What, if anything, should the state do about heresy?

[TylerRay]

My response is that a non christian government, based upon our kind of republic, has to grant even them religious freedom to worship Satan, as long as not harming anyone or anything else.

Is that their duty before God, then?

 

[Gforce9]

Well, I have heard it described as demon rum.

By Fundy's . I describe it as smooth and tasty.

 

[Tom Hart]

I'm getting a headache here.

I need it explained to me, @Dachaser, why a "republic" is somehow exempt from the moral law. And not once have you provided biblical support.

You have repeatedly rejected the idea that the Ten Commandments are for all men at all times. I do not see how that possibly can fit with in a biblical, Reformed framework.

And it might help, as we continue this discussion, to define what you mean by "republic". The First French Republic was a republic too. (You know, the chaps that were chopping off heads left, right and centre.) North Korea is a Democratic People's Republic, another beacon of religious freedom and toleration. Just what exactly do you mean by republic, or what sort of republic do you have in mind? Are non-republics, such as Westminster parliamentiary democracies, excluded from your view? Are the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and others still required to uphold the moral law?

 

[Tom Hart]

I am not myself, and by this logic, there should be no alcohol ever sold....

Let's not forget that Jesus made water into wine. But then, perhaps he was only permitting the wedding guests to drink it. Toleration and all that.

 

[Steve Curtis]

I have heard it described as demon rum.

I have, too! In fact, I grew up hearing that. And I believed it - and taught it, too. Then, one day, I decided to look for that - and a whole host of other things I had believed - in the Bible. And, you know what? I couldn't find it (or them) there.

David, please, this is what so many of us have tried to say in so many ways: build a case from God's Word for what you are saying - not from cliches and catch-phrases handed down in revivalist tents and Wednesday night prayer meetings. Search the Scriptures. Be ready to give a defense - from the Bible - for what you believe and why.

In this thread, you are actually making the incredulous claim that some people - simply because they have been voted into office in a secular, republican government - have been given a pass from falling on their face before the holy, almighty, sovereign God of the universe. Step back for a moment - clear your head of all that you have been taught - and consider what it is that you are saying here!

God commands that all men everywhere repent - even US senators, congressmen - and presidents! One cannot say, "Well, as a man, I should repent and worship God, but as an elected official in a Republic, I can discharge my duties irrespective of God's revealed will, and He won't mind (because of the whole 'elected official in a Republic' bit...)."

I will again reiterate what has also been said several times in this thread: we are not discussing what is likely to happen, or even what has happened in the near or distant past. We are discussing what should happen. So, ponder and respond to this line of questioning, please: should every human being (regardless of whether they are senators, pastors, or plumbers) love God with all of their heart, soul, and mind? Are they not, in fact, commanded to do so by their Creator? How, then, can there be any situation whereby they gain an exemption from that requirement?

 

[Steve Curtis]

EDIT: David, I pray that you don't feel as though we are all piling up on you even as we, well, pile up on you! Seriously, cognitive dissonance is a tough nut to crack. When we have been "indoctrinated" into a biblical and/or worldview for so long, other, competing views - even if they make perfect sense! - are often rejected, simply because they challenge our indoctrination. I speak as one who has been there, and who struggled mightily to break free of the bondage of my indoctrination (primarily, dispensational theology). But let me also encourage you: it is tremendously liberating when you finally do break free! So, keep wrestling with these issues - and challenge your own presuppositions, too. It's healthy and wise to do so! In the process, there really is wisdom in the notion of being slow to speak and quick to listen.

 

[Haeralis]

The government, in this nation, should make sure that even satanists have their religious rights enforced, but also make very sure that they are not abusing their right, by engaging in say hurting/abusing children, human sacrifices for example.

Why do Satanists have a "right" to practice Satanism? Who gave it to them? We know that God did not bestow a natural right to them to practice their wicked religion. If they have a right to worship whichever god that they wanted, then they'd conceivably have an excuse before God.

In light of this, some may deny any role for God whatsoever in authoring natural rights and they instead become an artifice created by individual people. If we do that, I don't see how we can avoid a Hobbesian understanding of rights in which they are nothing more than what the government says that they are. Might makes right.