“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15 [KJV])
“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD [be] God, follow him: but if Baal, [then] follow him. And the people answered him not a word”. (1 Kings 18:21 [KJV])
“Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three [things]; choose thee one of them, that I may [do it] unto thee.” (2 Samuel 24:12 [KJV])
For most people in the world the idea of ‘liberty of conscience’ is only a phrase that does not stir much thought or emotion.
Protestants and especially Seventh Day Adventists, often advocate the thought of liberty of conscience but only from a religious standpoint. Adventists see liberty of conscience from the standpoint that one day the laws of the United States will change and force them to worship contrary to their religious beliefs.
It is this meager view that caused prominent Adventist scholars to openly suggest that the vaccine mandate did not violate conscience; therefore they sided and encouraged their congregation to take the shot. Two questions arise from this discourse.
(1)What then is Liberty of Conscience?
(2)And what foundation does it stand on?
Liberty of Conscience is the fundamental or absolute right of the individual to choose without any added pressure from anyone. Therefore, it stands to reason that he/she must understand that they have the same obligation and must extend the same reciprocal right to his/her neighbor. (Galatians 5:13-14 [KJV]) “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only [use] not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
In sharing this view, a friend of mine bluntly checked me and stated that the definition is too broad. What about the criminal mind he exclaimed, should not his liberty of conscience be checked? My reply is that anyone who will violate another’s conscience has already lost his. They may not understand the principle at stake; wherein, if one man’s right of conscience is violated, then all men’s rights of conscience are violated. This is not democracy, where majority rules. This is a true republican principle where one man’s right is equally weighed to the law as the majority. This is the principle that made the USA great with equality before the law.
Allow me to share a scenario, two individuals going about their separate businesses come in contact with one another e.g. in a grocery store.
A little chitchat takes place and some interest is generated. Numbers are shared and a friendship is developed. Those individuals reach a place of comfort with one another and decided to share one another (become intimate). Using the same female for an example. The next evening she arrives at her door and as she places her key in the lock, someone (a male) rushes up behind her and places a gun at her head threatening her. He forces himself upon her although he never physically harms her with the weapon. He then proceeds to do the same acts that she enjoyed the evening before. Yet with this act, her entire mind and body recoils and she gets up from this scenario scarred possibly for life. Remember the same act was done, what is the difference? Every aspect of her is violated, for it was not her choice.
The Bible relates a story of a similar incident. See 2 Samuel 13:1-14.
Therefore, when one is threatened that he or she must do or take something against their will, this is a violation of conscience, regardless of who does it. The pandemic was a clear example and because many had no problem with the mandate, they were willing to violate and crucify every other who did not share their opinion. Therefore, the pandemic showed that for the majority there is no such thing as liberty of conscience. What are the implications? A loveless society. A society of Cain’s. (Genesis 4:8-9 [KJV]) “And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where [is] Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: [Am] I my brother’s keeper?”
Question two must be answered.
The foundation of liberty of conscience is the love of God.
“God is love.” 1 John 4:16. His nature, His law, is love. It ever has been; it ever will be. “The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,” whose “ways are everlasting,” changeth not. With Him “is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Isaiah 57:15; Habakkuk 3:6; James 1:17. {Patriarchs and Prophets (PP) 33.1}
The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all intelligent beings depends upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the service of love–service that springs from an appreciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced obedience; and to all He grants freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service. {PP 35.1}
At the creation of man, God made the man upright, in His own image, clothed with His own glory, reflecting His own character. Our first parents, though created innocent and holy, were not placed beyond the possibility of wrongdoing. God made them free moral agents, capable of appreciating the wisdom and benevolence of His character and the justice of His requirements, and with full liberty to yield or to withhold obedience. {PP 48}
“God placed man under law, as an indispensable condition of his very existence. He was a subject of the divine government, and there can be no government without law. God might have created man without the power to transgress His law; He might have withheld the hand of Adam from touching the forbidden fruit; but in that case man would have been, not a free moral agent, but a mere automaton. Without freedom of choice, his obedience would not have been voluntary, but forced. There could have been no development of character. {PP 49}
“If it be asked. Could not God have made the man so that he could not sin? The perfectly safe and true answer is, He could not. That is, He could not so make him a man: so to have made him would have been to make him unintelligent, a mere animal machine, incapable of morals. For to have made the man so that he simply could not sin, would have been equally to make him so that he could not do right. It would have been to make him so that he could not choose: and to have made him unable to choose would have been to make him incapable of virtue. Freedom of choice is essential to morals. God made man to be moral. Therefore He made him free to choose. And He forever respects that of which He is the Author, the freedom of choice in man. He Himself will never invade a hair’s breadth the freedom of man to choose for himself. {1903 ATJ, PBE 128.3}
After sin, mankind by nature became totalitarian, eager to rule or dominate others. Do as I say but not as I do. The world reels with the wickedness and wretchedness of that philosophy. The word of God is clear, “O LORD, I know that the way of man [is] not in himself: [it is] not in man that walketh to direct his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23 [KJV])
(Matthew 20:25-28 [KJV])
“But Jesus called them [unto him], and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
As this loveless society marches forward, every crime imaginable continues to occur daily, with little understanding of why. Only the very few understand that they are their brother’s keeper, and the rights endowed by the Creator was given to safeguard society. May God grant us the eye salve, wisdom, understanding and boldness to be true educators that some may be rescued from this fast-moving train to perdition.
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