ACLU

Recently, I read an article about the American Civil Liberties Union a.k.a. ACLU regarding its disregard for the moral fabric woven by America's forefathers. It's obviously not an ACLU publication, written with a Christian slant, so I decided to check out ACLU's website and see for myself. I found their position on freedom of expression on this page: http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/gen/11178pub19970102.html

You may read it yourself but if you don't have the time, I've highlighted a few things that may be telling (my commentary found in parentheses)...

• Finally, in 1969, in Brandenberg v. Ohio, the Supreme Court struck down the conviction of a Ku Klux Klan member, and established a new standard: Speech can be suppressed only if it is intended, and likely to produce, "imminent lawless action." (is it possible that this may be too late?) Otherwise, even speech that advocates violence is protected. The Brandenberg standard prevails today.
  

• The ACLU has often been at the center of controversy for defending the free speech rights of groups that spew hate, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazis. But if only popular ideas were protected, we wouldn't need a First Amendment. History teaches that the first target of government repression is never the last. If we do not come to the defense of the free speech rights of the most unpopular among us, even if their views are antithetical to the very freedom the First Amendment stands for, then no one's liberty will be secure. In that sense, all First Amendment rights are "indivisible." (Is it just me, or does it sound like ACLU is ok with hate speech?) Censoring so-called hate speech also runs counter to the long-term interests of the most frequent victims of hate: racial, ethnic, religious and sexual minorities. We should not give the government the power to decide which opinions are hateful, for history has taught us that government is more apt to use this power to prosecute minorities than to protect them. As one federal judge has put it, tolerating hateful speech is "the best protection we have against any Nazi-type regime in this country." (please explain this reasoning to me, because I thought it was the toleration of hateful speech that led to the Holocaust.)
  

• Legally "obscene" material has historically been excluded from First Amendment protection. Unfortunately, the relatively narrow obscenity exception, described below, has been abused by government authorities and private pressure groups...the fact is, the obscenity exception to the First Amendment is highly subjective and practically invites government abuse. (instead of allowing government to ban questionable obscene material, ACLU would rather allow it all.)

The third bullet point leads to this letter written by ACLU to two judges regarding the Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act of 2002:
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/speech/14793leg20020508.html

This is the conclusion of the letter:

• Government can and should outlaw the abuse of children. However, it cannot ban speech simply because that speech may encourage unlawful acts...The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of thought.

Again, the spirit of ACLU is to allow anything, good or bad, until someone gets provably hurt. Isn't child pornography, real or virtual or in whatever form, just plain wrong? Is this questionable morality? One reason for their fight for freedom seem to stem from a distrust of government, which is understandable and even admirable. We need to check and hold the "powers that be" accountable. Yet, in ACLU's fight for freedom for the people, they have ironically taken away the rights and freedom of those who hold certain moral convictions. They have taken away the right and freedom to enjoy a safe, decent, righteous, virtuous, pure, and moral society. They have, in effect, become a "power that be", defining what is good and right for all people, allowing all sorts of misbehavior and immorality for the sake of certain "freedoms".

ACLU's intentions may be good, but their ideology is fatally misguided. The result of a nation that neither honors God nor cherish His commandments, which are intended for our good, is destruction. Whether it comes by slow moral decay or quick severe judgment, God's blessing and protection on this land will be removed, unless we, as a nation repent of our disobedience to His Word. Repent and turn to Christ while there is still time, while His hand of mercy is still upon you.