Should Christians Have Rights

The article below was written based on the US Constitution, but could very well apply to Canada. The Liberals have continually stifled Christians. The courts have stifled Christians. Canada is NOT a Christian nation, even though we were founded on Christian principles. We have become a nation of "anything goes" the sicker the better. Take "gay" marriage for instance. It is an abomination in God's eyes. It is a lifestyle that promotes sickness and disease. It undermines the family that God Himself created. Churches such as the United Church of Canada have taken the approach that to love is to accept all things for the sake of not offending. But let me ask this....If your child ran out on the road, would you "offend" them but encouraging it? Or would you do everything in your power to stop it, and teach them the right way? The United Church has forsaken God and is walking down a thorny path. In Revelation God makes it clear what will happen when a church organization does this.."I will spew you from My mouth"

This article is right on the money
........carfix2000ca

Should Christians Have Rights?
by Mark Sutherland

"If Chritians are supposed to turn the other cheek and lay down their lives for others, isn't it wrong and selfish to claim we have rights?"

I was asked this interesting question recently about Christians and their rights. On the surface the question sounds sincere. But in my experience, it has been people who would like Christians to stay in the church and stay out of society who ask this. The whole basis of their argument is flawed, and we must see this question for what it is: a tool to confuse us.
Let us start with the basic question, "What are rights?" The 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language defines rights as having "conformity to the will of God or to His Law." it goes further to describe rights as being "a priveledge." So what does this mean? To fully understand our rights as Christians here in America we must look in two places. We must first look to God's Word to see which rights we have been granted by Him, since rights are a priveledge given to us by God. And then we must look at the founding documents of our nation to see what rights are recognized, protected and exercisable under our system of government.
In the interest of space, below is a partial list of rights given to man within God's Word.

Equality (Matthew 5:45; Galatians 3:28; James 2:1-7; Leviticus 24:22)
Life (Genesis 9:6; Exodus 20:13; Psalm 139:13;)
Marriage (Genesis 2:24)
Freedom (Psalm 119:45; Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18)
Freedom of Worship (Matthew 22:21)
Education (Deuteronomy 6:7; 11:19)
Reputation(Exodus 20:16)
Rest ( Exodus 20:8-11)

And the list continues. The simple fact is that God has given His creation certain rights.
So how does this fit into America? Secular humanists will deride and challenge you the moment you claim that any of these biblical rights should be part of our society. They would more than likely exclaim that by trying to exercise your "Christian rights" you are imposing your religion on the rest of society. To answer this challenge, we should look to our founding documents and see what they say about rights and what America's position should be on our God-given ones.
The Declaration of Independence, the document upon which our Constitution and every other law in America is built, states;
"...that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."
The foundational document of our nation declares that are created by God, that God gives us rights, and that government is set up to protect those God-given rights. The Declaration of Independence states that the very freedoms and rights given to us within the Word of God are the very freedoms and rights that must be protected by our government.
Why should we have a right to marriage between a man and a woman only? Because it is established in Genesis 2:24, and our founding documents declare that our government is set up to protect that God-given right. Why do we have a right to worship as we see fit? Because in Matthew 22:21, Jesus tells us that we are to give to government that which is government's and to God that which is God's. A side note on Matthew 22:21: Many people misread "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" interpreting it to mean, "these matters over here are God's, and these matters over here are the government's." But they fail to see the rest of the scripture where it makes it clear that God is Sovereign over all creation, including Caesar. Therefore, everything that belongs to Caesar also belongs to God.
So returning to the question asked at the beginning, "If Christians are supposed to turn the other cheek and lay down their lives for others, isn't it wrong and selfish for us, as Christians, to claim we have rights?" What should our answer be? I think the clearest answer to this is found in John 15:13 NIV, which declares, Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. We have the power to lay down our God-given rights when we choose. But it is when we choose, not when others choose. That is the big difference. We can turn the other cheek when we choose. We can lay down our lives for others when we choose. And we can exercise our rights when we choose.
Our Founders walked in this. As they went through years of diplomacy with King George in England, the Founders repeatedly turned the other cheek in the hope that a reasonable outcome would be reached. However, when the king rendered the charters that established the colonies null and void, and violated the rights granted to all mankind by God, the Founders exercised their God-given rights by declaring their rights and walking in them.
Today, our court system continually violates our God-given rights by declaring that marriage is no longer between a man and woman, that we have the freedom to kill our unborn children and that we cannot acknowledge God as sovereign over our nation with a Ten Commandments display. Like our Founders, we have continually turned the other cheek.
My question for you is this: When a government oversteps its authority and begins to destroy the very rights it was formed to protect, what do we do? I contend that we do what our Founders did at the time of the American Revolution. As the Declaration of Independence declares, "whenever any form of government becomes destructive of [and neglects the protection of our God-given rights], it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it...." How can we do this? By standing up and demand that our elected officials protect us! We need to stand and demand that our government does what it was created to do...protect our God-given rights.

Mark Sutherland is the Public Relations Director for Joyce Meyer Ministries. Mark has a God-given passion to inspire people across the US to take America's destiny into their own hands. His work as a political and Constitutional analyst has allowed him to work alongside many Godly men and women who serve our nation. Mark resides in St Louis Missouri with his wife and two children.