POSITION STATEMENT

We uphold the founding principle of Freedom of Conscience upon which the United States was formed. 

The United States of America was founded on the Principle of Freedom of Conscience. Article VI of the Constitution says, “no religious test shall ever be required to any office or public trust under the United States.” The first amendment to the Constitution making this more clear states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

2000 years ago as described in Acts chapter 4, and prior to the writing of the Constitution, the disciples Peter and John said, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” These words were spoken to the rulers of Jerusalem in response to being “commanded not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus.”  The rulers were attempting to silence the disciples, and the disciples would not submit to their authority. Instead they put God first.

The founders of the colonies of the U.S. fled Europe to escape religious persecution. They were seeking peace and the freedom to practice religion according to the dictates of their conscience. The Catholic Church Papal power during the Inquisition was responsible for the death of tens of thousands of those who didn’t believe as the church wanted them to believe. The Papal institution attempted to force the conscience of those who did not agree with their teachings and traditions. Many who wanted to live in accordance with Biblical teachings and follow their own conscience, were executed. 

Historically speaking, the logical conclusion of forcing the conscience has always led to persecution and execution. It must, if logical reasoning will not change the mind, the next step taken is inducements and bribes. If that doesn’t work next comes threats and fines. When that fails next comes imprisonment and even a death sentence. Forcing someone to do something against their will, never changes their mind; they will be of the same opinion and mind still. 

Most importantly consider that Jesus NEVER forced anyone to follow Him or to obey Him. He sought to move people through love, by loving them. Any being that forces another is the opposite of Jesus and is therefore anti-Christ (against Christ).

In Mathew 22:21 Jesus says, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. Here Jesus is drawing a distinction between the things that belong to the civil government (Caesar) and the things that belong to God. God has set up and established all earthly governments. They only exist by his will. 

Romans 13:1-9 state, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he bears not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that does evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loves another hath fulfilled the law.  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 

God spoke and wrote the Ten Commandments. In the 1st four commandments – God spells out his intention for the relationship he desired between man and Himself. The final six commandments describe God’s intention for the relationship men are to have between one another. Civil government (Caesar) is to have influence and control between people in society. Laws to establish protection of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are just and right as God is concerned. 

However, God did not give civil government any such influence or control over the first four commandments. How can civil government know if someone is “putting other gods” before Him? How can the government know if a man is worshipping and bowing down to idols? How can the civil authorities know if someone is taking the Lord’s name in vain? How can the civil government know if someone is keeping the Sabbath day Holy? All these commandments involve a mental relationship between man and God. Only God knows the heart and mind of man. Only God can know our thoughts and intents. The civil government controlled by man does not have the ability to read minds or know the heart.

The civil government can observe behaviors. It can “see” when someone steals, or kills. According to the Bible sin begins in the heart. If a man looks with lust upon a woman that is a sin, even if no act of rape has occurred. Furthermore, Jesus says if we have hatred in our heart we have committed murder, even though the physical act of killing someone has not occurred. 

The government has no right to invade any person’s relationship with His God. Or to force anyone to believe in God, when someone chooses not to believe there is a God. 

If the civil government were to attempt to legislate man’s thoughts, they would begin to take on the prerogatives of God. In 1529 the German princes assembled at the Diet of Spires, there was presented the emperor’s decree restricting religious liberty, and prohibiting all further dissemination of the reformed doctrines. Those who had accepted the reformed faith met together, and their unanimous decision was, “Let us reject this decree. In matters of conscience the majority has no power.”—Merle d’Aubigne, History of the Reformation, b. 13, ch. 5. 

In a second letter, written on the way to Wittenberg, Martin Luther said, “By the Word, we must refute and expel what has gained a place and influence by violence. I would not resort to force against the superstitious and unbelieving.Let there be no compulsion. I have been laboring for liberty of conscience. Liberty is of the very essence of faith.” 

Today, we see signs America’s precious freedom of religious belief and practice is in danger of being destroyed by those who would force the conscience of the minority to conform to the wishes of the majority. If you are not yet aware, read Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership page 589 regarding Sabbath observance. We encourage you to become educated, seek the Lord to know what to do and how to prepare for future events.

Also, consider reading the 35th chapter entitled, Liberty of Conscience Threatened from the book, The Great Controversy. 

Here are a few excerpts from Darkness Before Dawn:

In the movements now in progress in the United States to secure for the institutions and usages of the church the support of the state, Protestants are following in the steps of papists. Nay, more, they are opening the door for the papacy to regain in Protestant America the supremacy which she has lost in the Old World. And that which gives greater significance to this movement is the fact that the principal object contemplated is the enforcement of Sunday observance—a custom which originated with Rome, and which she claims as the sign of her authority. It is the spirit of the papacy—the spirit of conformity to worldly customs, the veneration for human traditions above the commandments of God—that is permeating the Protestant churches and leading them on to do the same work of Sunday exaltation which the papacy has done before them. DD 24.1

If the reader would understand the agencies to be employed in the soon-coming contest, he has but to trace the record of the means which Rome employed for the same object in ages past. If he would know how papists and Protestants united will deal with those who reject their dogmas, let him see the spirit which Rome manifested toward the Sabbath and its defenders. DD 25.1

Royal edicts, general councils, and church ordinances sustained by secular power were the steps by which the pagan festival attained its position of honor in the Christian world. The first public measure enforcing Sunday observance was the law enacted by Constantine. (A.D. 321) This edict required townspeople to rest on “the venerable day of the sun,” but permitted countrymen to continue their agricultural pursuits. Though virtually a heathen statute, it was enforced by the emperor after his nominal acceptance of Christianity. DD 25.2

The royal mandate not proving a sufficient substitute for divine authority, Eusebius, a bishop who sought the favor of princes, and who was the special friend and flatterer of Constantine, advanced the claim that Christ had transferred the Sabbath to Sunday. Not a single testimony of the Scriptures was produced in proof of the new doctrine. Eusebius himself unwittingly acknowledges its falsity and points to the real authors of the change. “All things,” he says, “whatever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord’s Day.”—Robert Cox, Sabbath Laws and Sabbath Duties, page 538. But the Sunday argument, groundless as it was, served to embolden men in trampling upon the Sabbath of the Lord. All who desired to be honored by the world accepted the popular festival.