SHAWN A. AKERS - CHARISMA NEWS
As a Christian, have you lost your faith in American values?
Left-leaning bullies are putting forth tremendous effort these days to rid American culture of Jesus, the Bible and prayer. Religious freedoms that many have taken for granted in the past are now being targeted for extinction in the name of inclusion and equality.
Some, like Washington high school football coach Joe Kennedy, were fired for simply praying in public. Saying "Merry Christmas" became taboo years ago in favor of "Happy Holidays," as did the display of a nativity scene in public.
The Ten Commandments were removed from public buildings. Libraries tried to prevent celebrities like Kirk Cameron from holding children's story hours in their facility while allowing drag queens to pollute the minds of youngsters.
Some school boards have been told they cannot open their meetings with prayer, even if it is a silent one.
Fox News attempted to silence one of its long-time hosts, Tucker Carlson, from espousing his conservative and faith-filled values and "prophetic voice" by firing him earlier this year. It has only lit a fire under Carlson, who is now determined more than ever to defeat cancel culture and its allies.
Cancel culture is all around, but believers are beginning to fight back and their voices are being heard.
Kennedy took his case all the way to the Supreme Court and won, forcing Bremerton High School to reinstate him to his former position. The school cannot prohibit him from praying on the field with student-athletes and other coaches when he returns to the field on Sept. 1.
Libraries attempting to deny Cameron access to their facilities caved in, and now he is holding children's story hours throughout the nation while promoting Christian values.
During the past few holiday seasons, little has been heard about the right to say "Merry Christmas" in public settings.
The attack on nativity scenes have subsided since 2021, when a precedent was set in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. That city council approved of a settlement to keep Jesus public after the Knights of Columbus Star of the Sea Council filed a lawsuit against it.
Liberty Council fought for the right for the Christian flag to be displayed on the Boston City Hall building, and won big. It was a 9-0 decision by the Supreme Court. The case resulted in the City of Boston being ordered to pay Liberty Council $2.125 million for attorneys' fees and costs for unconstitutional discrimination.
Organizations like the First Liberty Institute have played a tremendous part in many of these victories. Its Restoring Faith in America campaign is having a tremendous impact on the culture.
With this campaign, the organization encourages:
- Football players and coaches to pray together on the field after a game.
- Parents to open school board meetings with prayer.
- Cities or churches to display nativity scenes during the holidays.
- Government entities to put up a Ten Commandments monument on government land, and teachers to put up a Ten Commandments poster in their classroom.
- Citizens to inform their church or local religious organization that they cannot be excluded from government grants or benefits programs simply because they are faith-based.
First Liberty's Paul Clement encourages Americans to "take a knee" with Coach Kennedy on Sept. 1 to support public affirmations of faith. "The First Freedom Challenge" calls on people to commit to joining a national night of prayer with Kennedy as he returns to the field for the first time since 2015.
In his book, "God and Cancel Culture," Charisma CEO Stephen Strang encouraged believers to hold stand firm in their kingdom values. He wrote:
"A mature believer knows the Christian walk involves dealing with seeming contradictions. Jesus Himself said, 'In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.'"
Cancel culture is being weakened by a sect of people who are simply fed up with the "woke mob." Won't you join in and let your voice be heard? 
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Shawn A. Akers is the online editor for Charisma Media.
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