Religious Liberty and Legislating God’s Law

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A musical depicting Mormon missionaries in a negative light was recently shown in Salt Lake City. While many Mormons have been offended by the content of the production, no one attempted to use the power of the law to shut it down.

In many countries—including Russia, Pakistan, and Egypt—this kind of disrespect toward religion would not be tolerated. Often citizens are arrested for making statements or even asking questions about a status quo faith. So-called blasphemy laws prohibit citizens from expressing personal opinions that disagree with the religion of the land.

The questions people of faith need to consider are: Does God’s law need to be legislated by human governments? Should religiously founded moral views be required by law? Religious liberty should be about protecting the rights of individuals to worship God how they see fit, not protecting religions from criticism.

Jesus divided the Ten Commandments into two parts—our responsibilities to God and our responsibilities to our fellow humans (Matthew 22:37–40). He also defined our relationship to the state and to God: “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).

The United States was established on the principle of religious liberty—which includes the freedoms of worship and conscience—a concept that had been largely foreign to European counterparts for centuries. Today, this freedom has been disseminated around the world, but according to Bible prophecy, our country and world will change dramatically in the near future.

Revelation 13 outlines the history of this religious conflict from the time of Christ to present day. It identifies a distinct change to the relative peace and freedom of our world. A transformation is described, one that brings the world to a place where government powers require that all the world give homage to a religion established by sinful humans with laws that contradict the Word of God (Revelation 13:11–17).

Revelation also describes God’s people as those who stand as faithful witnesses to the true faith of Jesus Christ, by keeping all His commandments, including the Sabbath. They don’t do this because they are forced—but because they love God.

If you have questions about the key issues in America concerning religious liberty, click here for a free resource.

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