Cedarville Magazine
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7
Human Dignity and Freedom At
Stake in Religious Liberty Debate
Excerpted from remarks made by John Stonestreet at the Religious Freedom Summit on October 9, 2014
There’s an interesting statement in the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal.” If you look back at the history of civilization and the history
of culture, it’s not self-evident that all men are created equal. Some
are taller than others. Some are faster. Some are smarter. Some have
full capacities physically, and some have disability. We’re not all
created equal. Where does that actually come from? It only comes
if the criteria we use are not extrinsic, but intrinsic.
You don’t get universal human dignity by looking at the
outside. The only way
you can define universal
human dignity is if it’s
actually included in what
it means to be a part of
the human family. In
his book
A Brief History
of Thought
, Luc Ferry
says that’s exactly what
Christianity introduced
to this world, and that’s
why the world owes its
democratic inheritance
to Christianity. And we can see, as religious liberty gets squeezed
out of the public square, human dignity is equally being attacked.
Freedom Misdefined
When you loseGod, you don’t just lose an understanding
of human dignity. When you lose God, you also misdefine
freedom. Our culture says freedom is nothing less than a
free-for-all. Do whatever you want without consequences,
without context, without any sort of responsibility.
Americans are the most addicted people in the history of the
planet. We’re addicted to drugs, we’re addicted to sex, we’re addicted
to each other, we’re addicted to iPhones, we’re addicted to Facebook,
we’re addicted to chocolate, we’re addicted to coffee — that one’s
OK, because that one’s mine — but we’re addicted.
Someone who is addicted is not free. Someone who is addicted
is a slave. The worst kind of slavery — self-imposed slavery to
your own passions and your own inability to exhibit self-control.
Our definition of freedom is leading us into moral slavery. What a
wonderful contribution that Christians can make when we jump
in and say, “Wait a minute. Freedom is not the freedom to do what
you want. It’s the freedom to be what you ought.”
Religious Freedom Benefits All
A couple years ago, I was speaking to a group of students in
South Carolina and two 20-somethings came up to me and said,
“We’re studying to be nurses. What does it mean to be a Christian
and a nurse? What can you tell us?” Five years ago I would have
said, “Well, you need to understand bioethics, and you need to
study when life begins — the definition of life,
the definition of death, and how our medical
technologies can compromise your ethics.” I still
said that, but I said it second. The first thing that
came out of my mouth was, “If you want to be a
nurse and a Christian, and you’re 20-something
today, you will have to choose in your lifetime
between your career and your convictions.”
Religion is needed in the public square to call
us to the common good. In fact, religion helps us
clarify the common good. It’s interesting when you
drive around towns, you don’t see the First Secular
Hospital. You don’t see the First Buddhist Hospital.
Right? You see the First Baptist Hospital. You see
Catholic hospitals. You see Methodist hospitals.
You know why? Because Christianity has always
called its people to love and service to those who
are considered to be the least of these.
The temptation is to just protect religious liberty
for ministers. But if I believe that all of us are made
in the likeness and image of God, and I believe that
all of us are called to do work and contribute to the
good of His kingdom, and I believe that all of us
have a calling and a vocation, I am going to stand
and fight for the pastor’s right, but I want to stand
and fight for the baker and the photographer’s right
as well. I want those who are called to solve world
poverty, such as Joni Eareckson Tada who has a
wonderful ministry called “Wheelchairs for the
World,” to have a continued right to do what God
has called her to do. Christians are called to live for
the common good.
John Stonestreet
is co-host of
BreakPoint
and the
voice of
The Point
, a daily national radio feature
on worldview, apologetics, and cultural issues. He
also serves as a Senior Content Advisor for Summit
Ministries in Manitou Springs, Colorado.
As religious liberty gets squeezed out
of the public square, human dignity is
equally being attacked.
