Share Tweet By Billy Hallowell Editor
July 1, 2024
Preacher Ray Comfort is praising an unlikely party: the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Comfort, known for his viral videos and engaging Gospel-sharing, recently sent a gift basket to the civil rights group after the organization sued Lousiana over its decision to become the first U.S. state to mandate the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms.
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Rather than deride the ACLU, Comfort offered a “thank you” for giving massive and renewed cultural attention to the famed biblical commandments.
“The ACLU, in wanting to sue the state of Louisiana, have done us a great favor,” he told CBN News. “Their lawsuit was big news in the secular media, and so the Ten Commandments have featured from Newsweek to Time magazine, USA Today, to The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, Fox, on huge podcasts, ‘The View,’ all throughout social media, and comedian Jimmy Kimmel even quoted all of the Ten Commandments to his massive viewing audience. You cant buy that sort of publicity!”
Considering this inadvertent “gift,” Comfort decided to send the ACLU a large basket filled with chocolate and a thank-you card.
That card included a message that read, “Thank you for publicizing The Ten Commandments. America needs to be reminded of God’s Law, and you’ve certainly done that. Very grateful.”
The ACLU reportedly hasn’t responded to the gesture and note, but Comfort said he doesn’t expect the organization to do so. Comfort has long advocated for Christians and humans more generally to pay attention to the Ten Commandments and implement these moral truths into their lives.
He told CBN News that Americans today can learn a great deal by studying biblical Israel and understanding its timeless parallels to our current situation.
“America is no different than Israel in the Old Testament who forgot the Ten Commandments, and consequently gave themselves to sin,” Comfort said. “And the reason they did so was because of the sin of ‘idolatry.’”
He continued, “When we forsake the Law that forbids making up false gods and committing adultery, we tend to make up our own congenial image of God and run headlong into sexual sin. And thats whats happened to the United States.”
Comfort believes the only catalyst for awakening Americans to their national sin is a “fresh look at the Ten Commandments.” In fact, Comfort’s ministry, Living Waters, has spent four decades teaching Christians about the importance of the Ten Commandments and equipping them to share the Gospel.
Comfort said he would love to see every school in the U.S. display the Ten Commandments, but noted he believes too many people are “brainwashed into believing in the fallacy of ‘separation of church and state.’”
As CBN News previously reported, the ACLU is suing after Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed H.B. 71 into law, meaning every classroom from kindergarten to the university level, which receives state funding, would be required to display the commandments “on a poster or framed document that is at least 11 inches by 14 inches.”
The effort, slated to be privately funded, will require a poster-sized display accompanied by a four-paragraph explanation offering context. The text will note that the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries.”
These classroom posters are due to be posted by the start of 2025.
The ACLU, its Lousiana branch, the atheist-led Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and nine Lousiana families joined forces to challenge the law. CBN News will continue to cover the case as it unfolds.
Most recently, Living Waters released the “Trump/Biden Million Dollar Bill,” a free tract leading up to the U.S. election in November. It can be ordered here.
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