A recent court finding has come out on the side of two Christian students who spoke against homosexuality in accordance with their beliefs. A Pennsylvania school district's anti-harassment policy was found to be overbroad and violated the rights of the Christian students.

Judges from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals declared that the First Amendment contained no "harassment exemption" to the free speech clause.

"No court or legislature has ever suggested that unwelcome speech directed at another's 'values' may be prohibited under the rubric of anti-discrimination," the judges wrote in a 29-page opinion.

The issue here is bigger than one local school district. Attorneys for the students saw the finding as a "tremendous blow against the political correctness movement." It reaffirmed that "students do not leave their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate."

The "political correctness" movement in America is pushing to redefine one of the common words dealing with our public relationships: tolerance. The traditional definition of tolerance was to respect the beliefs and practices of others even though you might disagree with them.

Political correctness demands that you endorse and promote other people's values and lifestyles. Any objection to others' values or practices is immediately labeled "intolerance" or "bigotry" and a cry goes up for more hate crime legislation to stop you.

Josh McDowell, writing in Focus on the Family magazine, states: "I believe that this fundamental change in meaning — and thinking — represents one of the greatest shifts in history, and most people are missing it. Because the new tolerance declares all beliefs equally valid, Christians will face increasing pressure to be silent about their convictions — in school, at work, in the public square — because to speak out will be seen as an intolerant judgment of others' beliefs and life styles."

If we soul winners were being thrown to the lions or burned at the stake, we would know exactly where the enemy was and how to stand firm. But before the lions came, public opinion began subtly turning against believers.

This new definition of a common word signals a major shift in Satan's strategy to stop Bible believers from preaching against sin and proclaiming the gospel.

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission says that those who are arguing that the establishment clause of the Constitution is in danger may be overlooking a more serious threat to the free exercise of religion.

"If we are not careful, we are going to lose our right to preach what we believe and say what we believe in the public square," he said.

Dennis Prager, writing in the Wall Street Journal puts it this way: "If we continue to teach about tolerance and intolerance instead of teaching about good and evil, we will end up with tolerance of evil."

This is exactly what is happening. Homosexual activists have changed their sexual preference into "orientation" to escape the blame for their sin. Their battle cry is "tolerance" by the new definition. "They are clamoring for hate crime legislation as part of an overhaul of the nation's laws to favor homosexual activity and to punish those who articulate what has been known as traditional morality for the past 19 centuries," declared Land.

If you faced the lions or the stake you would probably have enough boldness to stand. Can we afford to be less bold today as the basis is laid for persecution?

We must first redouble our witness to the truth of the gospel. Then we must support those lawmakers who are bold enough to stand against this evil. We cannot let their accusations of judgmental intolerance and bigotry slow us down in proclaiming the truth.