pat_roberstonReligious right groups in Minnesota and across the country are enraged by a recent report by the Department of Homeland Security that they feel targets them as right-wing extremists and terrorists. The report was commissioned by the Bush administration but not finished until President Obama took office.

The Minnesota Family Council asked on its blog last week, “Are you pro-life, veteran, gun owner, anti-tax, pro-marriage? If so, you are fertile ground for becoming a right wing extremist and even terrorist.”

Televangelist Pat Robertson speculated that gays and lesbians were behind the report. On the 700 Club, he said, “It shows somebody down in the bowels of that organization is either a convinced left winger or somebody whose sexual orientation is somewhat in question. But it’s that kind of thing, somebody who doesn’t think that we should have abortion on demand, is labeled a terrorist! It’s outrageous!”

The American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative legal think tank, sent this message to supporters: “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has labeled you, a member of the pro-life community, THE MOST DANGEROUS DOMESTIC TERRORIST.”

Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America, said that the report was a direct attack on what Jesus stood for. “[It's] a direct assault on the basic principles of religious beliefs that have been here since the time of Christ,” she told OneNewsNow, a Christian news service. “These are the things that Christ died on the cross for.”

Jan Markell, of Maple Grove, Minnesota-based Olive Tree Ministries, said that conservative Christians are now terrorists:

Are you a student of Bible prophecy who has discovered that the Bible teaches the planet will soon be under the control of the one-world government of the Antichrist before Jesus comes and institutes His one-world government? Do you believe the Bible teaches murdering our children is wrong and homosexuality destroys lives and that we should speak out against them? Do you feel the increasing immorality is fueling increasing crime, and wish to defend your children with a firearm? Do you love America and want to see it obey its own Constitution limiting federal power and enforcing its own immigration laws? Are you a military veteran who has bled for the freedom of your country?

If you can answer “yes” to just one of these, then you are now considered by America’s own Department of Homeland Security, to be a “domestic rightwing terrorist.”

As for Christians who believe in God’s moral law and students of Bible prophecy, being seen as terrorists is a chilling thought. Christians only have to look at other large democracies like India to see that democracy doesn’t protect its Christian citizens when the government would rather not have them around.

When did such a transition take place in the United States, that our “apple pie” Americans who love God and country such as myself would be seen as the enemy? The answer coincides when the values of the Bible were ejected from our society. A free and truly democratic society that values life and liberty cannot survive without those who hold to God’s moral law. True freedom requires Jesus Christ, the Bible, and a foundation that rests firmly on what God calls right and wrong.