I had the opportunity to spend about an hour and a half with Chuck Smith before he passed away on Thursday.
One of our major topics of our discussion was the lack of liberty that is allowed by the liberal mindset.
I was telling Chuck about a dialogue that I had entered into with an ACLU attorney from the state of Washington.
I was asked by this attorney what I thought the State was in relation to the philosophical idea of separation of church and state. I answered her by saying, “We the people.”
What I went on to discuss with her and relay to Chuck was, we, even the conservative and religious minded, all are included in “We the people”.
The state, as a governmental organization, answers to the people. Christians as well as secularists are a part of this state. Christians should be able to have valid input into all debates as well as the secularists. The problem is the secularist’s desire that religion be left out of the public debate.  This so called liberal thought is impossible as long as Christians are a part of “We the people”.
What we have in our nation today is a worldview debate. I see from a Christian perspective and the attorney I was speaking to sees from a secularist perspective. As most of you know these views do not match up.
What I told her was the debate is valid and the government should be neutral and not choose sides. The government should be led by the majority that is elected by “We the people.”
Fair representation and freedom to speak from a Christian view as well as being given validity in the debate is slowly being eroded. This is understandable as the liberal mindset continues to disallow an opposing voice into the discussion.
The problem we are facing at this time in our history is some believe if a person stands upon the Scriptures as the basis for their beliefs they should be eliminated from the civil debate. The secularist has declared the Christian obsolete. As far as the debate, it may not go in my favor, but, I should never be pushed aside just because I believe the Bible to be true.
The secularist has a standard of believing also. It may be an ever changing and always evolving standard but should I tell them they are not allowed to voice their beliefs? Yet, whenever the Christian comes to the debate, standing firm upon the Scriptures, they are told that there is a separation of church and state and their beliefs, ideas and philosophies don’t count because they are based in something that cannot enter the debate. This is not freedom but censorship
Any individual, secularist or Christian, lives, acts, and speaks based upon his beliefs. What is being said here is what I believe eliminates me from the table of discussion because it’s related to the church. This is wrong and those fighting for freedom should understand it to be wrong.
I finished my dialogue with this attorney expressing to her to open her mind to see that this so called “Wall of Separation” is a rhetorical tool to eliminate true debate. If you disqualify a segment of the population from the debate because they differ in their beliefs what have you done to freedom?
At the end of our discussion Chuck said, “An event in history, such as the Holocaust, would have never been instigated by the conservative mind but only through liberals who desire to eliminate their opposition.”
Chuck and I agreed greatly in many areas of our world views. I will miss my weekly discussions with such a great mind.
Now, let the new experiment of the Great Bend Tribune editorial page begin.
Pastor Thomas R. Swain
First Church of God