To the editor:
I never could have believed during my lifetime that Biblical principles that had a strong influence on society could be vilified as they are today. The original Pilgrims came to America in search of religious freedom. The frames of the Constitution embraced this freedom. But the Bible is no longer in government or education.
Why do the anti God people claim freedom of speech, but it only applies to themselves while they fight to prohibit all others from their rights? The anti God people who claim they are atheists have no answer to anything. How did we get here? Why are we here? No answers to moral living. What happens when we die? In all honesty are they really atheists or is it all pretend?
The one or two couples, who came here, it was thought they were sent by the ACLU concerning CBM, the Children’s Bible Mission from the Watauga community that came to the teachers before or after school and left lists of Bible verses. Students who wanted to learn the verses took them home with them and would earn a New Testament, then a Bible, and other verses to earn a free trip to a week of summer camp. I earned two trips to summer camp. Great ministry that I will never forget and the school had nothing to do with it, except to give this to students who wanted to participate.
As Christians we are free to move God’s Word to the outer edge of our lives. The trend in our nation makes it safe to let our government leaders do our thinking for us. Peter and other early Christians said, “We ought to obey God rather than man.” We had always wondered about the Bible saying they will call good evil and evil good. Now we understand. The First Amendment says Congress shall make no laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion. The challenge for Christians is to not be surprised at what the non-Christian world says about Jesus and be more concerned about our response to who He is and our relationship to Him. The growing hostility toward Jesus makes our day more similar to the days when Jesus and his earlier followers set the world on fire with the power of the Gospel.

Jim Troutman
Elizabethton