The Erosion of Liberty in America

We can see it all the time: when evil is allowed to grow, irony abounds. Take what happened recently on the streets of Philadelphia immediately outside the Liberty Bell display. Inscribed on the bell reads these words: “PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND UNTO ALL THE INHABITANTS THEREOF.” This comes from an Old Testament verse found in Leviticus 25:10. As shown in the video below, law enforcement officers on duty outside this sacred historical site took away to jail a guy who was actually putting into practice what the inscription on the bell implored any noble American to do: proclaim liberty! (By the way, can anyone proclaim liberty any better than proclaiming the Good News of Jesus?) Apparently, these officers, whose duty it is to defend and preserve such inalienable rights as the freedom of speech, the freedom to assemble, and the freedom of religion, must have all been sick from school the day those First Amendment Rights were taught.

The officers argued that what was unacceptable was for someone to preach immediately in front of the entrance where people were waiting in line to see the bell. Again, the second part of that verse inscribed on the bell reads: “unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Someone should ask the officers if it would be reasonable for one to conclude that those waiting to see for themselves the inscription should be included as part of “all the inhabitants”.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:17, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Well, I don’t think there was much freedom going on around those “law enforcement officers” that day! Oh, the irony! I think the crack in the Liberty Bell, just got bigger.

The Intolerance of Today’s Tolerance Movement

There is a modern myth that true tolerance consists of neutrality. Nothing could be further from the truth. One can not tolerate something unless one disagrees with that thing. This important point has been lost in the modern perversion of the word tolerance. Now, if you think something is wrong, one is considered intolerant. In his Townhall.com article entitled "Gen. Pace & the Myth of Moral Neutrality,” Greg Koukl writes that the buzz surrounding Gen. Pace's moral comments "reflects one of the most entrenched assumptions of moral relativism in our society today: that there is such a thing as morally neutral ground, a place of complete impartiality where no judgments nor any forcing of personal views are allowed. Each of us takes a neutral posture towards the moral convictions of others. This is the essence of tolerance, or so the argument goes."