The myth about religious freedom which tinctures our thinking today, and which is now being advanced by the federal government in court was utterly unknown before our time. The European Christians of William Wilberforce's day did not allow opponents to bottle up the Christian faith inside churches and homes. They lived it out in every area of soceity: in politics, business, culture and education. The result was the abolition of the slave trade the "reformation" of much of British society. 

Likewise, key Christians after the second American Great Awakening, and in the days leading up to the Second World War in Germany, refused to keep the implications and values of their faith to themselves. They shone before a world in desperate need — and their impact is still felt today.
This week at the Colson Center, we challenge the pernicious myth of our time that "freedom of religion" is equivalent to "freedom of worship." This was a topic which Chuck Colson cared deeply about, and spent the last years and months of his life challenging the Church to understand. If, as the US Department of Health and Human Services is currently arguing, "religious freedom" means nothing more than the ability to privately express one's religious beliefs — but that such freedom disappears when one engages in commerce or politics — then we are little better off than our brethren in Soviet Russia or Communist China.

But that's not what this country's founders had in mind. As we face the beginning of what could be a monumental struggle for our First Freedom, we at the Colson Center want to offer the kind of perspectives, understanding and action points you will need as Christian entrepreneurs, employees, students and citizens.

And as T. M. Moore writes in this week's Talking Points, if we let our faith shine in the darkness of our time, the world will begin to ask, "who are those guys?"

Explore This Week's Theme

	On this edition of "Two-Minute Warning," John Stonestreet debunks the faulty definition of "religious liberty" offered by many today, and challenges Christian businesspeople to excercise their right (and duty) to stand up for the faith in every sphere of life. >>Watch now.
	In this week's Talking Points, T. M. Moore offers a powerful vision for what Christians could look like to our culture: Winsome, loving, intelligent and steadfast. Sound impossible? It's not. We know because it's happened before. >>Read more.
	In Thursday's BreakPoint Commentary, John Stonestreet takes a closer look at some of the most popular music among youth of our day, and how this reflects a fascination with nihilism and destruction like nothing previous generations knew. Part of expressing our faith, he says, is being willing to challenge the "axis" upon which culture turns.  >>Read more.