Free Speech, Free Commerce, and the Spread of the Gospel
It has proven to exist on Twitter, and it is almost certainly on Google and Youtube. Most recently even Paypal (please pardon the language in this link) has been suspending accounts based upon dubious grounds—usually political ideology and the ideas of the customer. It is censorship based on political/religious ideology. The erosion of free speech and the willingness of liberal-minded people to celebrate its demise is shocking.
It is also Satanic.
For Christians seeking to obey God in private and yet proclaim Him as the Great Commission demands, these are extremely chilling developments. The Paypal development recently is quite distressing. It smacks the same “social credit” system occurring in China.
He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has [b]the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16-17)
As careful students of scripture, we fight the urge to connect current events to biblical prophecy. We do not want to read our present culture speculatively into scripture. However, the idea that commerce could be easily controlled based on political or religious ideology was a sensational concept in the past. Today, it is not only possible, Paypal has actually started the ball rolling.
I always hope cooler heads will prevail and these practices will be stopped, but I do not have much hope of that. Republicans have failed spectacularly in the protection of freedoms and the Supreme Court will have its limits. So far the only champions in the political arena have been Libertarians like Elon Musk.
Believers must think carefully about the future ahead of them. The freedoms that have allowed us to take the gospel to the world are now actively being taken away. Our only acceptable response must be to redouble our commitment to the gospel.
I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. John 9:4
God is greater than any human government and the fires of the gospel cannot be extinguished by the mechanisms of man. What does effectively dim the flame is when Christians become intimidated and quit in the face of persecution, difficulty, inconvenience, or even just the frowns of their neighbors.
Now is the time for boldness. Now is the time to speak up. Now is the time to share the Good News with a sense of urgency. Freedoms are falling, and our Lord’s return is ever closer.
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:15-18)
Private corporations do not owe anybody “free speech.” The kind of freedom we’re expecting to see from these businesses has no precedent in American history. The same freedom that allows P&D to review posts and decide what to allow permits the social media platforms to select content as they see fit. As for Elon Musk, he lifted restrictions for some then banned links to competing social media platforms. He is no champion of freedom of expression.
Unless we decide social media platforms belong to the people, like government entities do, we should adjust our expectations for corporations, social media or not. (And even for government entities there have always been limits.)
I’m open to arguments that social media should become government owned or viewed like utilities and heavily regulated. But we should be clear about the tradeoffs. The only way to force social media platforms to allow things they don’t want to allow is to take freedom away from these businesses and hand it to government. What’s the bottom line ‘freedom score’ on that sort of move?
Aaron, I think you are missing the point. I don’t think Kevin is arguing that we must somehow campaign for private corporations to grant us free speech.
What he is doing is making an observation of a trend that seems symptomatic of our society at large. It isn’t inconceivable that these trends are harbingers of greater societal change and pressure to come.
Having made that observation, he is calling on us to redouble our efforts at evangelism, to work for the night is coming.
That doesn’t appear to be what you are arguing against, so perhaps go back and read it again?
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
Thanks, Don. I do see the larger point and don’t disagree with that part of it.
This tends to frame the whole question in a way that suggests we’re seeing a wrong that should be righted: “It is censorship based on political/religious ideology. The erosion of free speech and the willingness of liberal-minded people to celebrate its demise is shocking… …I always hope cooler heads will prevail and these practices will be stopped, but I do not have much hope of that. Republicans have failed spectacularly in the protection of freedoms and the Supreme Court will have its limits. So far the only champions in the political arena have been Libertarians like Elon Musk.”
At a time when so many ‘evangelicals’ are advocating for increased of coercive power to fix the culture, it’s hard not to read it that way.
So my point is that we should not view what Republicans haven’t done about this as “failing spectacularly.” There is nothing there for government to fix–and on that front, religious liberty has won over and over an over in the last several years.
But I appreciate where the essay lands: The gospel is not hindered by this!