Christian lawyers in the ACLU?
This is interesting, and presents a potential dilemma for Christian lawyers. I guess my first question would be — can a Christian work at the ACLU and work strictly within the religious liberty department? I assume there could be cases would could require a Christian to work for something that is soundly against biblical values. Most Christians/conservatives believe the ACLU to be a communist organization bent on destroying Christianity and everything that is good with this country, but stop and think for moment. Thanks to watchdogs like the ACLU, Christians are free to preach the word of God, free to gather and worship, and free to believe what they wish. Rewind roughly two thousand years. The first members of Christianity were routinely imprisoned, tortured, or killed for preaching the word of God. Sure, there are plenty of roadblocks for postmodern Christians, but generally those roadblocks, at least here in the United States, don’t involve putting one’s life at risk to simply worship.
This is a bit of chicken/egg problem. Many Christians want our government to reflect their beliefs, and govern based on them. You may call this a theocracy, but it may or may not be a theocracy, depending on the practice. But, I digress. So, do Christians simply try to inflitrate government, and influence policy to reflect Christian theology/faith? Or should Christians work bottom up — that is, changing culture one piece at a time, changing people’s hearts by sharing the Gospel with them? If you choose the latter path, the ACLU, love them or hate them, is an important part of the equation. Christians have to operate within the idelogical framework of the Constitution (like it or not), and an organization like the ACLU prevents anyone from stepping on our Constitutional toes. Unfortunately, Christians have to watch the ACLU fight for others who stand against Christianity, but that is the price that has to be paid for liberty and equality. These groups can say what they will about Christianity (or anything else), but they cannot infringe on our right to worship, pray, and spread the Gospel.
Posted on 28 December 2004