldn’t be proved on the basis of empirical evidence. So he was determined to remove what he felt couldn’t be substantiated and leave just the ethical lessons.
I read about Jefferson’s atheistic views with dismay, but was gratified that the writer of the article about him included another opinion.
It was the premise of a lawful universe that convinced Oxford University Mathematician John Lennox that there must be a divine law giver. Lennox, author of “Gunning for God” and “God’s Undertaker,” is one of several scholars who have investigated the Resurrection in the two centuries since Jefferson created his Bible. He sees strong historical proof that the Resurrection actually happened.
He wrote: “This idea that miracles violate the laws of nature; that is a false notion. The laws of nature are our description of what we observe regularly to happen …. But God is not a prisoner of those laws. He can feed a new event in, if he wants to. It doesn’t break the laws.”
The Bible’s four Gospels say a crucified Jesus was laid in a tomb, a large stone sealed the entry, and a Roman guard was posted. I believe that the tomb lay empty on the third day and later that over 500 witnesses saw and heard Jesus Christ speak.
God gave us His own constitution; the Bible. It states that we have the unalienable right of free choice. We can choose life through Jesus Christ or reject that notion. The choice is yours and mine to make and it affects our eternal destiny.
I left the four Gospels intact in my Bible. Jesus was ethical, but He is also God and divine.
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.: