Aaron Tippin sang it this way in his hit country song: “You have to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.”

The courage of our convictions is one thing. Absolute certainty, the mindset that says “I know what I think about this, so don’t confuse me with the facts,” is quite another.

There are some things that are beyond argument. If a person likes cheeseburgers from Burger King, so be it. If she likes “Dancing with the Stars,”  more power to her. These matters of personal taste are unique to each individual and make the person who she is.

But there are other realms of discourse where facts matter, where ideas are subject to inspection and opinions must withstand scrutiny. The exchange of ideas and the willingness to learn from someone who holds a different view are the foundation stones of a free society.  They are why the First Amendment guarantees are so critical.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I am certainly no First Amendment scholar, but it seems clear that the Founding Fathers recognized the close tie between freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

A person in the United States can stand on the street corner and express his views about religion until the cows come home. He can rent a tent, set lawn chairs under it and preach from the Bible or whatever Holy Book he cherishes to whomever will listen. He  might even say some sideways things about what his faith teaches him about politics.

But he can’t use his pulpit to advocate the violent overthrow of the United States government, to incite acts of terrorism, even Christian terrorism.

In the United States today, the country is divided along religious lines. These lines are drawn deep in the sand, and are fossilizing into barriers that limit free speech. These moats of faith drive people, good people, to attack their fellows in the name of God, to break fellowship with their neighbors, to lump human beings into rigid castes.

I wrote about this first in my novel NEXT BEST HOPE, the second book in The Revelation Trilogy.  The quick summary of that book is: “Christian Militants attempt to overthrow the United States government and all hell breaks loose.”

But it is the next step, the ultimate step of violence in the name of God, that fuels the fire of book three, THE REVELATION EFFECT, due out in May 2012.

Politics and religion, the two things you don’t talk about in polite company, are deadly bound together in THE REVELATION EFFECT, a fast-paced legal thriller.

 

 

FREE COPIES FOR READ AND REVIEW

THE REVELATION EFFECT is in the final stages of production.  I anticipate I will have a MOBI (i.e., Kindle ready) file in my hands by early May.

So here is the deal.  If you will email me at sw@stephenwoodfin.net and let me know that you would like to be on the read and review team for THE REVELATION EFFECT, I will send you a free review copy when it comes available. You won’t be able to post a review until the book goes “live” on the Kindle store.  But when it does, if the spirit moves you, you can post your review.

Also, the first book in that series, LAST ONE CHOSEN, will be free on the Kindle store tomorrow, Friday, April 27th.  Earlier this month, it entered the Top Ten legal thriller bestseller list on the Kindle store. So, if you haven’t had a chance to look at it, please drop by the Kindle store tomorrow and pick up a free copy.