Value Liberty of Conscience at Independence

by: The Executive
Thusian Institute for Religious Liberty Inc.

The members of the Thusian Institute for Religious Liberty Inc. (TIRL) wish all Vincentians a blessed 41st anniversary of political independence. TIRL is a non-profit, non-governmental Human Rights Education services provider with a special focus on Liberty of Conscience, otherwise known as the Right to Religious Liberty or the First Right.

While we are politically independent, we are not and ought never to think ourselves independent of God. It is God the Creator—the Great Legislator of the Universe —who made us with inalienable and inviolable Rights and Freedoms which we must celebrate at Independence. These fundamental Rights are: The Right to Religious Liberty, the Right to Life and the Right to Private Property. God-given Rights are exercised and enjoyed through Freedoms, which are God endowed inherent abilities. They are freedoms of thought, belief, opinion, conscience and choice, which are private domain freedoms, and freedoms of expression, speech and movement which are public domain freedoms. Private domain freedoms ought not to be the subject of legislation. Also, public domain freedoms used to exercise private domain freedoms’ content ought to be unlegislated. For example, government should not censor speech which expresses the opinion that sodomy is an abominable, health destroying act which God says is deserving of His fire and brimstone.

These fundamental principles above guarantee true protection for inalienable rights and freedoms. They were influenced by Jeffersonian Republicanism values, and the constitutions of free countries such as SVG reveal this fact. Consider section 9, subsection 1 of our 1979 constitution which highlights the super Freedom of Conscience clause —Protection of Freedom of Conscience —. It says: “Except with his own consent, a person shall not be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of conscience, including freedom of thought and of religion, freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others, and both in public and in private, to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”

Many in the world do not enjoy this Freedom of conscience and the Right to religious liberty, due to rights-hating communist governments who believe that they are God to humanity and that they can regulate the people’s rights and freedoms. The Chinese Communist Party’s irresponsible actions that led to a global pandemic that is SARS Coronavirus 2, unleashing attack on the world’s health by persecuting whistleblowers in the matter and denying the world pertinent and timely information, is an example of criminal anti-conscience policy that is deadly. Others, like the anti-choicers vaccination advocates and the LGBTQI community with its Christianphobic and anti-Christian rhetoric, branding pro-choicers and Christians as ‘dangerous anti-vaxxers’, ‘intolerant’ ‘bigoted’ and ‘discriminatory’, continually lobby to influence legislators to force conscientious objectors by passing anti-conscience legislation in these areas.

These are nothing short of assaults on the Liberty of conscience. A proper understanding of rights, as advocated by TIRL, would help persons to identify cases of genuine violation of rights as opposed to where an individual is simply exercising his/her God-given Liberty of conscience. For example, governments would learn from us that criticism is a natural dimension of free speech, necessary in sharing the contents of one’s conscience and it should not be censored. Furthermore, they would understand that forcing vaccination procedures against individual choice can never be for the greater good when the right of the individual to self-determination is being infringed upon, and that health policy should be for the highest good which is always the protection of the freedom of the individual to express his conscience.

YHWH God the Creator, He alone can read the secrets of man’s mind and thus He alone has the right to dominate the conscience. Our maker gave us freedom of conscience as the superior freedom, ultimately for salvation. Nyron Medina said, “God speaks to your conscience to convict you of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and in justification, it is your conscience that is purged, and during your sanctification, the testimony of your conscience comes into play. Thus, the aim of rights and freedoms is to protect freedom of conscience or liberty of conscience which is the super freedom.” We therefore adjure our government by the living God, to protect the super freedom of conscience and all other rights and freedoms which it guarantees.

Revelation chapter 13:11-17 prophesies of a global attack on liberty of conscience via the enforcement of the Mark of the Beast or global Commuligion. This will test every government, man, woman, boy and girl shortly. We urge fellow Vincentians this independence and onwards, to learn with us, the value of your liberty of conscience and how to stand in defense of it despite threats of death, deprivation of property and comforts.

May God bless and keep us true and free. Happy Independence our sweet SVG.