Oregon Resets the Calendar to 1984

I remember 1984. Vaguely. I turned 23 that year. The movie adaptation was coming out, but I decided to read the novel first. It seemed the "intellectual" thing to do. I went to see the movie after I had finished. It's hard to say which was more depressing, the bleak world described by Orwell or the bleak world interpreted by film director. Both conveyed the sense of despair admirably, and I set aside both the film and the book feeling uplifted, knowing that I would never be part of such a world. It was a rare moment of optimism in my life, and thus doomed to ring false eventually.

One of the major concepts dealt with in the novel is "thought crime," or the idea that simply considering an act against authority is a punishable offense. Acting on the thought was a secondary offense, compounding your guilt. In Orwell's world, the authority was the Party, led by Big Brother, and he was always watching. There were microphones and cameras everywhere. Everyone had a television where the viewer worked both ways, and you couldn't turn it off. Yes, big brother was watching alright.

Late in the novel, the main character gets himself into criminal activity against the Party. He has an unsanctioned affair. He is, of course, arrested. The party is completely atheist and has no morals, but they do have rules, and no infraction can be tolerated. He is not be killed, however. Not immediately, anyway. The Party has learned through experience that killing its opponents makes them into martyrs, and gives enemies a cause to focus around. Instead, those who are arrested are tortured until they are broken in mind and spirit. When that is complete, they are allowed to recover a semblance of a healthy appearance so that they can publicly recant their treason. Then, at some later time when their misdeeds are no longer remembered, the Party will dispose them. And what might have been a rallying point for opposition instead becomes a symbol of how futile it is to resist.

Fast forward...

Last year a Christian owned bakery declined to make a wedding cake to celebrate a lesbian union. There were plenty of other bakers who would have been happy to accommodate the pair, but that wasn't the point. The two sued the owners under state law for discrimination. There was also a campaign of threats against the family and against vendors who business with them. Additional details are available here:

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/01/21/christian-bakery-guilty-violating-civil-rights-lesbian-couple/

The position of the Oregon attorney general is as clear as it is chilling. "Everybody is entitled to their own beliefs, but that doesn’t mean that folks have the right to discriminate,” he told the newspaper. “The goal is never to shut down a business. The goal is to rehabilitate.”

"Rehabilitate" is a fine word in some contexts. Its usage here, however, is simply a euphemism for surrendering principles of belief and conscience, rights fought and died for, and guaranteed in our Constitution. I find in our modern society that Christians are being increasingly identified as in need of "rehabilitation." There are several other cases in the link above. I'm sure that I will get around to discussing others as time goes by.

The important thing to remember at present is that as we have accepted Christ, the rehabilitation process has already begun. He is the Great Physician, and it is our faith in Him that will lead us to ultimate recovery. If this is a time of testing, then let it also be a time of faith increasing, of seeking wisdom, and looking for ways to overcome evil with good. In this way, we will honor Christ, and our nation.