by Stan Mitchell

Montgomery, Alabama: Chief Justice Roy Moore has made the headlines for his insistence that the Ten Commandments be displayed in his courthouse. He says that the Biblical code is the foundation of law in America, and our society's efforts to remove them represent a dangerous collapse of morals and ethics in our country.

Moore, a Vietnam veteran, declared: "We've turned the Constitution and the First Amendment from a shield to protect us into a sword to deprive us of our civil and religious rights."

You know the story; you've seen it on the news. But what I want to comment on is a placard the TV cameras were showing. It said: "We Demand Freedom From Religion." I had to laugh at that. Of course the phrase should be Freedom of religion, not from religion. But it's not just the ACLU and the Coalition for the American Way that want freedom from religion. That's what every rebellious teenager wants, and every independent man who doesn't want to be "told what to do" wants -- freedom from religion! That's what couples living in sin want, and drunks too -- freedom from religion. That's what dishonest politicians want, and most of us, too -- freedom from religion.

We don't want to be responsible to a God who demands our obedience. We would just as soon not change bad habits. We don't want a preacher, or a judge, or the Bible telling us how to live! We want freedom from religion!

Perhaps that's why so many are trying to push the Ten Commandments -- and the rest of the Bible -- out of our public places, and out of our hearts. We want freedom from religion. But remember this. Worship of pleasure is a religion. Worshiping rap artists, and flashy new cars, and our own self indulgence -- all of these is a religion. We have simply switched our loyalty from God to idols. There is no freedom from religion. Only freedom in Christ!

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).