Disciples of Christ (First Christian Church) Is Joining the Anti Christian Bigoty Assault on Indiana. I'm a Member of the Church. Don't Like It.

The denomination I belong to had a post on Facebook that they were going to move our National Convention from Indiana because of the anti gay law. Story here. It's not that at all, that is a lie, and several in my church 'liked' the post. I posted the following. Support this move in my view supports the anti Christian bigotry of half the country and certainly the Left and Democrats.

My post, which I sure will piss off a bunch of church members, but must be said.

If they do this, I'll have to rethink being a member of the Disciples of Christ. This is not an anti gay bill. None of these freedom of religion bills, the federal one or the 19 states, have ever been the source of gays civil rights being violated, or discrimination against them. What I see here is discrimination against Christians. The reason states are passing these laws is because Christians don't have a way to protect ourselves from state supported anti-Christian hate and bigotry. This is no more than part of the culture war, and is a viscous attack on Christians. These hate-filled anti Christian bigots are being helped by the secular government. How dare Christians try and protect themselves from these attacks. Never ever have these laws been used to discriminate against gays, but gays are forcing Christians to loose their businesses and go bankrupt, losing everything because they practice scripture and the rules of their churches, and spiritual consciences. And Christians are the intolerant ones? I had thought about leaving the Disciples' Church in 2000 or 2001 when the Council of Churches meeting in South Africa, the Protocols of Zion were trotted out, and was just accepted by the Disciples' representatives. To me, that Antisemitism and this anti Christian bigotry are equivalent. My view is if you support this action then you're not supporting the freedom of religion, you're contributing to the destruction of Christianity. It used to be protected by the Constitution. Cal Thomas: "The uproar about Indiana’s law is political theater. It is also a trap set by the Left, which Republicans risk falling into. It works this way: Find a Republican state (Gov. Pence is a Republican and the legislature is overwhelmingly Republican); pick an issue you can twist to your political advantage – and Republicans' disadvantage; enlist the help of a gay-friendly media; threaten a boycott of the state by prominent individuals and businesses; use this issue in the next presidential campaign to brand Republicans as racists, bigots and homophobes. In this theater of the absurd, any defense becomes indefensible. The die has been cast; the scarlet letter attached. ... One potential good has emerged from this, however. Miley Cyrus has announced she won’t be bringing her 'twerking' self to Indiana, which is bound to have a positive effect on the state’s moral climate." More of my thoughts about this here.

Religious Free Speech, and the Johnson Amendment

There is the notion that Pastors can't speak of political issues from the pulpit. Up until the mid twentieth century, no such idea existed. Pastors endorsed politicians and legislation all the time. What happened was that in 1954 then senator Lyndon Johnson put into a tax overhaul bill an amendment that would silence his political opposition, which was not from any religious institutions.

It said entities who are exempt from federal income tax cannot:

"Participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of – or in opposition to – any candidate for public office."

It was meant to quash political free speech of 501c non profit organizations, specifically those that were opposing him in his run for Senate. As it turns out, churches are 501's. Secularists and Atheists, Leftists and the Democrat Party have used it since then to shut down free speech from religious speakers. It's applied to the incorrect notion of separation of church and state, of which, no such thing exists in the Constitution.

Here's a short vid of the history of the Johnson Amendment.

http://youtu.be/P1PVMuxUgDg

Earlier this year, Houston Pastor of Grace Community Church, Steve Riggle, spoke from the pulpit about Houston Mayor Parker, a lesbian with a partner that advocates for gay marriage. Riggle pointed out Texas and the county which Houston is in overwhelmingly (over 70%) voted for the amendment stating marriage is between one man and one woman. What the mayor had done was, as a representative of the city, gone to Washington DC and as mayor advocated for gay marriage. Riggle stated this was not representing the will of the people.

He wrote a private email letter to her, which of course she released to the press, and the attack was on. Riggle remained quiet throughout the week, did no interviews and did not respond. He said on the Thursday following his letter to her, he would address the issue in his upcoming Sunday message.

Link to the letter and message:

http://www.grace.tv/pastoral-response-2 

(Just a note, I've seen Pastor Riggle speak, and he's way more dynamic than this. He wanted to make sure his statements were measured and precise. He said it took about 50 hours to prepare this, and ensure it was exactly what he wanted to say.)

It must be understood the State has no authority to silence Pastors or anyone representing a religious institution to speak on political issues and candidates. The State, through the IRS, has tried many times to force pastors to comply, and when a church had to resources to fight back, the State\IRS has lost every time. The reason being they have no authority to do so.

It must be made clear that issues such as marriage and abortion are not political issues, they're moral issues. Atheists, Leftists, Democrat Party, have kept stating these are political issues, the result being, it has become the meme, it's assumed to be true. This lie is the foundation of their attacks to silence free speech from the pulpit. That the Democrat Party is anti religious and anti God was born out during their convention earlier this year when they removed the word "God" from their Party Platform, and that they're anti Israel by refusing to name Jerusalem as Israel's capital.  When these were added back into the platform because of national blowback, it was to a chorus of boos from the convention floor.

The totalitarians of this president's political party and his oligarchy understand, like all totalitarians before them in the past 2000 years, Christianity must be silenced for State rule to be complete and unchallenged.  Applying this unconstitutional amendment, that was part of a power play by one of the most corrupt politicians in US history, is their primary vehicle.

We must encourage our pastors to speak out on moral issues like Pastor Riggle has, and continues to.

Christians Voting for Marxists, Secularists Then Surprised When They Vote to Oppress Freedom of Religion

Goal of Democrat Party for America

I've been saying for years that Marxism, Socialism, Communism, the Democrat Party and the rest of the totalitarian government philosophies and entities are antithetical to Christianity and have sat in wonderment that so many Christians vote Democrat or Socialist.

We had Barack Obama famously comment on those that cling to their guns and religion, directed at Christians here which don't, while he supports the Islamofascists in the Middle East that do. What else not supported are public displays of Christianity. Obama and the Democrats have turned freedom of religion found in the Establishment Clause to freedom from religion  and freedom to worship. Freedom to worship means if you're a Christian, shut the hell up except when you're with you own kind on Sundays.

I've chronicled how government officials have helped the Democrat Party, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), the Communist Party founded ACLU going to schools, colleges and universities, to the middle of the desert, to the deep woods, and anywhere a Cross or Ten Commandments monument or engraving is found, and sue to get them removed. Even to the point of a Ten Commandments monument on school grounds, voted on by the Democrat City Council to be removed. A solution was offered to have the monument moved to a nearby church. That was rejected because it was still in public view. Seriously.

Look for the day when churches will have to remove Crosses if that's the case.

It's the Democrat Party that's forcing the Catholic Church and other religious institutions to pay for birth control, abortion pills, abortion, infanticide according to government dictates, violating centuries of tradition, values and belief.

It's the Democrat Party and other anti Christians that keep Christian clubs forming on Campuses. It's the Democrat Party and other anti Christian intolerant bigots forcing existing clubs to accept and vote into leadership positions atheists and secularists to meet with "diversity" guidelines. It's the Democrat Party that is trying to stop Bible study groups from meeting in homes. Only Christian groups; Islamists are given a pass in the name of 'diversity".

Given all that, many Christians will still vote Democrat. They will vote for the city council members that remove Christian symbols from the public square. The will vote for state and federal Democrat officials that have a history of anti Christian bigotry and belief in the State before God. For example, a Catholic politician voting for abortion and infanticide, using as an excuse they don't want to force their values on other's. It's not a value if you use the power of the State to force others to obey the State and violate Christian practices; that person values the Secularist State over Christianity. He\She values killing babies over saving them. Yet many Christians will vote for these supporters that ignore or turn the Establishment Clause on its head. They will vote for those that oppose Christianity but give Islamists a pass. They will vote for those that ignore Biblical Principles.

The Founding Fathers made it quite clear that there must be a [Christian] religious moral foundation and virtuous people for our republic to survive. Many Christians for decades have voted against Christianity and for the State the oppresses them, then complain when the State, the people they voted for, actually starts removing all public practice and symbols of Christianity from the public square.

"If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My Face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land."  2 Chronicles 7:14 

I can't help but think what happened to the Old Testament Jews every time they turned their back on God. It wasn't pretty.

  

Religious Intolerance From Atheists

The Left is forever lecturing Conservatives and Christians to not ram our beliefs and values down their throats. No less is so than the "new atheists" whose level of bigotry and intolerance is worthy of Lenin and Stalin.

At one time being an atheist meant not believing in God and that was the end of it. Now they proselytize in a way worthy of Islamofacists.  Since they have no moral argument, and regular citizens don't pay so much attention to them, they use the communist front group ACLU to bully and berate legislators to pass laws excising religion from the land.

One could say this is unconstitutional since it violates the establishment clause; the government can't force a religion on the citizens.

They've been working forever to get the cross taken down from Soledad Mountain in San Diego. There's a cross in the middle of nowhere for lost soldiers Joshua National Park, another in the middle of forest they're trying to take down. One has to make a concerted effort to get to these places. Then there's the annual anti Christian campaign every Christmas.

Adding to this in the past few weeks are some more attacks, showing yet more intolerance and bigotry.

Prudhomme’s Lost Cajun Kitchen in Columbia, Lancaster County, PA has a Sunday promotion, that if you bring a church bulletin you get a 10% discount. An intolerant anti-Christian bigot atheist, John Wolff has filed a law suit that this violates the separation of church and state. It rankles every time I hear this since there is no such thing in the Constitution. I have a Leftist friend who is super smart in so many areas, that actually believes the establishment clause says the government protects citizens from religion. Wolff belongs to the hate group Freedom From Religion Foundation. Wolff by the way, does not live in the town the restaurant is in, and he's never eaten there.  Full article here.

In England several Catholic charities and hospitals have been shut down because Church leaders refuse to obey the secular anti Christian government's healthcare mandates. The same is beginning to happen here. This story happens in PA too; what's going on there?

Chosen 300 is a religious charity that feeds the homeless in Philadelphia.  The group feeds the homeless on the streets, and tries to get them indoors. They bring God's word to them too. The article doesn't state the move to stop them from feeding the homeless is generated by atheists, but I can bet if this were not a Christian group, there would be no beef. I can't imagine a Christian, Republican, TEA Party, or Conservative group suing to stop feeding the homeless. Article here.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation raises its head again in this third and final story. Steubenville, Ohio has a cross in its city logo. The intolerant hate group is suing to have it removed.  Horror of horrors, not only is there a cross but a chapel that is located on the property of  Franciscan University of Steubenville. As is often the case, cities do not have enough money to legally defend themselves from anti-constitutional, anti-Christian attacks and often have to back down. Someone has stepped up and will finance the defense of the logo. Article here.

While Leftist hate groups like  Freedom From Religion Foundation and Leftist gay groups claim to be all about tolerance, their actions prove they are not. They are willing and able to bankrupt cities and drive companies out of business, causing people to loose their jobs. The biggest example of this is Leftist attack on Chick-fil-a, trying to drive them out of business because the CEO said he believes in the Biblical definition of marriage. There it is. He's a Christian, so his company must be destroyed, he must be destroyed, and all the citizens that work for the company must be force into unemployment. Just because they don't agree with Atheist\Secularist's belief system.

Yet they are blind to their own hate and intolerance. It's the plight of Leftists everywhere. I've said before in this blog, if leftists say the opposition is doing it, or thinking it, then in fact they are the guilty ones, and lack the self honesty to admit it. 

Cardinal Dolan on the Obama Administration's Attempts to Further Divide the Catholic Church

http://youtu.be/kDEsTHCFFVs

Democrats\Obama Error Thinking They Can Pit Religious Denominations Against Each Other

Much has been made by the Left, and its propaganda division, the Re-elect Obama Press, about how divisive Romney's Mormonism is among religious people, especially evangelicals. I've always been curious about that term, since Jesus made it clear we are all to evangelize His Testament. I suppose to their narrow, intolerant, uniformed bigoted minds, and evangelical is any person with traditional values and believes Jesus Christ is who He said He is and that makes them right wing extremists.  

Very much of how the Left\Democrats and Obama operate is to divide and pit one group against another; Black vs White, Rich vs Poor, Hispanic vs White, Illegals vs Citizens/ legal immigrants, and whatever else they can come up with, Secular vs Religious. They take a very wrong turn thinking they can pit religious denomination against religious denomination. In the religious community, because of God as the centerpiece, an attack on one is an attack on all.

Even an attack on Mormons is seen as an attack on religion, and cannot be tolerated. When Obama attacked the Catholic Church demanding they jettison a couple thousand years of belief and tradition and provide abortion, contraception and sterilization, all Christians perceived this as an attack on freedom of religion. Of course the Left, as it does, denies it's doing what's wrong when caught. Rev. Rick Warren: “I’m not a Catholic but I stand in 100 percent solidarity with my brothers and sisters to practice their belief against government pressure.” ... “I’d go to jail rather than cave in to a government mandate that violates what God commands us to do. Would you? Acts 5:29.” ["But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men"]

In their letter of protest, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: “We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom.”

There's been lots of religious persecution in this country by government officials. In 17th century New York (then New Amsterdam) government officials tried banning Jewish immigration; couldn't do that so banned synagogues. Ulysses S Grant issued General Order 111,  to expel all Jews from Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. Lincoln overruled the order. Mormon Reed Smoot was appointed Senator to the new state of Utah, and they refused to swear him in; he eventually was. New York banned Mormon missionaries of the time. The main reason Mormons moved as a group was because in the East, it was open season to kill them. Governor Lilburn Boggs in 1838 issued an order that Mormons “must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace.” That wasn't lifted until 1976.

Secularists, Democrats, Leftists, don't get the unity of the religious. They only understand unity when various groups of people they've divided up decide to become subservient to them, the State. That there are people, like in Acts 5:29, that are subservient to God, not men when the occasion warrants, is incomprehensible to them.

Religious people take the 1st Amendment very seriously, even if Leftists and Our Dear Leader don't. By their continual attacks on the religious, they are creating a huge voting block against themselves.  

Unless You're an Orthodox Leftist, You Don't Get Free Speech Rights

The anti-free speech Democrats\Leftists are at it again, banning speech. This happened a few days ago. Boxer Manny Pacquiao, after Obama became our first gay president by announcing he was for gay marriage (he was for it before he was against it and now he’s for it), said he thought marriage should be between a man and a woman.

That breaks with the Leftist group think orthodoxy; homosexual trumps heterosexual. Pacquiao was to do an interview at an LA shopping center named “The Gove”. Lots of celebrities go there, and apparently are allowed to since they adhere to Statist orthodoxy. The Grove’s vice-president of corporate affairs, Bill Reich, has banned Pacquiao from the premises. He said, “Based on news reports of statements made by Mr. Pacquiao, we have made it be known that he is not welcome at The Grove and will not be interviewed here, now or in the future.  The Grove is a gathering place for all Angelenos and not a place for intolerance.” Banning a Christian for having a belief different from Bill Reich and other Leftists is not intolerant though.

In the article from an interview with the “National Conservative Examiner” the author, Granville Ampong, added in the Leviticus line about homosexuality, which Pacquiao never mentioned, which set off the anti heterosexual marriage crowed (taking a page from the Leftist labeling handbook there). The response to the article was Pacquiao wants to kill homosexuals. No truth to it, but reported and acted upon anyway. The Left\Democrat Party is Big Brother. 

Something not said, and not on the property of “The Grove” gets him banned from there. God forbid that anyone not agreeing with Statist orthodoxy would be tolerated by the ever so tolerant Left. The Left makes a huge effort to shut people down. There are websites dedicated to shut down Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. The Left’s most recent attempt to drive Limbaugh out of business was when he made the “slut” reference to feminist activist (Sandra Fluke) who thinks government should pay for her contraceptives. He apologized both in print and on air. Not accepted by the tolerant, caring, forgiving Left.

It was reported that 45 sponsors canceled. It didn’t happen. Most of the sponsors were advertising on the affiliates, not directly on the Limbaugh program. Those that advertised directly on his show saw sales plummet, and asked to come back. Limbaugh said no. Two of them, Shari’s Berries and the ProFlowers continued to link to his show on their websites. Lawsuit to follow I’m sure. Of course the Jurassic Press didn’t report this, only that 45 sponsors canceled on his show, which they didn’t. Anything to promote Leftist orthodoxy and shut up the opposition.

Just a couple examples of the Left\Democrat Party being anti free speech. As they are anti second amendment, anti Christian, and anti assembly, unless it’s the Occupy movement or other violent Leftist protest groups.

"I Owe You an Update" Cardinal Dolan

This is an excerpt from Cardinal Dolan, written March 1.  Full letter here. I would go a step further; this isn't just about religious freedom either, it's about freedom from the government mandating how we live our lives. Statists have taken how we take care of our bodies away from us with ObamaCare, and they're using ObamaCare to oppress religious freedom. 

“This has not been a fight of our choosing.  We’d rather not be in it.  We’d prefer to concentrate on the noble tasks of healing the sick, teaching our youth, and helping the poor, all now in jeopardy due to this bureaucratic intrusion into the internal life of the church.  And we were doing all of those noble works rather well, I dare say, without these radical new mandates from the government.  The Catholic Church in America has a long tradition of partnership with government and the wider community in the service of the sick, our children, our elders, and the poor at home and abroad.  We’d sure rather be partnering than punching.

Nor is this a “Catholic” fight alone.  As a nurse from Harrison emailed me, “Cardinal, I’m not so much mad about all this as a Catholic, but as an American.”  It was a Baptist minister, Governor Mike Huckabee, who observed, “In this matter, we’re all Catholics.”

And it is not just about sterilization, abortifacients, and chemical contraception.  Pure and simple, it’s about religious freedom, the sacred right, protected by our constitution, of any Church to define its own teaching and ministry.

When the President announced on January 20th that the choking mandates from HHS would remain — a shock to me, since he had personally assured me that he would do nothing to impede the good work of the Church in health care, education, and charity, and that he considered the protection of conscience a sacred duty — not only you, but men and women of every faith, or none at all, rallied in protest.  The worry that we bishops had expressed — that such government control was contrary to our deepest political values — was eloquently articulated by constitutional scholars and leaders of every creed.  Even newspaper editorials supported us!

On February 10th, the President announced that the insurance providers would have to pay the bill, not the Church’s schools, hospitals, clinics, or vast network of charitable outreach.  He considered this “concession” adequate.

The President invited us to “work out the wrinkles,” and we have been taking him seriously.  Unfortunately, this seems to be going nowhere: the White House Press Secretary, for instance, informed the nation that the mandates are a fait accompli (and, embarrassingly for him, commented that we bishops have always opposed Health Care anyway, a charge that is simply scurrilous and insulting). The White House already notified Congress that the dreaded mandates are now published in the Federal Registry “without change.” The Secretary of HHS is widely quoted as saying, “Religious insurance companies don’t really design the plans they sell based on their own religious tenets,” which doesn’t bode well for a truly acceptable “accommodation.”  And a recent meeting between staff of the bishops’ conference and the White House staff ended with the President’s people informing us that the broader concerns of religious freedom — that is, revisiting the straight-jacketing mandates, or broadening the maligned exemption—are all off the table.  Instead, they advised the bishops’ conference that we should listen to the “enlightened” voices of accommodation, such as the recent hardly-surprising but terribly unfortunate editorial in America.  The White House seems to think we bishops are hopelessly out of touch with our people, and with those whom the White House now has nominated as official Catholic teachers.

So, I don’t know if we’ll get anywhere with the executive branch.”

Giving Up Liberty

Magna Carta Libertatum is the whole title to the document. It placed restraints on the king. The US Constitution placed restraints on the government, the political class. Both focused on the rights of people. The most recent attack on Christianity, specifically the Catholic Church, by the Obama Administration and the Democrat Party, is beyond just that. It’s an attack on liberty.

“I leave it up to the government to make good decisions for Americans.” Danica Patrick

For those that don’t know, Patrick is a sexy race car driver and model. She has hit here on the mindset of a growing number of citizens that it’s okay to give up individual liberty and submit to the State. It’s severely bothersome and disconcerting to me that for the five thousand years or so of civilization prior to the founding of the republic of America, Man has lived under tyranny. Just look how long and slow progress was; spiritually and physically. Just look at all the cool stuff we’ve got in the last couple hundred years or so. There’s more progress in freedom and goodies than all the history preceding the US Constitution.

The primary reason, arguably the only reason, for this explosion of creativity, innovation, and personal wealth is the power of the State had its wings clipped. People were able to do things for themselves, family and community, and all have benefitted. Now the State’s feathers of oppression have grown back.

The latest, of course, is the attempt to control the Catholic Church and by extension Christians, so Freedom of Religion gets clipped. Even those not tolerant of organized religion should take note because every tyranny begins with the crushing of Christians and Jews (anti-Semitism is on the rise). Freedom of Speech is clipped by “political correctness” and name calling. If you disagree with Obama’s policies you’re a racist, if you don’t approve of homosexuality or gay marriage you’re a bigot, if you don’t think employees or taxpayers should be paying for someone else’s abortions or contraceptives, you're a sexist.

Case in point from Chris Matthews: “There are a number of people who have chosen to convert to the Catholic faith because they don’t like the liberal positions taken by their sectarian groups, that’s a fact, you can write that down. . . .I’m saying that some people who are bigoted against gay people have changed religions, yes.”

Then there’s Obama’s statement: “So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” It’s an anathema to these Statists that people actually believe in God because they believe, not because the government isn’t fulfilling some need in their lives. Statists want Religion out of the way because it creates a vacuum for the State to fill. They want all citizens replace their religion with the Religion of the State like they have.

Now the government tells us what light bulbs we can use, even though the one’s we will soon be forced to buy provide worse light and are dangerous and toxic. Some public schools are forcing parents to buy school lunches, deeming home made sack lunches not healthy enough. I read one incident where the school didn’t let a kid eat his lunch meat sandwich from home and eat at the school cafeteria; the replacement meal was “chicken” nuggets. Really? The government is installing “smart meters” on homes to control your house temperature, what and how many appliances you can run. They have tried, so far unsuccessfully, to ban smoking in cars and homes. They tell restaurants how much sugar and salt they can use in their recipes. The tax code is designed to limit your income; they are mandating how much you may earn.  In California parents have to keep their kids in booster seats until they are 57” tall. Some kids will be in them until they’re 10 or 12 years old. This was a safety problem? If the people vote on something, and the government doesn't like the outcome, they just get a judge say it's unconstitutional and overturn the will people and their representatives.

“We are only a few days away from fundamentally transforming America!” Barack Obama, November 2008

Obama’s “accommodation” to the Catholic Church is to have insurance companies pay for contraception and whatever else, so the employees will have these for free. Statists say things are for free, if only we give them more power and money. Power to not obey the laws the rest of us are forced to obey, and money so they can live large with the things we can no longer afford because they took our money.

The cost of all that free stuff? The U.S. government debt is currently $44,215 per person. Obama’s own budget numbers show it will rise over the next ten years to $75,000.

“I leave it up to the government to make good decisions for Americans.” Truly?

How the Democrats Are Defending Their Assault on Freedom of Religion

There's the observation man isn't a rational being, but a rationalizing being. This vid shows Dems justifying forcing religious institutions to submit to the State in violation of their teachings and beliefs, and in violation of the First Amendment. The most frightening of all this justifications comes at 2:04. This woman is actually a national politician, as well as incredibly stupid. Gwendolyne Moore, Wisconsin Democrat: "The National Institute of Health has said that it is a danger to women's health and safety of their families, that for 30 years, to be exposed to the prospects of pregnancy." Pregnancy is a health and safety issue that women are exposed to? It's a prospect of something unhealthy, or something.  What?



The government mandating what products and services citizens should buy. In the case of the Catholic Church, it's been suggested that going forward they needn't hire employees that don't have the same values and belief system as the Church. How many law suits would that generate, denying employment based on ideology?

If a government controls healthcare, it controls every aspect of every citizen's life. Every citizen will have to obey the State to get health care. Guns are unhealthy. Ban them. Religion endangers the health of women. Suppress it. Leftists/Democrats have done very well suppressing free speech with political correctness, to the point now, if you call a black man "Juan" without the correct inflection you're a racist. Traditional press has given up it's freedom; it willing and with joy does the bidding of the State. Pretty much us in the blogosphere are what's left of the free press, and the State is doing everything it can to get control of that. 

Government's Attack on Christianity

I've pointed out many times government must drive religion, especially Jews and Christians out. The reason being Jesus told us to render to Caesar what is his, and God what is his; the State wants, and must have, everything rendered unto it. It will not tolerate dissent. The history of Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, Red China and Cuba are some examples that bear this out.

The campaign against Christianity in this country is getting stronger. What follows are some examples. The simplest start is the idea, even supported by some Christians, is religion is a private thing, and has no place in the public arena. Practicing Christians know being infused with the Holy Spirit means our Faith is the center of everything we say and do. Those Christians thinking that religion, especially Christianity, is exclusively a private thing, need to reevaluate where they are with their Faith. 

The government’s driving Christianity out of the public sphere won’t reach the level of persecution seen in the countries mentioned above, but is just as insidious. Without the traditions and values of Christianity, we will end up reflecting what those states were or are.

Russell Shaw writes:

“Don't think I'm making the wild-eyed claim that this new persecution either is or ever is likely to become a bloody one resembling the purges of the French and Mexican Revolutions or the Communist war on religion—eruptions of violence in which thousands of clergy, religious, and lay faithful were killed. It won't be a repetition of the Spanish civil war, just 75 years ago, when death squads of the anticlerical left executed the incredible total of 12 bishops, 283 religious women, 4,184 priests, 2,365 religious men, and an unknown number of laity whose only crime was being faithful Catholics.
No, the persecution of religion in the United States won't be like that. It will be a tight-lipped campaign of secularist inspiration in which the coercive power of the state is brought to bear on church-related institutions to act against conscience or go out of business.” Full article here.

 The most blatant and egregious example of this is Health and Human Services decision to deny funding to Catholic programs that aid victims of human trafficking.  The programs administered by the Catholic Church are the most effective. The reason for government not helping with funding, is the Church doesn't, and will not, refer abortions. Base on that criteria, Catholic health care programs and hospitals that serve non-Catholics are denied funding. Those institutions must provide “the full range of legally permissible gynecological and obstetric care” aka abortions. Given the government advocates for tax payer funded fetal genocide, religious health institutions must necessarily withdraw or be forced to violate all religious values, traditions and beliefs.

In my mind, if you’re not for something, you’re against it. You may say you have no dog in the chase, and that’s fine. We can’t have knowledge and opinions about everything, but when it comes to our attention we need to make a decision. Sitting on the sidelines cannot be an option when the attack on freedom of religion, speech, and the rest are under attack. The government here is for human trafficking if it's willing to cut out the most effective organization and give it to failed or failing organizations dealing with slavery.  

The attack right now is mostly focused on the Catholic Church, but not limited to it. Obama’s EEOC recently argued to the Supreme Court the hiring practices of the Lutheran Church were discriminatory; that religious institutions must be held to the same hiring practices as secular businesses.  That would mean the government would have a say in who a church selects as their pastor or ministerial team. Given this violation of the establishment clause, the government could force a Catholic priest that got married to be rehired if the priest sued to get his job back. Really. Fortunately the Supreme Court rejected this anti-religious, anti-Christian, anti-Constitutional filing.  

Coming up on the Christmas season, we’re braced for the onslaught of anti-traditionalists, anti-Christian bigots, and atheists' annnual attack Christianity; all supported by government. They are so desperate in their hatred and intolerance they even try and take out Santa Claus and Christmas trees, claiming they're religious symbols. They are not. Christians need to stand up and say so.

Uniformed Christians are a problem too. We used to have a Christmas tree in our break room at work, and a “Christian” said it was a pagan religious symbol; he was offended, so we can no longer have a Christmas tree. Even though the knucklehead has left the company, the rule stays. Back when thug rapper Tupac Shakur was alive, a woman had pictures of him around her cube and a Bible on her desk.  I experienced cognitive dissonance.

One last point. The Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, and the laws in the Constitution, are all founded in Scripture. I’ve posted several times Democrats (aka Leftists) stating they’re not held to the Constitution. The document they do hold themselves to is the Communist Manifesto, which rejects God and religion. What they advocate is an earthly utopia based on the rule of men, not the natural laws of God. There can be no earthly utopia, and peace can't reign without God's rule. Understanding God as natural law, that God is Love, and government rejects both, we must ensure more people understand that only by God’s rule and Grace can there be Liberty.

  

Anti-Christian Hate Speech From NY Appellate Court

Our anti-Christian judicial system is still doing its best to kill Christianity. Our secularist legislators and pro-Muslim executive are having a hard time changing this nation into an anti –Christian nation, so the judges are doing their best to help.

The New York appellate court has ruled, in defiance of previous Supreme Court rulings, that religious groups can’t use school facilities after school hours. Of course any other group can. Jews can for the time being, but with this ruling, that too is on the chopping block. This sad sack excuse for blatant discrimination under the “rule of law” is justified by the court by saying they weren’t discriminating against religion, they were simply banning a “type of activity—religious worship services.”   

Federal courts had issued an injunction against enforcing the ban on religious groups meeting on taxpayer funded public property, but the appellate court rejected the ruling of the higher court (really?). That ban is nine years old. What’s the holdup?

The court is a panel of three judges. The one dissenting judge, John Walker: “The majority’s formulation of ‘religious worship services,’ including its shoehorning of a supposed Establishment Clause problem, is conveniently tailored to support its arguments, but leaves no doubt that it is ‘religious services’ and ‘worship’ that the Board is targeting for exclusion.”  

The ruling is being appealed to the 2^nd Circuit Court. Let’s hope they at least, if not anti-religious secular bigots, believe in the rule of law. If not it’ll be up to the Supreme Court again. 

Charity, Church, Stimulus Bill, Faith Based Initiative- An Unholy Alliance Between Church and State

GW Bush began the faith based initiative and I was dubious that it was a good idea. I’ve come to the conclusion it must be banned. Remove the legislation. We must not let the government have any say, none, in how religious institutions take care of people. Money from the government comes with strings. The strings are connected to hellish legislation, rules and controls.

Those create corruption. We don’t want secular State corruption infecting the Church. Some of the (non) “stimulus” money went to churches; they took it for themselves and not for charity works.  Castleton United Methodist Church in Indianapolis got “stimulus” and “faith based” money and bought a new heating and cooling system for their church. The Church of St. Laurence O'Toole in Laramie, WY, bought new windows for a school it runs. About $140 million has gone to religious organizations that can be accounted for.

Catholic Charities USA has received about $50 million so far. According to Recovery.gov, Catholic organizations and churches have received about $90 million, Protestant organizations and churches about $45 million, and Jewish synagogues and organizations about $6 million. Do any of these organizations think the government putting taxpayer money in will not come back to bite them?

There still are some conservatives saying, as they did when faith based legislation was introduced, they are afraid there would be religious discrimination that would send money to secular charities in disproportionate amounts. Not an issue. Religious organizations do get an equal share, and secular governmental controls come with it. That’s a threat to freedom of religion.

Some rules: If getting government dollars religious organizations may not force recipients to participate in explicit religious activity. I thought one of the primary missions of the Church was to introduce and bring people to God. If one teaches and talks about God, Christ, the Church, it must be done separately from the charity service. I’m sure there are other rules sitting quietly on the guidelines for more government control in the future. The only religious leaders I’m finding supporting all this are Liberals. This is a scary day when I have to agree with the Statist, Secularist, anti Christian bigot leader of  Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, Barry Lynn, though for different reasons. He’s anti religion (even though he claims to be a minister) and pro government, and is against this because it violates his separation of Church and State misunderstanding.

I’m against the Faith Based Initiative and using “stimulus” money in religious organizations because the government will use it to control. A lot of the money from this is being funneled through various government environmental agencies for “green projects”; weather proofing churches and community environmental programs. What does this have to do with reaching out to the poor, to prisoners, the sick and dying? Nothing, except to get religious organizations to do the bidding of the State.

We get tax free status from the government. That should be the financial basis, along with tithing, for charitable works. Billions of dollars here at home and abroad help billions of the suffering. Anytime government gets involved we will get all the controls and corruption that comes with it. We have enough sin in our own house to deal with; we don’t need government intervention to exacerbate that reality. 

Religious Freedom

Though I'm not a Catholic, this vid expresses exactly what Christianity has brought to the world, often through the Catholic Church. Atheists and secularists did not bring us schools, hospitals and charities.
 

For bringing these good things that have benefited all mankind, Christians are persecuted to death in some places, to being verbally and politically attacked in others.

Here in the US we're told to keep our mouths shut and only speak of religious things in our churches and homes. We are told to keep our religion out of politics. We are told to keep our religion out of the culture. That's because Secularists want power unopposed.

Not going to happen here. I'll witness my Faith wherever I want, whenever I want. I'll bring God into the voting booth. Insult or lie about my religion and I'll go after you as hard as possible.

A Chinese Cardinal and Freedom of Religion in America

Cardinal Kung 1949

He spent more time in prison for political crimes against the State than Nelson Mandela, but you probably never heard of him. The reason for that is because his crime was being a Christian; never popular among the Elites.

His name is Ignatius Cardinal Kung Pin Mei. Born in 1901 and died in 2000. Thirty of those years he spent in prison because he was a Christian, and defied the State, refusing to renounce his faith. The Chinese government showed a little more restraint than barbaric fascist Islamic states that just murder people who refuse to renounce their faith.

Father Kung was consecrated Bishop on October 7, 1949, the year the Communists took power, making him Bishop of Soochow.    In 1950 he became Bishop of Shanghai and apostolic administrator of Soochow and Nanking. By 1955 he became such an enemy of the State, he was arrested.  A few months later he was taken to an arena, a dog racing stadium, and shackled he was led to the microphone.  The purpose was to confess his crime (being a Christian), but instead he said, “Long live Christ the King! Long live the Pope!”, and the audience responded, “Long live Christ the King! Long live Bishop Kung!”

He spent the next 30 years in prison, mostly in solitary confinement, and was released in 1985 to house arrest.  That part of the sentence was 10 years, but he was released after two and a half years.

From a sermon he gave in 1991:

“In America, you have freedom of expression and true freedom to worship. You honor justice and human rights. This is a nation of God. Standing with you here today, my heart is with my people in China who still do not have the freedom to worship.

… It is my sincere wish that, through the continuous leadership from the Government of the United States to help and influence the Government of the Peoples Republic of China, my people and my country will one day also enjoy the same true freedom of religion, expression, the human rights and justice in accordance with international standards.”

This is why I bring this brave man of faith and conviction up. The freedom of expression and to worship is being slowly eroded in this country. We Christians are demeaned and insulted in the Jurassic Press and by many current government officials. A blind eye is turned to the suffering, persecution, torture and murder of Christians worldwide. Our secular government is silent when Islamic states violently oppress Christians.

In this country the government uses the ACLU and the Americans United for Separation of Church and State to repress religious freedom, at least Christians'. Our secular government and these two organizations do support the freedom of religious expression of Islamofacists, which, given the Statist predilections of our elites, is no surprise.

Cardinal Kung shortly before his death.

There’s a cautionary tale here.  One doesn’t want to accept the fact of the slow taking away of liberty, and especially of the right to practice one’s religion. What Leftists practice is “Fabianism”, which is a slow, premeditated taking over of freedom until everyone is a slave to the State.  As is shown time and again, especially in the 20^th century, to close the deal on tyranny, Jews and Christians must be first marginalized, isolated, and then imprisoned.

Look around and see what the elites in this country, Jurassic Press and Leftists in government, say about Christians (example is what is said about Palin and Christine O’Donnell and their faith) without challenge, and how they ignore the persecution and murder of Christians world wide.

Can’t happen here?

It's Okay To Talk Politics, Except If You're a Christian, and Especially If You're In Church

About the only time you’ll see Democrat politicians in church is at election time, and usually in Black churches. They’re all for separation of church and state the rest of the time. That’s because more Democrats believe in UFO’s than God (several polls over several years), and are mostly secularists and atheists that believe government should be more powerful than God; that people should bow down and submit to them.

The rest of the time, the rest of us, believe and a lot go to church. We live in an overheated political time, and by law clergy can’t make any political comments from the pulpit. This is an IRS rule made in 1954 because some minister criticized Senator Lyndon Johnson. Really, what was he thinking criticizing one of the most powerful Statists of the time?

Two questions arise from this. Where’s the free speech? Even though the government uses taxes to control behavior, what’s the government (via the IRS) doing in churches monitoring speech?

This Sunday is Pulpit Freedom Sunday. What ministers are doing nationwide (this isn’t the first year) is making political points in their sermons and sending the transcripts to the IRS; then daring them to prosecute.

Personally, I don’t want to hear political stuff from pastors when I’m in church. They do though have a right to say what they want. Something about that pesky Constitution. Going back to the time of the founding of this country, a lot of political observations about candidates and their behavior were made from the pulpit. Were politicians living or at least trying to live according to the word of God? That’s something important to Believers.

We should roll back the IRS rule to before when Lyndon Johnson was offended, kick the IRS out of the business of controlling free speech in churches, and make a new rule that when a secularist Dem goes to speak politics at a church during elections, they have to pay a hypocrisy tax.