Who’s Bullying Whom? The Attack on Christianity in South Carolina

I’ve consistently been telling the audience of Common Cents just how aggressive secular-progressives have become in attacking South Carolina.

As I’ve stated time and again, these activists attack the Palmetto State because we remain a stronghold for pro-faith and family values in this country.

If secular-progressives can topple the culture of a state like South Carolina, it would represent a major victory in the march to remake America into a secular-social state. That’s why those of us who believe in our state’s commitment to faith, family and free-enterprise must redouble our efforts to build a movement for the values that make South Carolina so special.

If anyone doubts my warnings about secular-progressives painting a bull’s-eye on the Palmetto State, allow me to provide a recent example in support of my assertion. On May 30^th, Mountain View Elementary School in northern Greenville County decided to hold their 5^th grade graduation in the auditorium on the campus of North Greenville University, a SC Baptist-affiliated liberal arts college which, just so happens, is my alma mater. As the University is outspoken about its Christian values, an out-of-state organization called the American Humanist Association has decided to file a “cease and desist” order, demanding that Mountain View Elementary never again hold a program and / or graduation on the campus of North Greenville University, claiming that to do so would be  “unconstitutional.” The order claims that, because the school is openly Christian, it violates the “separation of church and state” and violates the students’ and their parents’ freedom of religion.

I would be shocked if this sort of stuff wasn’t so common for groups like the American Humanist Association, the Freedom From Religion Foundation or the American Civil Liberties Union. Their tactic is to always paint those with whom they disagree as the aggressors, who are forcing their worldview on poor, unsuspecting atheists and agnostics. All the while, these aggressive, lawyer-laden organizations seek to legally bully people of faith by silencing them and shutting them down.

Thus, I would ask the question: who’s really bullying whom here?

Is it not the secular-humanist organizations that are persecuting people of faith and organizations that espouse a Judeo-Christian worldview? Who is really establishing a state religion? Is it not those organizations and individuals that try to censor people of faith, and prohibit the free expression and exercise of religious conviction? While claiming to be the trampled, these organizations and individuals are doing most of the trampling.

The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. Furthermore, the First Amendment isn’t there to protect government from people of faith, but to protect people of faith from the government. It’s not there to prevent people from praying in public, sharing their faith in public, exercising their religion in public, but, instead, to prevent the government from telling anyone that they cannot do any of those things. The First Amendment is being flipped on its head by these aggressively anti-Christian organizations infiltrating our state and attempting to remake our country. The American people must stand for true religious freedom, not censorship wrapped in the language of tolerance offered by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the American Humanist Association and their allies.

Common Cents and our Palmetto Conservative Alliance Foundation will reach out to SC Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office, to seek aide for Mountain View Elementary School, and to formulate our state’s response to these efforts by outside organizations to undermine our values and beliefs.