When Truth is Labeled ‘Hate Speech’

When Truth is Labeled ‘Hate Speech’

Recently, social media giant Facebook arbitrarily decided to ban my personal account over a post from two years ago. To their credit, Facebook issued an apology and restored my account. I accepted their apology and am grateful for it. 

I had posted about a North Carolina bill that sought to ensure that public bathrooms were available to individuals according to their birth identity, not their self-identified gender. In other words, biological males could not frequent a ladies’ restroom. 

Here’s the entirety of my post that Facebook banned:

“Bruce Springsteen, a long-time gay rights activist, has cancelled his North Carolina concert. He says the NC law HB2 to prevent men from being able to use women’s restrooms and locker rooms is going backwards, instead of forwards. Well, to be honest, we need to go back! Back to God. Back to respecting and honoring His commands. Back to common sense. Mr. Springsteen, a nation embracing sin and bowing at the feet of godless secularism and political correctness is not progress. I’m thankful North Carolina has a governor, Pat McCrory, and a lieutenant governor, Dan Forest, and legislators who put the safety of our women and children first! HB2 protects the safety and privacy of women and children and preserves the human rights of millions of faith-based citizens of this state.” 

Facebook said that I had violated their “hate speech” policy. Did you see anything hateful in that post? Of course not. I simply stated that the proposed legislation protected women at risk by banning potential predators from public bathroom facilities. Not only that, but it was a clear violation of God’s moral standards. 

Much like Apple’s Tim Cook, Facebook has appointed itself as a moral authority, reaching across the world to establish its own flawed moral creed. 

Well, that flies in the face of God’s standard of truth, His inerrant and infallible Word, where believers firmly stand. Facebook admitted they were in error in banning my account, but it is only a matter of time until those who express the timeless truths of the Gospel are marginalized or even persecuted because of their beliefs.

The Bible says that an unbelieving and unrepentant world is the object of God’s wrath, because they “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18). That is exactly what is happening on a massive scale, as our world moves further and further away from God and hates righteousness and truth.

Nowhere is that more evident than the two most pressing moral issues of the day—abortion and homosexuality.

Since the Supreme Court made abortion legal in Roe v. Wade in 1973, more than 60 million babies have been callously murdered by so-called physicians, who betray their oath and defy God every time they kill a baby. And since the 2015 Supreme Court ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges that officially recognized and legalized gay marriage, the entire LGBTQ agenda has been heartily endorsed and promoted by virtually every sector of our culture. If you oppose either one, you quickly draw the ire and disdain of the new moral police, as I have discovered. 

What saddens me even more than the prevailing godless progressive worldview on these issues is the failure of the church to preach compellingly and consistently against abortion and homosexuality. There is an awful scarcity of pulpits across our country that present both issues in the stark light of Scripture.

The liberating Good News of God’s forgiveness is always more compelling and attractive than any sin. For those who have had an abortion, there is pardon and grace if they will repent and confess their sin. For those trapped in homosexuality, there is freedom and deliverance if they will turn to the Lord with a contrite and repentant heart. But how can a person trapped in sin be set free if they don’t even know what sin is? This is where the church is stumbling.

Are pastors afraid of how their congregations would receive the unvarnished truth of God’s Word on these topics? Abortion is murder. To be pro-abortion is to be pro-murder. A homosexual lifestyle is a shameless rebellion against the wise design of our Creator God, and there is a dire penalty to be paid (Romans 1:27). For those who pursue and practice such wickedness, “God gave them over to a debased mind” (Romans 1:28). The Old Testament accounts of Sodom and Gomorrah clearly reveal God’s wrath and displeasure.

I want to encourage pastors and congregations across the nation to expound with crystal-clear conviction the Biblical truth about sin—all sin—including abortion and homosexuality. These are practices that can draw the wrath of God on a wayward culture. After describing the depraved descent of a godless society, Paul called out the Romans “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:32).

The church should be the bulwark of God’s truth that stands boldly against such behavior, even as the culture heartily endorses it. If we as believers don’t staunchly oppose such sinful practices, then the floodgates of evil will eventually overwhelm us.

First Corinthians 6:9-11 says: “Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites … will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God”  

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version.

Subscribe to Decision Email Devotional

Subscribe to Decision Email Devotional

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

About Us     Contact Us     Privacy
©2024 Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. BGEA is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.