Saturday, April 8, 2017

The Bible and Free Speech

Freedom is one of the major themes throughout the New Testament and the entire Bible. "It is for freedom that Christ set us free" (Galatians 5:1).Upon these words an entire nation was born.  That nation is the United States of America.

One of the freedoms of this country is the Freedom of Speech. The freedom of speech is a right that is guaranteed to Americans through the Constitution. We can define this freedom as the right to speak one's views without being held back. As Christians and as a nation we value people. Therefore, people deserve respect and to be treated as human beings. We all have something to offer the world through our words and our actions, as we are all created uniquely in the image of God. We must grant such freedom to our fellow Americans.

Now that we know what is freedom of speech, let's talk about what is not freedom of speech. It can be summed up in two words: political correctness. Political correctness is an attempt to standardize proper and improper speech, so that people begin to believe that they cannot speak their minds. It is an attempt to get a society to believe that it is too disrespectful and possibly dangerous for people to share their views on topics, such as life, politics, and God. Specifically, it is an attempt to say that dissenting against the ruling class is a threat and completely unacceptable in our society.

But, what does the Bible say about the freedom of speech? And how can a conservative Christian speak out against the ills that plague our society, while showing love and grace? You may be surprised to see the many examples that we can learn from in Scripture. Let's take a look.

It can be argued that it is the Bible that brought about freedom of speech. In the Old Testament,  the law teaches that all people are equal, whether the person is a king or a homeless man. This is an important principle regarding the freedom of speech. In most societies, speech is limited by those in power, in order to have complete control. The Bible teaches that no one is above the law. Therefore, all people can be scrutinized.

In a more specific manner, though, the freedom of speech is displayed in the New Testament. In Acts chapter 4, we see that Peter and John are arrested for preaching about Jesus. Upon their release, they were commanded to no longer speak about Jesus (Acts 4:18). Peter and John refuse to comply with their demands, insisting that they must preach in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:20). In doing this, they displayed the freedom of speech as a right given by God, not by human authorities.

Within the world of Christianity, the overwhelming number of Christians would agree that it is always the right thing to share Jesus with people. But what about more extreme examples of freedom of speech?

The Bible teaches that a believer should let no unwholesome speech come from his or her mouth (Ephesians 4:29). It teaches to speak to one another in a manner that is spiritually edifying (Ephesians 5:19). But there are also many examples, particularly in the New Testament of disagreements, debates, and legal disputes. How do verbal conflicts play out throughout the entirety of the Bible.

As a disclaimer, I am not advocating for name-calling, bullying, or heavy handed chastisement against people. Nonetheless, these are real examples from the Bible of how verbal conflict was engaged by righteous people.

The first example is the prophet Elijah as he contended with the prophets of Baal. The contest involved calling upon their respective gods to perform a miracle. Since the prophets of Baal failed to produce a miracle, Elijah mocked them and their false god, even asking them if their god failed to perform this act because he was sleeping or busy doing something else (1 Kings 18:27).

In the New Testament, when John the Baptist was approached by the Pharisees and Sadducees, he called them a brood of vipers and asked them how they expected to escape the wrath of God (Matthew 3:7). Jesus called king Herod a fox, in reference to Herod's deceptive and sly manner. Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites, blind guides, and white washed graves in Matthew 23.

Throughout his writings, Paul speaks strongly, as well. In Galatians, Paul delivers a powerful blow to the Judaizers who were preaching that a believer must be circumcised before they could participate in the Christian faith. Paul, in frustration and righteous anger, stated in writing that he wished these people, in relation to their teaching would display the fullness of their so-called spirituality through circumcision by going the full way and cut it off (Galatians 5:12).

In the book of James, James the brother of Jesus wrote, "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be" (James 3:9-10). The above examples might sound like they are crossing the line that James set in place, but in reality the things that these people said were words against evil deeds, rather than words against individuals. The person spoken against, in each example, just so happened to be guilty of committing evil deeds.

In Matthew 5:22, Jesus says that calling people names puts a person in danger of hell fire. He uses the examples of raca, which means turkey brains, and you fool!. Clearly, Jesus was teaching that people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, for the sake that everyone is created in the image of God.

Ultimately, freedom of speech does not mean letting your words fly wildly from your mouth and exercising restraint does not mean that a person is robbing him or herself of the freedom of speech. Freedom is a concept that is maximized through proper boundaries and respect towards others. When exercising freedom becomes abusive against other people's liberties, such as speech, it is no longer an exercise of freedom. It is an exercise of tyranny, even if it's only on a small scale. Tyranny not only enslaves those being oppressed, but also the oppressor who is enslaved by his own lust for power.

www.williamhseng.com


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