Don Roberts, a trustee of the Greater Augusta Utility District, wrote a column asking legislators in Maine to consider the rights of Christians in that state, considering that they are under attack all over the world.
The column, which was published on CentralMaine.com, focused on what Roberts thought were attacks against Christianity. He argued that thanks to political correctness, the influence of Christianity has been weakened in the United States while radical Islam is spreading around the world.
"Unfortunately, we are witnessing a weakening America in the naïve name of super-sensitivity for those of the Islamic faith, while Christians of the world are beheaded by Muslim terrorists," Roberts wrote.
As an example, Roberts cited President Barack Obama's comments that were made at the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 5. The president pointed out that evil deeds have also been committed in the name of Christianity.
"During the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ," Obama said. "In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ."
However, Roberts pointed out that Rev. Franklin Graham, the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham, criticized the president for failing to defend Christianity. Graham noted that in comparison, the prophet Muhammad "was a warrior and killed many innocent people" in the name of Islam.
"Many people in history have used the name of Jesus Christ to accomplish evil things for their own desires," Graham said. "But Jesus taught peace, love and forgiveness. He came to give His life for the sins of mankind, not to take life."
Roberts cited a Pew research poll that indicated 80 percent of Americans identified as Christians. He argued that "secularization" was slowly winning the culture war in the United States.
"We are losing our religious freedoms and our hope," Roberts wrote. "A great war for our minds is mounted at the very time that a dangerous threat to our existence rises throughout the Mideast in preparation for another 9/11 on our shores."
Another example Roberts cited to defend his arguments of discrimination against Christians included the reaction to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which Arkansas and Indiana recently passed into law. He stated that the laws were intended "to prevent discrimination against people with religious beliefs."
"The RFRA simply states that 'government cannot substantially burden a person's exercise of religion,'" Roberts wrote. "It ensures that 'law will respect religious freedom and apply the highest level of scrutiny to any state or local government action that infringes on people's religious liberty.'"
Roberts warned that there would be dire consequences for the United States if God's laws continued to be ignored by Americans.
"We have not yet lost all our religious freedoms, but the assault on them exists everywhere," Roberts claimed. "Christians seem to be safe from persecution as long as we don't live our faith, vote for believers or urge others to respect Christianity."
Roberts argued that "faith cannot be privatized without being compromised."
"Christians just don't want to be forced to participate in or to celebrate something that they feel violates their religious conscience," Roberts wrote.
Roberts concluded that the worldwide war on Christianity is "the single most significant political issue of our times." Believing in nothing, he contended, would lead to the country's eventual destruction.
"I submit that if you believe in nothing, you will have nothing worth dying for when that critical moment arrives to defend America (and its Christians and Jews) against attack," Roberts wrote.
