Is Your Religious Freedom Under Attack?

This is a guest post by my friend Alex McFarland. I would encourage you to read the post and highly encourage you to attend the Truth For A New Generation Conference…WOL will be there!

More than 100 Egyptian churches attacked or burned to the ground. Nigeria’s Christians slaughtered by the dozens. Saudi Arabia bans Bibles and Christian literature. An American pastor serves eight years in an Iranian prison for his Christian beliefs. Pakistani mother Asia Bibi serves more than four years in prison due to “violation” of the nation’s strict blasphemy laws. An American citizen is sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor in North Korea for breaking laws related to sharing his Christian faith.

According to International Christian Concern, more than 200 million Christians were murdered for their faith in the past century. Today more than fifty countries officially restrict or prohibit Christian missionary activity—that’s more than one-fourth of the nations on the planet! Religious freedom is under attack. Your cherished liberties are in danger of being lost…and these losses are growing!

In our own nation, efforts against religious freedom have continued to increase. For example, secularists have recently launched a new effort to remove “one nation under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance in Massachusetts. The Faith from Freedom Foundation has challenged countless small town high schools to end prayer at sporting events. Our own military now finds itself increasingly accused of discrimination against Christian chaplains and military personnel who stand for traditional marriage.

Conservative Christians also find themselves targeted as “hate groups” by political organization such as the Southern Poverty Law Center. Those who take a public stand regarding traditional marriage, a prolife worldview, or other controversial social issue are now labeled for so-called hate crimes for speaking their conscience on matters of biblical importance.

Also alarming is the recent report by the Chaplain Alliance that shows the U.S. Department of Defense classified Catholics and Evangelical Christians as religious extremists similar to Al-Qaeda. Thirteen years following the attacks of 9/11, Christians are now listed on the same page as the terrorists who killed thousands of innocent Americans.

How can Christians respond to today’s growing intrusions to religious freedom? On September 28 — as part of the 2013 Truth For A New Generation Apologetics Conference –– our event partner the Charles Colson Center for Christian Worldview hosts “A National Briefing on Religious Freedom” in Charlotte, North Carolina. FOX News’ national correspondent Lauren Green will moderate an array of experts for an intriguing panel discussion on religious freedom and its implications for today’s Christians.

The briefing’s panel includes religious, cultural, and academic voices to provide the evidence to analyze and respond to the increasing challenges related to religious persecution. Experts include Jennifer Marshall, Director of Domestic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation; Dr. Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama; Eric Metaxas, a voice of Breakpoint radio and New York Times best-selling author of Bonhoeffer; John Stonestreet, Executive Director of Summit Ministries; and Eric Teetsel, Executive Director of the Manhattan Declaration.

This unique forum will offer Christian an important biblical and practical perspective regarding the religious freedoms under attack in our world and offer insights for those who desire to help restore America’s greatest freedom—the freedom of religion. The National Briefing also serves as a premiere event alongside keynote speakers at the Truth for a New Generation Conference that will include Tony Perkins, Lee Strobel, Dr. Elmer Towns, Josh McDowell, Sean McDowell, and Carmen Fowler LaBerge, among others.

Dr. Alex McFarland notes, “A National Briefing on Religious Freedom” will equip believers to understand the seriousness of this moment in history and to work toward change that resembles the culture of religious freedom our nation’s founding fathers intended.

Alex McFarland directs the Center for Apologetics and Christian Worldview at North Greenville University.  He is founder of the Truth For A New Generation conferences, and has spoken in more than 1400 US churches.  For more information or to register for “A National Briefing on Religious Freedom” at the Truth for a New Generation conference, log onto: www.truthforanewgeneration.com, or call 888-705-0980.