State of Georgia Fires Pastor Because of His Faith; Government Didn’t “Approve” Biblical Sermons

In the latest turn of events in the United States Government’s war against Christianity, a Pastor is now being required by a Federal court to turn over the transcripts and notes of all of the sermons he has ever conducted. A minister who was hired by the Georgia Department of Public Health was recently fired because of his faith, and sermon contents. Dr. Eric Walsh, a Seventh-day Adventist lay minister, is suing the State of Georgia Department of Public Health for religious discrimination.

A very simple question should cross your mind as you read this report, should my pastor’s sermons be approved by the Government or God?

The state of Georgia inquired that the pastor relinquish his sermons to the government, according to federal court documents.

“Please produce a copy of your sermon notes and/or transcripts,” Attorney General Samuel Olens wrote to attorneys representing Dr. Eric Walsh.

Dr. Walsh refuses to comply with the request because in May 2014, when Walsh was hired by the District Health Director; another government official asked him to submit copies of his sermons for review. He complied, and two days later he was fired.

His attorneys said the government was curious about sermons Dr. Walsh delivered on health, marriage, sexuality, world religions, science, and creationism. He also preached on what the Bible says regarding homosexuality.

Since the event, Dr. Walsh has filed a federal lawsuit charging state officials with engaging in religious discrimination.

“He was fired for something he said in a sermon,” attorney Jeremy Dys told me. “If the government is allowed to fire someone over what he said in his sermons, they can come after any of us for our beliefs on anything.”

Dr. Walsh has assembled a powerhouse legal team comprised of Parks, Chesin & Walbert along with First Liberty Institute, one of the nation’s most prominent religious liberty law firms.

“It’s an incredible intrusion on the sanctity of the pulpit,” Dys said. “This is probably the most invasive reach into the pulpit by the state that I’ve ever seen.”

Dys said the government’s request came as part of the process to build their case against his client. The request, he said, carries the same force of law as a subpoena.

“Pastors and rabbis across the country – especially in the state of Georgia should be frightened that a state would demand all the sermon notes and transcripts of a pastor,” he said. “This is unprecedented.”

It may be unprecedented, but is it illegal?

“I think it is wrong for a state to demand that a pastor turn over his sermons at any time,” Dys said. “It was wrong for the state to ask Dr Walsh for his sermons as part of the job application and hiring process. It was wrong for them to turn around and fire him when they listened to those sermons. And it is wrong now for them to demand that he turn over all the sermons and sermon notes he ever produced going back to when he was 18 years old.”

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins condemned the state’s demand calling it “an alarming display of government intrusion into the sanctity of the church, pastor’s study and pulpit.”

“This is something that I would have expected to see in a communist country, not America,” Perkins told me. “Government scrutiny of speech in the pulpit is unconstitutional and unconscionable.”

“A new era has come to our shores, a time where the government finds it acceptable to suppress the freedom of religion even to the extent of requesting a minister’s sermons,” Caner said. “As an ordained minister, I know that this is not merely an assault on the messenger, but on the very message of our Sacred Scriptures.”

Caner correctly noted that the government seems to target one faith – biblical Christianity exclusively. “What the government fails to recognize is that ministers of the Gospel are not hirelings of the state, but ambassadors for our Lord,” he said.

The Obama Administration has in large part, waged war against the very fabric and foundation of Christianity, which is why as Christians, it is important to note that this battle is not ours; it is the Lords. Because, at the very fabric and foundation of Christianity stands their opposition, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The globalists and elitists have waged a stealth operation against true Christianity, instead of outright persecution; the government has engaged in Subversive Warfare – a type of warfare which seeks to demoralize the opponent and destruct the belief system upon which that individual was constructed.

For this reason, as the pages of time turn; the words of Ephesians 6:12 are increasingly beginning to ring true for the American populace.

 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, and against the worldly governors, the princes of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness, which are in the high places.

The war on Christianity is real and each year, month, week, and day the government of the United States continues to turn up the heat. Various instances of which Christian oppression and persecution are happening all across the country and stand as a testament to that fact.

The USA is becoming a communist nation, and with that, comes the demoralization and destruction of true religious freedom. The rights of the individual in America have always outweighed the “feelings’ of the collective, but as of late the wheels of a communist takeover are beginning to turn against Americans.

The beauty of the United States Constitution showcases an almost Biblical narrative for the people of the United States. For example, in Romans 13 Paul inscribes that believers are to be subject to authority because it is ordained by God. A quick review of why America is and was a republic rather than a democracy brings out the reason. We are to be governed by our peers, or in its original words, for the people and by the people.

Placing the authority of governance into the people’s hands allows believers to be subject to their neighbors; which then brings about Christ’s commandment – Love your neighbor as yourself.

As Christians, we must understand the terrible turn of events which are taking place in the federal case of the Georgia Department of Public Health vs. Dr. Eric Walsh. The inquiry of the government to make the Pastor relinquish his sermons means that the government is seeking to approve or deny the contents of his sermons. If the government is allowed to determine the contents of a pastor’s sermons in this case, then where does it stop? Or is this the future? Share your thoughts and opinions below.

The authority of a pastor should come from God, not the government. If the government can determine what is allowed to be said by a pastor, then the authority of the pastor lies within government, not God.