Page 18 of In This Moment
Ashley talked about being at the coffee shop in downtown Bloomington with a friend last week. “She was telling me about her family, and the message at church on Sunday.”
“Wait till you hear this.” Landon linked hands with Ashley and waited for her to finish.
“I know. I couldn’t believe it.” Ashley was clearly troubled by the situation. “So there we were in the coffee shop, sipping our lattes, and my friend is telling me about the sermon.”
“Just a normal conversation,” Landon added.
Ashley nodded. “So all the sudden my friend looks over one shoulder and then the other. Like someone might be listening. Seriously. Then she leans real close and whispers God’s name. ‘God is really speaking to me,’ she tells me.” Ashley shook her head. “I asked her why she was whispering and she told me. Because she was worried about saying God’s name. Like it would be against the law to say the name God in a coffee shop.”
The sick feeling in Luke’s gut grew. “Two problems with that. First, your friend doesn’t know her rights. And second, it seems she’s okay with her perceived loss of rights, the idea that she might have to whisper God’s name in public.”
“What case are you working on?” His dad put his arm around Elaine. “I haven’t seen you much. What’s the state of things out there?”
“It’s wild.” Luke took a slow breath and thought about his recent docket. “So many lawsuits. I’m definitely enjoying it more than entertainment law.”
“What you’re doing now matters at a completely different level.” His dad shook his head. “It’s a crazy world out there.”
Luke appreciated his dad’s support. It mattered, knowing that his family believed in what he was doing. It always would.
The kids came running back, all the cousins together, including the little ones. Cole led the charge. “Can we take one more turn in the corn maze? We’re trying to break our record.” He grinned at Blaise, who at three was the youngest in the group. “It’s not easy with the little ones, but we’re all helping each other.”
A chorus of pleading from the older cousins, and Luke and the others easily agreed. Another run through the maze was a great idea. The conversation among the adults was just getting started. The kids ran off, and the others leaned in.
“Who exactly is doing the suing?” The question came from Peter, Brooke’s husband. Both of them were doctors. “We’re pretty removed from all that in our world.”
“Not me. Not on the coaching field.” Ryan narrowed his eyes. “A coach in our district is fighting for his job because he allows the players to pray. Our country is changing and we never got a vote in the matter.”
Luke nodded. “Exactly.” How many times had he heard that before? He looked at Dayne. “There have been a few movies on the subject.God’s Not Dead, for instance.”
“Right. Film is a powerful tool.” Dayne looked at his wife, Katy, and then at the group. “I have an investor who approached me yesterday looking to put money into a film defending religious freedom. I’m searching for the right story.”
Luke chuckled, but the sound was more sad than humorous. “We need to have lunch, Brother. I have far too many stories.” He looked at Peter. “Back to your question. The people suing are often atheistic legal groups, brain trusts whose intent it is to wipe religion—and the Christian faith in particular—from the landscape of America. There’s a dozen of these groups now, and more all the time.”
Reagan sighed. “The suing isn’t just being done by those groups now. That’s where it gets crazy.”
“She’s right.” Luke felt the gravity of the situation. “Now it’s school districts suing teachers for mentioning God. Parents suing schools for allowing such a mention.” He hesitated. “Like I said, it’s out of control.”
The conversation shifted to the U.S. Supreme Court and the seats that would no doubt be filled in the next few years. Luke and his legal team had talked about that at length lately. “For now, things are better with the Supreme Court. But honestly, there could come a time when churches will gradually be outlawed in the United States.” He looked at his family. “And it could happen in our lifetime.”
Brooke looked doubtful. “How could that happen? The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.”
“Simple.” Luke gave her a sad look. “The courts have been interpreting that very clause to read freedomfromreligion. As if belief in God were a dangerous or bad thing for culture.”
His dad shook his head. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Studies have shown that faith is what keeps a society like ours working. It’s the difference between a productive people living in the providence of God Almighty and... well, anarchy.”
Another breeze washed over them and Luke exhaled. He didn’t want to keep talking about this. Today was a time to celebrate. Still, it was important everyone understood that their rights truly were in jeopardy. “Here’s how close we are to losing our churches.” Luke made eye contact with his siblings and their spouses and then his father and Elaine. “The government would simply analyze the beliefs of a given church. If those beliefs line up with the Bible, then they could very well be determined to be hate speech in today’s climate. Churches would be considered hate groups in the eyes of the government. They’d lose their tax-exempt status first, and then they’d lose their ability to meet.”
Reagan raised her eyebrows. “Isn’t that crazy?”
“And those conversations in coffee shops where people are afraid to say the name of God out loud aren’t helping.” Ashley leaned forward. The issue clearly troubled her. “Once people stop believing in their rights, those rights are a whole lot easier to take away.”
“That’s exactly it.” Luke nodded. “Anyway... there’ve been lots of cases, and all of them have dealt with situations that would’ve never made it in front of a jury even a few years ago.” He paused. “That’s how quickly this whole religious freedom thing is changing.”
The kids came running back, all of them laughing and out of breath. Some of the older kids had the little ones by their hands. Tommy was out in front, holding up his phone. “We did it! We beat our record!”
Hayley raised her arms in the air, her face bright with childlike joy. “We asked God to show us the way, and that’s just what He did.”
Luke smiled to himself and let the scene wash over him. No one had ever told Hayley not to talk about God in public. In fact, no one had ever told any of the kids that.
