"Isn't it wonderful that we have 'freedom of religion' here in America?" We've been convinced that "freedom of religion" is a good thing, but it is a sham. My Father in Heaven did not send His Son to die on a cross so I could have "freedom of religion"! He sent His Son to die so I could have His government on earth as it is in Heaven. It was not intended that everyone would be part of His government, only the "called-out ones." The United States, on the other hand, set up a government for everyone, including the Christians.
Freedom
of Religion is Number One on the United States Bill of Rights. You can
have any beliefs you want. This concept is also reflected in the
Treaty of Tripoli,
which the United States made with the Barbary Pirates in 1796. Article
11 of the Treaty declares, "the government of the United States
of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion."
The purpose of the Treaty was to make peace with the Barbary Pirates. The pirates said, "We are Muslims. How can a Christian and a Muslim ever be at peace?" The United States replied, "Oh, we're not a Christian nation. Therefore, we can be at peace and make a treaty with you."
In the Treaty of Tripoli, the United States openly declared that the United States was not founded on the Christian religion. Then, to further win the Pirates' favor, they said that the States had never entered into war or an act of hostility against any Muslim nation, and that they had no enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims. Why were they showing such tolerance for the Muslims? Because "freedom of religion" is good for commerce.
What were the beliefs of these men who offered us "freedom of religion?" They could not have been Christians. Their constitution does not even mention our Lord Jesus Christ. We, as Christians, are to confess Jesus before men. And whatever we do in word or deed, we do in the name of the Lord, Jesus (Colossians 3:17). God is missing from their Constitution. They founded their government without God.
Surely if the Mohammedans would have undertaken the momentous task of drawing up a constitution, they would have done it in the name of Allah or at least paid their god homage. We can only conclude that the framers of the United States Constitution did not recognize a Supreme Being. They resembled the fool mentioned in Psalm 14:1, who said in his heart, "there is no God."
The framers of the Bill of Rights must have been atheists. They claimed no religion. Therefore, atheists or unbelievers granted you freedom to be a believer. But there is one condition. You must be subservient to them.
What we have is a situation where infidels are granting you the privilege to worship in any manner you choose, as long as they remain god. In fact, anyone who declares freedom of religion is a god and is competing with the Almighty.
There is no "freedom of religion" for a Christian. Jesus Christ gave us His government and His word. We are not free to seek out other gods and other forms of worship. Therefore, "freedom of religion" has no value in our lives. It means nothing. I find it part of antichrist. It is the same deception Rome used 2,000 years ago.
During the early days of Christianity, Rome discovered she could make her conquered subjects submit to her authority in almost every sphere. The conquered peoples would fight in the Roman armies and pay Roman taxes. But Rome found they could not force the people to abandon their religion and worship Roman gods.
Rome developed an ingenious device to circumvent this problem: the license. Rome generously declared that the people could worship any god they chose, and in any manner they chose. They could even proselytize for their religion. This marvelous "freedom of religion" was granted, with just one minor condition. They must first obtain a license from the Roman government. This established their religion as a legal religion of the Roman State.
Every religion in the Empire, except one, readily complied with this request. Even Judaism registered with Rome and became an officially recognized religion. But the obscure sect known as Christianity remained a "religio illicita," an illegal religion.
Christians were soon viewed, not so much as a religion, but as politicians of the worst kind. If they were not stopped, they would overturn the Roman Empire with their allegiance to another Kingdom.
Why would the Christians not accept a license? To accept a license, means to become "legal." It means to accept the sovereignty of the one who issues the license. One key principle is the lesser authority never licenses the greater authority. Rome wanted the Christians to acknowledge that they must obtain Caesar's permission to worship Jesus Christ. If the Christians accepted Caesar's license, they would be acknowledging the authority of Caesar over that of Jesus Christ. The Roman Emperor would stand above God Himself.
This was exactly what the Romans intended to accomplish by issuing religious licenses. They would graciously allow "freedom of religion" throughout the Empire. The only catch was that every religion must acknowledge Caesar's authority over the gods of all religions, including the God of Christianity.
Hitler praised the Romans for their "tolerance" of all religions. But he shared the Romans' hostility toward Christians who would not submit to licensing. Later, he said that he viewed Christian resistance as an implicit challenge to his own totalitarian claims.
Christians who confessed that "Jesus is Lord," could not accept the Roman license without making Caesar lord over Christ. They told Rome, not just with words, but with their very lives, that Christ, not Caesar, was Lord.