If First Amendment freedoms are eroding in the U.S., is it an understatement to ask, should we be calling for all hands-on deck to protect these precious freedoms?
Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #193 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.
Since COVID – not so much the pandemic, but American governmental and official reactions to it – I’ve written a few times that I’ve begun to see things that I never thought I’d see in my own country. You see, for me the U.S.A. was, and still is, despite its sometimes-checkered history, the land of the free and the home of the brave, the nation where one was innocent until proven guilty in a system of justice for all, the country that believed in liberty, freedom of religion, speech, and opportunity.
But what I began to see was over-reaching government officials assuming unconstitutional powers, public willingness to submit to restrictions in their freedoms out of fear of a disease, and maybe worst of all, a growing support for curtailing or suppressing or silencing freedom of speech, one of the core, fundamental, most essential freedoms that, along with freedom of religion, made America what it was in the first place.
In his book, Last Call for Liberty: How America’s Genius for Freedom has Become Its Greatest Threat, Christian social critic Dr. Os Guinness noted how these trends worked themselves out in public discourse: “Political debate,” he said, “has degenerated into degrading and barbaric incivility, and wild talk of spying, leaking, impeachment, governability…even assassination and secession are in the air.” Now also along with insults and incitements, seething rage, mortal struggle for soul of the republic, chaos and conflict.
Guinness’s book was about last chances, about a threat to our freedoms and future.
Guinness noted that “Freedom of religion and conscience affirms the dignity, worth, and agency of every human person by freeing us to align ‘who we understand ourselves to be’ with ‘what we believe ultimately is’ and then to think, live, speak, and act in line with those convictions.” This Freedom is absolute to the point of belief but qualified at the point of behavior because behavior touches others. “Someone is free to believe in paganism, for example, but not to sacrifice an animal or another human being.”
“What is at stake with freedom of religion and conscience is nothing less than human dignity, human self-determination, and human responsibility.”
In this short but profound book, Os Guinnes is wrestling with the state of American culture, literally wondering aloud if the United States of America can last much longer or whether it will implode and cave in on itself. This seems like extremist perspective, but Os Guinness is no fly-by-night nutty observer. He is British in heritage, is now in his 80s, lives near Washington, DC, and has authored and edited more than 30 books, all of them noteworthy.
Eroding freedom of speech is what I mean about seeing things in my own country I never thought I’d see: teachers and professors losing their positions for refusing to follow the gender confusion ideology hoisted upon them by public education, conservative voices who raised questions about vaccines or other medical procedures regarding the pandemic being ousted from social media platforms or banned on YouTube, a U.S. president’s Twitter account being shut down because the then-owners of the platform did not agree with his political views.
Pastors have been harassed, at times arrested, in formerly free countries like Canada, the U.K., Germany, and other European nations, for speaking out against government policies. Similar incidents have already begun to happen in the U.S.
U.K. police have rousted people in their homes for posting what was considered “hateful” content on social media. “Numerous arrests have been made of people who did nothing but post their feelings or opinions on social media.”
“Western civilization appears to be on the cusp of a new Dark Age — for any government that arrests and locks up its own citizens for saying, writing, or thinking the ‘wrong’ opinions or beliefs can no longer say it stands for freedom or human rights.” Free speech is now on the defensive throughout Europe and perhaps now in North America.
February 14, 2025, United States Vice President JD Vance gave a speech at the 61st Munich Security Conference. In his speech, Vance criticized the European Union leaders for what he described as backsliding on freedom of speech and democracy. “Vance accused European leaders of using "ugly, Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation" in order to hide "old, entrenched interests" against alternative viewpoints that "might express a different opinion, or, God forbid, vote a different way—or even worse, win an election."
“The Vice President also heavily denounced the UK government for its "renegade" free speech laws, citing the example of Adam Smith Connor, who was jailed for breaching a "safe access zone" around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth. He also denounced Sweden's conviction of a Christian activist for burning a Quran as prosecution of religious expression, police crackdowns on anti-feminist comments in Germany, and warning letters sent by the Scottish government to people in Scotland whose homes were in safe access zones that allegedly outlawed private prayer…He argued that European leaders should embrace rather than fear public opinion, even when it challenges established positions.”
Of all the things that have concerned me in the past five or more years, among those things I never thought I’d see in my own country, the steady erosion of support for freedom of speech ranks right at the top.
Frankly, I have found it hard to relate to people who declare their dislike or disagreement with some position or point of view, followed quickly by their declarations so-called “unacceptable” speech should be silenced via loss of social media accounts, loss of jobs, or worse, some statement the other person espousing the unacceptable view should be arrested or go to jail. These people evidence no understanding of the value and precious civil liberty we call freedom of speech.
Recently, during a CBS "Face The Nation” interview host Margaret Brennan contended that Vice President JD Vance's support for free speech in his Munich presentation was reminiscent of Germany’s Nazi approach to the Holocaust. She said, Mr. Vance “was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio immediately pushed back, saying, “No. I have to disagree with you. Free speech was not used to conduct a genocide. There was no free speech in Nazi Germany. There was also no opposition in Nazi Germany, they were the sole and only party that governed that country."
"The point of (the Vice President’s) speech was basically that there is an erosion in free speech and intolerance or opposing points of view within Europe…That's not an erosion of your military capabilities, that's not an erosion of your economic standing, that's an erosion of the actual values that bind us together in this transatlantic union that everybody talks about."
We now know that Big Social Media’s earlier denial during the last presidential campaign and during the Biden Administration that it was in any way squelching conservative views is indeed false. And we now know government colluded with Big Social Media during the pandemic to silence anti-vax views. We know this because the leaders of Big Social Media, like Meta Facebooks’s Mark Zuckerberg, admitted as much and declared they want to right their ship on this matter.
The United States Constitution, the First Amendment states:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
The future of freedom is ours to protect.
Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. Or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers for more podcasts and video.
And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2025
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