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These words, "Religion", "Humanism", "Religious Freedom", "Justice and Right", "Common Law", "Rule of Law", and "Oaths", are defined and explained as follows:
In Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary the meaning given for "Religion" is "the beliefs, attitudes, emotions, behaviour, etc., constituting man's relationship with the powers and principles of the universe, especially with a deity or deities." [Therefore, the definition covers also those religions that are without any deity. RJ."]
In Webster's Dictionary, the meaning is "Any system of faith and worship."
On pages 14 and 15 of the Information Booklet, it is noted that Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission recently reported on freedom of religion and belief in Australia. Using the meaning of 'religion and belief' in a proposed 'Religious Freedom Act' they produced this definition (slightly abridged):
"Religion or belief should be defined as a particular collection of ideas and/or practices -
We agree with this definition to the extent that it is brought into line with dictionary meanings above.
Religious Beliefs and Mental Illness: We have grave concern over this 'mental illness' proviso being in this definition. It must be noted that influential Humanists both here and overseas have openly declared that Christians are "insane" or "mentally ill". This is only because Humanists, in their unenlightened opinion, imagine Christian beliefs to be dangerously unscientific and illusory [e.g. the resurrection of Christ, life after death, heaven and hell, a powerful but defeated devil and a prayer-answering God, etc., RJ.]
The danger here is that the 'mental illness' proviso could open up the way for Christian beliefs to be classified at some future time as "beliefs caused by mental illness". That would define Christianity as a non-religion, and thus not eligible for protection of religious freedom. It is no secret, of course, that this is the ultimate aim of the Humanist Society worldwide.
Religion and Humanism: None of the above definitions demand faith in things supernatural, therefore in this submission to the Inquiry into Freedom of Religion, Humanism is legitimately defined as a religion, for there is nothing inconsistent between these three definitions and what the Humanist Society says of its own beliefs, ideas and practices. In their leaflet "Reason not Superstition - Humanism and You", they say the Society "seeks to provide a constructive alternative to religions and dogmatic creeds." In America Humanism has been ruled in the Courts to be "a religion". The Humanist creed is detailed in the section "Defining the Religion of Humanism".
Humanists are people who believe (with Protagorus, 484-414BC) that "Man is the measure of all things". They say, "We begin with humans, not God, nature not deity". Those statements plus many others make it clear that man, not God, is their object of worship. Man was created with the need to worship God, so he either worships God, or he will find substitutes to worship instead of God.
The Humanist Society: The Queensland Humanist Society was founded in 1967, and boasts that it has campaigned ever since and sent submissions to governments seeking to legalize or decriminalize many criminal behaviours. These behaviours are against the Laws of God. This means that Humanists operate from a worldview that opposes the Christian worldview of our Constitutions.
The religion introduced by Satan to humans in the Garden of Eden won them over with the bait "Disobey God, eat the forbidden fruit, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil". It is the religion now known as Humanism, which still uses the same Satanic bait (you are gods) that caused Adam and Eve to sin and lose Paradise. Satan designed his religion of humanism to deceive humanity into disobeying God, and so mankind became subject to sickness and death, which God warned would be the direct result of sin.
The Alternative Creed of Humanism: Humanist Societies include, as one of the first items in their list of objectives for which they are established, the fact that they seek "to provide a constructive alternative to theological and dogmatic creeds."
Creation: The first article of faith of the established religion of Christianity is "I believe in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth", but evolution, not creation, is the main article of faith of Humanism. Their alternative creed is "As Humanists do not believe in the existence of any gods, it follows that we do not accept the validity of any 'god-given' codes of behaviour." For the Humanist, the code of behaviour is -
Man can be his own god, setting his own standards and doing what seems right to him. "Ethics is autonomous and situational, needing no theological or ideological sanction." "Ethics can be presented as a social imperative which persists throughout human history independently of the religious, philosophical and other ideas and influences which modify its precepts during specific historic periods."
Obedience: As Creator, God owns His creation and rightly demands obedience, but whatever the Ten Commandments say, Humanists disobey. The Bible demands obedience to authority, but the Humanist creed is "Authority must be questioned." They believe obedience to parents, teachers, employers, etc. is not to be required of anyone.
Murder: God teaches the sanctity of innocent human life, but the Humanist Society says it was the moving force behind formation of the Abortion Law Reform committee, that became Children by Choice (abortion), and that the Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Queensland which was formed by the Humanist Society in 1986 continues to campaign to permit people to have their lives ended by assisted suicide.
Sexual Immorality: God forbids adultery, fornication, prostitution, homosexuality and more, but the Humanist Society declares values and moral education must not come from the Bible, but that "the same principles should apply (to moral decisions re sex) as in all other matters, not hurting anyone, being responsible, thoughtful and sincere." The Humanist Society is trying to put Chaplains and Counsellors into places of tertiary education to promote their alternative theological creed, and their concept of civil liberties.
Civil Liberties: "Civil rights must extend to sexuality. The right to birth control, abortion, divorce, must be protected. Freedom must be granted to free sexual expression between consenting adults in a tolerant society." "The influence of the dogmatic and powerful religions which oppose birth control must be shown to be wrong, and these influences countered by a world education and information campaign."
Civil liberties also include "freedom of speech and the press, democracy, fair judicial processes, religious, artistic, scientific and cultural freedom, the right to dissent and the right to a dignified death (voluntary euthanasia) if desired. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is supported as a statement of rights to be acknowledged."
Re Births, Deaths and Marriages: We are told "Humanists have worked to change the law so alternate rites are recognized. Humanists also provide celebrants to recognize these events and to make them meaningful." They state there will be no hymns or prayers.
Stealing, False Witness, and Coveting: We have a God-given right of private ownership, including even our reputation, and God forbids any stealing or coveting of what is ours, such as our house or our spouse. The Humanist Manifesto contains no mention of any right to private property, and the right to property has not been included in any of the United Nations' Covenants, having been ignored altogether as a Human Right.
The Christian ethic is that crime should be prevented by all means. Humanists say, increasing police powers is undesirable, marijuana should be decriminalized, and all forms of censorship should be removed.
Policy on Population: God tells human beings to go forth and multiply and subdue the earth. Humanist groups around the world have campaigned for over forty years to have the human population explosion curtailed. The Humanist Society has supported establishment of a branch in Queensland of "Australians for an Ecologically Sustainable Population." "Morality demands that all nations act to solve the problem of excessive population, poverty and the destruction of the world environment."
Policy on Government: The Humanist Manifesto says "We are committed to an open and democratic society. We support participatory democracy in its true sense in the economy, the school, the family, the workplace, and voluntary organizations." In Romans chapter 13, God tell us to be in subjection to lawful authority, for rulers are a terror to evildoers, not to the good. Those who do good receive praise from authorities, but evildoers should fear rulers for they do not bear the sword in vain. We are to love God and honour the king.
The Humanist Manifesto says that "the separation of church and state and the separation of ideology and state are imperatives. The State must not favour any religious or ideological belief in its public life nor act as an instrument of propaganda on behalf of any such bodies, particularly against dissenters." "The principle of moral equality must be furthered by the elimination of all discrimination based on race, religion, sex, age or national origin."
The truth is that the State cannot be separated from Christianity, because Christ is our supreme and sovereign Ruler. It was God who ordained civil government, and also the concept of limited government with local, state and national jurisdictions (Exodus 18.18-22). The idea for separation of powers - the judiciary, the legislature and the executive - also came from the Bible (Isaiah 33.22). Only God can be Judge, Lawgiver and King in the one man, Christ Jesus. The Queen is Christ's representative to us on earth in those three capacities, No Bill can become law without Her approval, the executive power is vested in Her, the High Court and other Federal Judges are appointed by Her representative in Council, and Her Coronation Oath and the Imperial Acts determines that the Courts rulings are based on Christianity, and no other religion. Our rulers must observe the division and separation of powers, or they would be setting themselves up as God.
In our submission, "religious freedom" is defined by the writer from two different perspectives, as under:
(1) Religious freedom in the private, personal and/or spiritual sense:
(2) Religious freedom in the Civic, Constitutional and/or Legislative sense, in Australia:
Denial of any of the above Christian rights, freedoms, and liberties constitutes violation of religious freedom.
The Humanist Society says that it is "accredited to the United Nations", and that "modern Secular Humanism inspires the work of world institutions such as the United Nations".
Therefore it is assumed, since the tenets of Humanism are totally inconsistent with the doctrines of the Christian faith, that United Nations Charters, Declarations, Covenants, etc., are consistent with the faith of Humanism and totally inconsistent with the faith of Christianity. Influential Humanists describe Christian children coming to school as "mentally ill" if they believe in a living, prayer-answering God who created them and demands faith and obedience from them. Humanist educationists say they have a duty to provide school courses based on evolution so teachers can make children "well" again and rational in their thinking.
Page 13 of the Information Booklet records Article 18 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as providing since 1976 the requisite support for protection of religious freedom:
1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.
2. No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of his choice.
3. Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.
The Writer's Comments on Article 18: Article 18 is no improvement on the protection that we already have through our own Constitution. It says nothing about the protection of our freedom to be and to remain under lawful allegiance to the Monarch, to live in a Christian environment, under Almighty God and the established Christian Crown, governed and protected by the Law of the Land, Common Law, the Rule of Law, and our indissoluble Constitution.
Comments on Article 18(1): Presumably "everyone" includes children, even if this means overriding the rights of parents.
Christian children and parents are denied the religious freedom of having schools publicly teach creation rather than evolution. They are also denied the right in school to learn and obey Christ's Commandments.
Comments on Article 18(2): Presumably "no one" includes "no children". Yet Christian children are subject to coercion throughout their schooldays by having to learn and accept Humanistic evolution. Because the teaching of creation has been denied them, their freedom to continue in the religion of their (parents') choice (ie. Christianity) is constantly impaired - through the pressure to accept the Humanistic doctrine of evolution.
Comments on Article 18(3): If "prescribed by law" means the passing of a statute law, then it is no protection whatever because the government could pass oppressive laws any time it felt so inclined.
In Australia, Section 116 of the Commonwealth Constitution applies. It makes it clear that "the government shall not make any law for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion." The only limitations that can lawfully apply are the restrictions of the Constitution, the Crimes Act or the Criminal Code that are common to all and limit the actions of every person living in this country, and that apply to all people for protection of public safety, morals, etc.
Justice: "A moral ideal that the law seeks to upold in the protection of rights and the punishment of wrongs. Justice is not synonymous with law - it is possible for a law to be called unjust. However, English law closely identifies with justice and the word is frequently used in the legal system." (Oxford Dictionary of Law 1990)
Right: 1. "Title to or an interest in any property." 2. "Any other interest or privilege recognised and protected by law." (Oxford Dictionary of Law 1990)
The writer's Comment: Here is an alternative. If so-called valid law can be unjust then our interests and privileges embodied in Magna Carta should be judicially recognised and protected by the word "right", thus preserving the intended restraint on Government that is entrenched in Magna Carta.
The lawful judgment of our peers, also in Magna Carta, may hold that while the law may be an unjust law, we are still entitled to be protected by right.
Common law is law that comes from the common people, versus legislation, which, comes from the "experts." Common law is what made England great. The way it developed and the great benefits it produced make it the most superior law system known in the world. The common law is as a result of a natural sequence which hardened first into custom and then into law. It did not come about as an act of will, but traditional moral rules, or traditions, became necessary to preserve the existing state of affairs; such that culture was allowed to evolve; and in turn, with culture, civilisations came about. (Sourced from The Common Law: Tradition & Stare Decisis by Peter Landry.)
See Appendix 2 "Historical and Political Concepts and the Charters of Liberty" for further clarification of Common Law.
"The rule of law" is not statutory law or Parliamentary sovereignty, but it is what the Courts must uphold, and it must be God's Law.
The Law of the Land is encapsulated in the important concept of Rule of Law, with which all political parties claim to agree, but perhaps only as it suits them.
See Historical and Political Concepts and the Charters of Liberty for further clarification of the Rule of Law.
The following information comes from Chapter 22 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, on pages 168 & 169 of the Book of Forms of the Reformed Church of Australia:
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