There appears to be a trend among government officials lately to use the phrase “freedom of worship” instead of “freedom of religion” in their speeches.
Chuck Colson provides a very good commentary on why this is a dangerous trend.
The word “worship” has a much narrower meaning than “religion” in English. Religious practice changes every aspect of life, and is not limited to personal or private expression.
This was first noticed in a recent speech by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. It was interesting to read one of the responses to Colson’s commentary, by a former Reagan administration official, who noticed the same word choice by Obama on the Fourth of July:
Robert W Sweet Jr makes this comment
2010-07-05 12:13:15
Last night, July 4, 2010 my wife and I were on the west lawn of the Capitol in Washington, DC for the fireworks, and the 30 anniversary of the National Symphony Orchestra concert preceding the fireworks. Among the remarks of the M.C., an Obama White House Official, was a reference to the "freedom of worship" as one of the basic rights of all Americans. I had just listened to Chuck Colson’s "Two Minute warning" about this "newspeak." It was chilling to have such a reminder of the slippery slope we are on to diminish, and ultimately deny the "rights" guaranteed by our U.S. Constitution. I had just posted his "two minute warning" on my FACEBOOK account….something I recommend everyone do as well. The First Amendment freedoms all tie together: This amendment has these four important safeguards for the American people. (1) Congress must not set up any religion for the nation. It must not keep you from practicing whatever religion you prefer. 2) Congress cannot stop you from saying, writing, or printing almost anything you like. 3) Congress cannot keep you from meeting peaceably with other people to talk about anything you like. 4) Congress cannot keep you from asking your government to correct something that you think is wrong. Using the Bible as our authority, and the U.S. Constitution as our guide in this age, we have the right to assemble in our churches, preach against homosexuality, or abortion, write about it, talk about it, tell the world about it if we so choose. The right to "worship" Implies a personal action that would be extremely limiting for Christians in America. If substituted for "religion it would virtually destroy our houses of worship, radio and TV broadcasts, and even our home church movements. Thank God for Charles Colson’s warning. May we all take heed before it is too late. Robert W. Sweet, Jr. Senior Staff Member (Retired) White House Office of Policy Development Reagan Administration (1981 – 88)
Words have meaning. This will be something to pay attention to. Freedom of religion is fundamental to our society and our form of government – something worth protecting with prayer and diligence.
