There are some unbelievable things happening now right there in the good ol' United States.

 

The latest story is that of a young photographer in New Mexico who politely declined to photograph a same-sex wedding ceremony because it contradicted her deeply held religious convictions? She even helped arrange for another photographer to take the job -- at a lesser cost!

 

Well, the New Mexico Human Rights Commission fined her for violating the state's anti-discrimination laws. The case finally reached the New Mexico Supreme Court and the court ruled that, at least in New Mexico, you don't have the luxury of holding and acting upon your religious beliefs!

 

In fact, the Supreme Court decided that New Mexico's anti-discrimination law "compels" this young couple "to compromise the very religious beliefs that inspire their lives." (And that's what the Justice wrote in support of the decision!) Folks, this isn't the government just telling you to "shut up" if you're a Christian, this is the government "compelling" you to say even what you don't want to say -- or sincerely believe it's wrong to say.

 

The court explained that this is simply "the price of citizenship."

 

Pardon my French, but that's balderdash. This isn't the price of "citizenship," it's the price of "political correctness." And more and more I see that "political correctness" will be executioner's stone across which Christians and others of conscience will prostrate themselves for speaking the truth. You can forget the days of simply having and expressing an "opinion." Those are long gone!

 

Don't believe me? Just ask those federal employees who are Christians and have the misfortune of working at the U.S. Justice Department. Recently, with the full approval (if not encouragement) of the Department of Justice, DOJ Pride (the LGBT activist organization within the Department of Justice) distributed a brochure to DOJ supervisors.

 

Under the guise of providing tips on how to be a "highly effective manager," the publication gave very specific lists of "do's and don'ts" when it comes to dealing with Lesbians, Gays, Bi-sexuals, or Transgenders (LGBT) at the Department.

 

In essence, it strongly suggested that supervisors assume that everything they say or write will be scrutinized by the LGBT community and "their allies." It advised them to attend LGBT events and display symbols in their offices that assured the LGBT community it was a "safe space."

 

Finally, the brochure warned -- and there's no other way to describe it -- that just keeping quiet about your objections to the "lifestyle" was no longer acceptable. You must speak up in favor of your LGBT associates' choices. If you don't, your "silence will be interpreted as disapproval."

 

We used to say that "silence is golden." But apparently silence isn't good enough in America today when it comes to certain societal issues like same-sex marriage and abortion. We are now being "compelled" to speak up in favor of these things or we'll suffer the consequences. Just ask the justices of New Mexico's Supreme Court!

 

And what makes all of this even more interesting is that God doesn't like silence, either. The Bible strongly encourages us to spread the claims of Jesus Christ. Which, by the way, are in direct opposition to the claims that our society wants us to spread. In fact, Jesus commanded us to "go into all the world and preach (speak up) the gospel." (Mark 16:15) And the Bible, too, warns of consequences if we don't. Jesus said that if we deny Him before men, then He will deny us before His Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:33)

 

Wow! This is truly shaping up to be quite a contest, isn't it? But we knew it was coming. In fact, Jesus Himself said that if we name His name, the world will hate us, because the world hates Him. That's why I keep encouraging you to begin building up your "combat faith" for the times we are facing.