It seems that the English language is somewhat difficult to learn for those who don’t apprehend it as their native tongue. One of the reasons: English has significant built-in complexities that tend to cause a great deal of confusion.
At the risk of creating an additional brushfire in the realm of political correctness, consider the use of homophones, one of the odder characteristics of English. Before you get your feathers ruffled, this phenomenon has nothing to do with sexual preferences or even the devilish cellphone.
The concept of homophones entails two or more words with the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spellings. Not only are these words difficult for beginners, but they also can cause great consternation even for those who have spoken English for their entire lifetime.
Consider, if you will, words such as flower and flour, plain and plane, male and mail, pray and prey, and so forth. There is little wonder that the myriad examples of this oddity of speech often confound even language scholars.
One of the more interesting examples of homophones came to mind just the other day while I was reading a news article from the Daily Caller related to a new Florida law allowing volunteer chaplains to be placed into the statewide school system.
Mind you, the new law calls not only for the chaplains to be volunteers at public schools, but a student may consult a chaplain only voluntarily and only with parental consent. Sounds simple enough, and the move certainly is needed based on the unrest and confusion often incurred by students in classrooms.
Nevertheless, a problem arose in the “model policy” set forth by Manny Diaz, Florida’s commissioner of education. According to that document, “religion” is defined as a group that “acknowledges the existence of and worships a supernatural entity or entities that possesses power over the natural world.” It goes on to say that “the chaplain must be recognized by their religion’s leadership and vetted by the participating school’s principal.”
Of course, this kind of “hateful” language got the panties of atheists and satanic worshippers all in a wad.
Devon Graham of the Florida chapter of American Atheists proclaimed that the definition is exclusionary because it prohibits The Satanic Temple from participating. Almost immediately, The Satanic Temple took to the social media site X with a call to its followers “to stand with us and raise hell” over the measure.
In response, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said during an April press conference that students should have the right to pursue advice from chaplain leaders if they wish. DeSantis noted that satanist groups aren’t a religion and they’re not eligible for chaplain programs.
“We’re not playing those games in Florida,” DeSantis said. “That is not a religion. That is not qualifying to be able to participate in this. We’re going to be using common sense. … You do not have to worry about that.”
DeSantis is correct in his assessment of this illegitimate, godless claim—commonly pushed by worshippers of Satan and God-haters in general. The Founders of our great nation would agree as well. In fact, they would be appalled at the very thought that the antithesis of religion would ever be considered on equal footing in defining religious freedom.
There is nothing in our U.S. Constitution that provides a freedom from religion or in any way prohibits the voluntary promulgation of religious thought in the marketplace. To suggest otherwise is in direct contradiction to the Framers’ intent and to plain English.
Even as the atheists and satanists are bent on degrading, and even destroying, the very basis of our freedoms, we at Southern Evangelical Seminary stand with DeSantis and the good people of Florida.
Now is the time for Americans to rise up against the hordes of hell and join together with the leaders of that great state to declare an end to the foolishness that has engulfed our nation. The continued existence of our nation, or any other democratic form of government, depends upon the foundation of God-given moral standards that ought to beat in the hearts of the faithful.
Those of us who are followers of the one true Christ have an additional promise of victory. We are reminded by Jesus as he told Peter and the other disciples in Matthew 16:18: “On this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
Going back to our basic English language lesson, here is another prime example of homophones being used in one sentence: While the foes of basic morality, common sense, and God may be intent on “raising hell,” Christ’s church was born for the purpose of “razing hell.”
The time for timidity on the part of Christ followers in America has long since passed if our nation is to survive the onslaught of evil and confusion now assailing our shores. We no longer can enjoy the luxury of sitting on the sidelines waiting silently for the inevitable demise of everything we hold dear. Strong winds demand bold action.
That is why we need to be ever-vigilant in the battle for truth. So with this in mind, all of us at Southern Evangelical Seminary will remain steadfast in the truth of the Gospel. Because it is the only truth that matters.
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