It’s ironic but true: the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) is obsessed with religion.
The latest proof can be found in a full-page ad in Tuesday’s New York Times featuring an illustrated drawing of the Statue of Liberty holding high a cross with the word “THEOCRACY” in a wave crashing at its base.
“The State of Separation Between State and Church is Perilous,” the headline reads. “Help stem the Christian Nationalist Title Wave.”
Founded in 1976 by a mother and daughter upset their local Wisconsin legislators opened meetings in prayer, the FFRF has made it their mission for nearly fifty years to protest any public expression of faith.
To be sure, the group has gotten it very wrong from the beginning. Consider what they told the lawmakers back in 1976:
“It is not the business of governmental bodies to pray,” said Anne Gaylor. “When board members pray publicly, you inflict pressure, compulsion and embarrassment on those of your members and those of your audience who do not accept or share these private religious views.”
Public prayer does no such thing. The only pressure it seems to elicit stems from antagonists obsessed with eradicating it.
Even the Supreme Court has upheld legislative and other public prayers, and it’s a good thing. Its own marshal opens each session with a litany that ends with the phrase, “God save the United States and this Honorable Court!” Several friezes of Moses holding the Ten Commandments are also featured in and on the historic building.
The so-called “Christian Nationalist Tidal Wave” is a laughable farce, a concocted bogeyman that simply doesn’t exist.
Anytime someone dares mention their faith or acknowledge its impact on America’s founding, FFRF seizes on the reference. Perhaps unknowingly, the group regularly calls more attention to faith with their over-the-top campaigns protesting it than were they to remain silent.
In fact, this tried and tired tactic recalls Joseph’s words in Genesis:
“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Gen. 50:20).
For years, FFRF has put a cross in Lady Liberty’s right hand to mock Christianity and make a claim that facts fail to back up. Originally named “Liberté éclairant le monde” or “Liberty Enlightening the World,”and designed by Auguste Bartholdi, the grand statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.
Mr. Bartholdi was said to choose a woman for the statue because of Europe’s long association of certain virtues (generosity, piety, good faith) with women. He wasn’t the first artist to correlate the idea of liberty with a female, but never had it been depicted on such a grand scale and stage.
The torch in Lady Liberty’s right hand is designed to symbolize enlightenment, along with a commitment to freedom and democracy.
Once more, maybe it’s fitting that FFRF has chosen to swap out the torch with the cross. As Christians, we recognize the empty cross as a symbol of triumph and salvation. It lights the way during dark times. It shows us that sin and sorrow are conquered thanks to Jesus’ sacrifice on it.
Critics of Christianity have a long and storied history of distorting not only God’s Word, but also the intents and beliefs of His followers. It’s heartbreaking that the folks at FFRF seem to believe so much that just isn’t true. But it’s also heartening that God takes ignorance and foolishness and uses it for good.
The post Freedom from Religion Zealots Unwittingly Promote Christianity appeared first on Daily Citizen.
Daily Citizen