Religious Freedom By William J. Stewart It is not uncommon for one who has a valued possession to take it for granted. This can certainly be so with regard to physical prosperity, but can equally be true of spiritual opportunity. We are blessed to live in a country wherein religious freedom is, for the most part, defended. My question to you is this: do you take advantage of the spiritual freedom afforded you in our country? Owning And Reading A Bible We have the freedom to own and read a Bible. How sad to think that there are perhaps thousands upon thousands of Bibles in Canadian households that serve as nothing more than bookshelf dust traps. Are you aware the Catholic Church once prohibited the Bible from the people? Canon 14 of the Council of Toulouse (1229 AD) states, We prohibit also that the laity should be permitted to have the books of the Old and New Testament...1 There are still countries today where it is illegal for residents to possess or peruse a Bible. The U.S. Department of States International Religious Freedom Report, 2007 states of North Korea: Ownership of Bibles or other religious materials is reportedly illegal and may be punished by imprisonment or execution.2 In both Burma3 and Morocco4, it is illegal to translate the Bible into the indigenous languages. Armed forces personnel in Eritrea5 face severe punishment for possessing a Bible. Do you appreciate the freedom you have to own a Bible? Do you take advantage of that freedom? Some, if they want to read the word of life, are in danger of losing their life! Shame on us, if we take for granted the simple blessing of being able to own and read a Bible without fear of imprisonment, torture or death. Shame on us, if we do not read Gods word daily, and put it in practice in our lives!! Meeting With Fellow Believers Weekly attendance stats for churches in Canada vary, reported as low as 11% by Ipsos-Reid, and as high as 25% by Christianity Today.6 Either way, the number of Canadians attending worship services each week is low. Canadians are free to assemble with the religious affiliation of their choosing, be it Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, some fringe cultic group, or true Christianity. There is no fear of punishment for coming together with those of similar faith. What a wonderful, yet so seldom used privilege we have. “Do you take advantage of the spiritual freedom afforded you...?” Algerian law prohibits any public assembly which would conflict with the governments interpretation of Sharia law. Ordinance 06-03 authorizes the government to close informal Christian services in private homes and isolated areas.7 In China, SARA (the State Administration for Religious Affairs) has stated that prayer meetings and Bible study groups held among friends and family in homes are legal... However, SARA has not publicly defined family and friends, and has often disrupted such assemblies and arrested participants.8 Irans president has called for the end of the development of Christianity, and as such, has either closed or placed extreme restrictions on non-Islamic religions. Many churches have gone underground, but are being actively sought out and punished.9 There are many people in countries where it is illegal to assemble to worship God who do so anyhow, because it is right to obey God rather than men (Acts 4:19; 5:29). This, they do, though being caught may result in torture or death. How sad that our nation is so irreverent, that though we may freely assemble for worship, an extreme majority of our nation will not. Even more pitiful, there are some who have become members o the Lords church who readily excuse themselves from the assembly of Gods people for any number of reasons. Shame!!! Let us take advantage of our religious freedoms! So many in the world are not so blessed, and yet in some of them, we see greater faith and determination to serve the Lord than in ourselves. May our zeal rise to theirs; may their freedoms expand to ours! ________________________________________ 1) Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe; Edward Peters, p. 194-195. 2) International Religious Freedom Report, 2007; U.S. Department of State. 3) persecution.org; Burma 4) persecution.org; Morocco 5) persecution.org; Eritrea 6) wikipedia.org; Religion In Canada 7) persecution.org; Algeria 8) International Religious Freedom Report, 2007; U.S. Department of State 9) persecution.org; Iran
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 08:55:20 +0000
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