God Hears Thousands Praying for America, Media Doesn't

If a tree falls in the forest . . . or . . . If over ten thousand Christians pray on the streets of Philadelphia but there's zero media there, do they make a noise?
America for Jesus, a coalition of ministries, has organized prayer assemblies across America calling for Christians to take seriously 2 Chronicles 7:14 and pray for revival and even for a Third Great Awakening.

"America is in a state of emergency evidenced by widespread moral depravity and economic meltdown. There is only one remedy; we need to renew our covenant with God. We are calling America back to God and proclaiming liberty and freedom over our nation."
-- Anne Gimenez, National Chairperson, America for Jesus

“We have to be salt and light. We have to redirect this country back toward the light as people of God.”
-- Governor Rick Perry (R-Texas)

“America’s ultimate hope doesn’t rest with the president but with God. Its ultimate problem isn’t political but spiritual. However, the political realm affects every other and holds a critical place. The Scriptures record that unrighteous and ungodly leaders can lead a nation away from God and to judgment, while righteous and godly leaders can lead a nation to restoration. America is at a critical juncture.”
-- Rabbi Jonathan Cahn

For background, read Pastor Warns America of Socialism, Calls for Prayer and also read Texas Governor Calls on Christians to Pray as well as President Obama Denies Leading War Against Christianity

The question is, Prayer in America: Hidden Faith, or Public?



-- From "Robertson: This is Jesus' nation" by United Press International 9/29/12

Thousands of people packed a prayer rally at Philadelphia's Independence Mall Saturday where evangelist Pat Robertson declared "this nation belongs to Jesus."

"I don't care what the ACLU says or any atheist says, this nation belongs to Jesus," Robertson said.

The rally was part of a two-day event organized by a coalition of ministries called One Nation under God.

The group is calling for 40 days of prayer leading up to the presidential election.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Robertson, Perkins speak at prayer rally in Philly" by MaryClaire Dale, Associated Press 9/29/12

[Family Research Council president Tony] Perkins asked the crowd to pray for elected officials including Obama.

Speakers throughout the day condemned abortion, gay marriage and population control as practiced by Planned Parenthood. Christian rock music filled the historic mall as speakers challenged the crowd to overcome the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and slothfulness.

The rally was held outside of Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Pennsylvania is also where evangelist George Whitefield preached during the first Great Awakening, the 18th-century religious revival that spread through the American colonies.

Organizers plan another prayer rally Oct. 20 in Washington, D.C., two weeks before President Barack Obama faces Republican Mitt Romney in the presidential election.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Christian conservatives hold 'America for Jesus' prayer rally in Philly ahead of election" by Rachel Zoll, Associated Press 9/27/12

Christian conservatives who blame "moral depravity" for everything from the recession to terrorism are converging on Philadelphia for a rally they hope will spark a religious revival as Election Day nears.

John Blanchard, national coordinator for "America for Jesus 2012," said the two-day event starting Friday night is nonpartisan. It's modeled after the 1980 "Washington for Jesus" rally, considered a pivotal show of organizational strength by the then-fledgling Christian right. Bishop Anne Gimenez, whose late husband John helped lead the 1980 assembly, is a lead organizer of the Philadelphia gathering.

David Barton, a self-taught historian who emphasizes the Christian roots of the U.S., is another rally supporter. Barton wrote in a Feb. 29 article that Obama has shown "hostility toward Biblical people of faith" while giving "preferential treatment" to Muslims.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Family Research Council's Perkins Launches '40 Days to Save America' Campaign" by Troy Anderson, Newsmax 9/24/12

Today, the United States faces multiple crises — a potential economic collapse, moral disintegration, growing secular humanism, attacks on religious liberty, a spate of historic natural disasters, and a severe drought, according to “40 Days to Save America.”

These crises — together more daunting than those Americans faced in 1776, 1863, and 1941— are beyond the power of human beings to resolve without divine intervention — and “nothing short of a Third Great Awakening can save us,” according to the campaign.

. . . faith leaders are calling on pastors, priests, and rabbis to open their churches and synagogues for 40 days of prayer and fasting. They are also calling for “Christian and Jewish voters to make informed choices, voting not as Republicans or Democrats, but as followers of the living God.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Rick Perry Urges 'Christian Soldiers' to Fight Secularism" by Myles Collier, Christian Post Contributor 9/20/12

"I urge everybody listening to commit to these 40 days … to commit to spreading the word about this extraordinary event, commit to encouraging your fellow members of your congregation, or for that matter the people you work around daily, to join you in committing to taking the decisive action we need to spread God's grace throughout the United States," Perry said during the call as reported by the Statesman.com.

"Satan runs across the world with his doubt and his untruths and what have you, and one of the untruths out there (that) is driven is that people of faith should not be involved in the public arena," Perry said.

"And it falls on us. I mean we truly are Christian warriors, Christian soldiers, and it's for us as Americans to stand our ground and to firmly send a message to Washington that our nation is about more than some secular laws and activist courts," he added

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Will 'Wimpy' Pastors Engage War on Christianity?

Obama Creates Homosexual Path to Citizenship

President Obama, through Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, has proclaimed illegal aliens who demonstrate a vaguely-defined homosexual partnership with U.S. citizens be deemed so-called family members and granted the right to live in the U.S. indefinitely.

"Our nation is served when loving families are kept together.  We need to ... relegate DOMA to the dustbin of history."
-- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, San Francisco Democrat

For background, read Obama Enacts Same-sex 'Marriage' via Immigration and also read Obama Defeats Marriage, Again - Congress Responds and read the saga of President Obama's War on Marriage (DOMA) via Judges

-- From "U.S. immigration to treat same-sex partners as relatives" by Ronnie Cohen, Reuters 9/29/12

The Obama administration has directed immigration officials to recognize same-sex partners as family members in deportation cases, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said on Friday.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Pelosi in a letter that she had ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to notify its field offices "that the interpretation of the phrase 'family relationships' includes long-term, same-sex partners."

Immigration officials last year said they would consider same-sex partnerships as family relations in deciding whether to deport undocumented immigrants.

But 83 members of Congress led by Pelosi and Jerrold Nadler of New York criticized the government for unevenly applying the directive, and they pressed for written guidelines.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Gay couples may get reprieve in deportation cases" by The Associated Press 9/29/12

"I have directed ICE to disseminate written guidance to the field that the interpretation of the phrase 'family relationships' includes long-term, same-sex partners," Napolitano wrote, adding that the decision to grant reprieves still would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The instructions do not mean that foreigners who are married to Americans of the same sex will be eligible for green cards or citizenship, as are immigrants with opposite sex spouses. The Obama administration is continuing to enforce a 1996 law [DOMA] that prohibits the government from recognizing same-sex marriages, even as it opposes it in court and takes gay relationships into account when evaluating deportation cases.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington group that advocates tighter immigration policies, said that even though the administration says it is complying with the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] by not allowing citizens to sponsor same-sex spouses for green cards, the pending guidance for ICE officials to review the family ties of same-sex couples suggests otherwise.

"It's a camel's nose under the tent," Krikorian said. "If you get same-sex couples approved in terms of immigration, you can use that as an incremental approach to getting changes in other areas, such as in tax policy."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

U.N., Muslims to Strip U.S. of Religious Liberty

This week, leaders of Muslim-controlled countries urged the United Nations General Assembly to impose a global law against countering Islam consistent with U.N. Resolution 1618, which the Obama administration has supported, along with the 56-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and 22-member Arab League.

For background, read Religious Liberty and Anti-Christian Totalitarianism in America and also read President Obama Denies Leading War Against Christianity

-- From "In U.N. speech, Egypt's Morsi rejects broad free speech rights" by Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times 9/26/12

"Egypt respects freedom of expression," [President Mohamed Morsi] said, but "one that is not used to incite hatred against anyone. One that is not directed toward one specific religion or cult."

He called on the U.N. to consider international action to crack down on speech that defames religions.

Morsi's comments addressed a disagreement between Muslim and Western leaders that has surfaced this month since an anti-Islamic video made in the U.S. ignited protests and set off deadly attacks in nearly two dozen countries in the Muslim world. Muslim leaders have demanded that Western governments crack down on such expression . . .

Yemen President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, in his remarks, also rejected protection of speech that criticizes religion. "There should be limits for the freedom of expression, especially if such freedom blasphemes the beliefs of nations and defames their figures," Hadi said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "At U.N., Egypt and Yemen Urge Curbs on Free Speech" by Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times 9/26/12

[Morsi said,] “Insults against the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, are not acceptable. We will not allow anyone to do this by word or by deed.”

Other leaders have spoken out on the issue at the United Nations. President Asif A. Zardari of Pakistan, a country that experienced some of the most violent riots as a result of the film, went furthest in arguing against freedom of expression on religious matters, using his address on Tuesday to demand that insults to religion be criminalized.

“Before I take up my speech, I want to express the strongest condemnation for acts of incitement of hate against the faith of billions of Muslims of the world and our beloved prophet, Muhammad,” Mr. Zardari said . . .

“The international community must not become silent observers and should criminalize such acts that destroy the peace of the world and endanger world security by misusing freedom of expression,” he said. The United Nations should take up the issue immediately, he added.

Nabil Elaraby, the secretary general of the 21-member Arab League, added his voice to the issue, saying that spiritual harm should be treated as a crime, even as he condemned the recent riots. “If the international community has criminalized bodily harm, it must just as well criminalize psychological and spiritual harm,” Mr. Elaraby told a special session about Syria of the Security Council, saying it was a serious enough problem to warrant Council attention.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Muslim Leaders Make Case for Global Blasphemy Ban at U.N." by Patrick Goodenough, CNSNews.com 9/26/12

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono . . . noted that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says the exercise of rights and freedoms is subject to “the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.”

“Freedom of expression is therefore not absolute,” he told the annual high-level gathering in New York.

[Afghan President Hamid Karzai said,] “As we speak today the world is shaken by the depravity of fanatics who have committed acts of insult against the faith of over 1.5 billion Muslims. . . . I call upon leaders in the West, both politicians and the media, to confront Islamophobia in all its many forms and manifestations.”

Critics say the OIC-led religious “defamation” campaign impose undue limitations on freedom of expression, amount to legalized discrimination against religious minorities, and are an attempt to extend blasphemy law-like restrictions beyond the Islamic world.

Pakistan boasts arguably the Islamic world’s most controversial blasphemy laws, where disparaging Mohammed or defiling the Qur’an carries the death penalty.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Allen West to U.N.: U.S. 'Angel of Death'" by Kevin Cirilli, Politico 9/25/12

Florida Rep. Allen West ripped President Barack Obama’s United Nations speech Tuesday . . . for linking recent attacks on U.S. posts overseas to a trailer for the anti-Islamic film “Innocence of Muslims.” West said terrorism, not a video, sparked the violence.

“[Obama] continues to offer up apologies instead of defending our hard earned First Amendment right to freedom of speech and expression,” he wrote. “There is no message to this silly video trailer, and it is beneath the dignity and esteem of the Office of the President of the United States to mention it at all. When tolerance becomes a one way street it leads to cultural suicide. I shall not be tolerant of the intolerant. I know about the UN Resolution 1618 which would make any statement deemed by the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) ‘offensive’ to Islam a crime…..NOT ON MY WATCH FELLAS!”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Michele Bachmann’s speech to Values Voter Summit (Transcript)" posted at The Washington Post 9/14/12

. . . The OIC is the second-largest intergovernmental organization in the world after the United Nations. The OIC [claims] they have authority to represent all Muslims, even those who live in non-Muslim countries, like the United States. In 2005, this very influential Islamic organization published a 10-year plan of action . . . to implement their Shariah-based, Islamic-based speech code requirements worldwide. But don’t take my word for it. They published this plan on their website in English so no one would miss their intent. They intend to internationally criminalize all communication or any communication or speech that’s deemed by them to be insulting to Islam, even in countries like the United States. . . .

. . . last December they succeeded, with both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s help, because they pushed through the United Nations the passage of U.N. Resolution 1618, which called upon all countries to enact laws preventing derogatory references to Islam – a clear violation of our First Amendment freedom of speech. And even before that, in October, last October, many prominent Islamic organizations wrote a letter to the White House, where they urged our White House to do a complete purge of any federal materials from references to the ideology of Islam, to ensure that all trainers in our U.S. military, our FBI and other U.S. security agencies be retrained so they would be brainwashed in political correctness toward Islam. That’s enforced Islamic speech codes here in the United States, and all done with the help of our president and secretary of state. It took only days for the Obama administration to reply to this demand letter from the Islamists, promising to set up a task force with these same organizations to immediately begin this unprecedented purge of our counterterrorism training in every federal agency across the board. It’s breathtaking – never been done before.

But when members of Congress, myself included, started to ask questions about the identities of who these people were who were leading this purge in our government and what it was they were purging from our training materials, the Obama administration told us the information was closed; it was classified; we couldn’t know who was behind this. I’m here to say, my friends, that we’re now today very late in the game. We’re quickly losing our sense of who we are as a nation, and we’re losing our ability to identify our radical Islamist enemy. The time has come to stand unashamedly this week for our freedom and our values and draw an unmistakable red line for our enemies across the world.

To read the entire transcript of Rep. Bachmann's speech, CLICK HERE.

Video of entire address by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) at Values Voter Summit:

Archbishops Say Vote Pro-life and Pro-marriage

Ignited by President Obama's War on Christianity, Catholic leadership in America is preaching that Christians must vote in concert with Biblical principles, such as supporting candidates who are pro-life and who defend marriage from attack by the Gay Agenda.  New Jersey Archbishop John Myers says that Catholics who vote contrary to Church teachings must refrain from receiving Holy Communion.

For background, read Pope Says Gay Agenda & Abortion Dooms Society and also read Catholic Bishops Throw Down Gauntlet: Obama War on Christianity as well as Christians OK with Romney, Non-religious Prefer Obama

Previously, the Minnesota Archbishop told Priests: Support Marriage or Be Quiet

Related: Religious Liberty & Anti-Christian Totalitarianism

UPDATE 10/1/12: Illinois Catholic bishop slams Democrat platform as evil - abortion and Gay Agenda

-- From "Archbishop urges Catholic voters to defend marriage" by Philadelphia Inquirer Staff and Wire Reports 9/26/12

In a pastoral statement Tuesday, Archbishop John Myers said equating same-sex marriage to marriage as "it has traditionally been understood" damages the institutions of marriage and family. He says redefining marriage would "enshrine in law a nonoptimal way to raise children as equivalent to that which is best."

Myers said Catholics who disagree with church teachings on marriage should refrain from receiving Communion.

The archbishop said he was not endorsing a political party but said he wanted Catholics to exercise their right to vote in defense of traditional teachings on marriage.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Newark archbishop urges voters to defend marriage, life" by Abbott Koloff, Staff Writer, The Record (Northjersey.Com) 9/25/12

Myers said he had been thinking about issuing a statement on the subject for about a year. He acknowledged that portions would be considered controversial and said he expected a “heated discussion” about the statement, which will be published online today. Parishioners in churches across the archdiocese, which covers Bergen, Hudson, Essex and Union counties, will be handed letters at church this weekend telling them about the statement and directing them to where it can be read.

He said he doesn’t believe polls that show a majority of Catholics support same-sex marriage. According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, 53 percent of American Catholics favor same-sex marriage, and the number rises to 72 percent among those between the ages of 18 and 34. But Myers acknowledged that a large number of Catholics seem to be at odds with church teaching, and that he wanted to reach out to them with his statement.

“No one has said things clearly to them for years,” he said.

Myers, 71, said modern culture and the media have led to the social acceptance of same-sex marriage. Homosexual acts are a sin, he said, but homosexuality is not. He wrote that it is possible for gay people to be married to members of the opposite sex and live “good, faithful and even joyous married lives. It is a lie to say that they are living, or have lived, a lie.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Archbishop Gomez: Faith Should Guide Catholic Voters" by Catholic News Agency 9/25/12

Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles has called on Catholics to achieve a “unity of life” and let their faith form their political decisions as they prepare to vote this November.

When Catholics go to the voting booth, he said, there are non-negotiable aspects of Catholic social teaching that they should recall. Abortion and euthanasia and families based on a marriage between a man and a woman are among those non-negotiables. These issues cannot be disagreed about among Catholics who have formed their consciences with the Church, he said.

But many issues are debatable among Catholics who have well-formed consciences. Archbishop Gomez pointed to issues such as taxes, government spending, how to deal with immigration and helping the poor as examples of topics that are matters of prudential judgment.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Catholic archbishop to host event opposing same-sex marriage" by Annie Linskey, Baltimore Sun 9/25/12

Baltimore archbishop William E. Lori is set to co-host an event in Baltimore Wednesday night to oppose Maryland's new same-sex marriage law.

Lori was installed as the head of the Baltimore's archdiocese in March, the same month that Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a law allowing gay couples to wed. Opponents gathered enough signatures to trigger a referendum on the law in November.

When Lori took over as the leader of the roughly 500,000 Catholics in the archdiocese, he pledged to fight the same-sex marriage law. "The church has clearly and consistently taught the greatness of marriage between one man and one woman," Lori said at a March news conference. "Certainly, I will continue that teaching as a bishop and will be working on this issue as the referendum unfolds."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Maryland Eighth State for Same-sex 'Marriage'

Schools Secretly Give 14-year-olds Morning After Pill

Since last year, public schools in New York City have given 567 students free Plan-B abortifacient drugs, but the program was only made public days ago announcing that 13 schools give girls the pill WITHOUT parental consent, even though it is illegal for a pharmacy to sell the pill to girls under age 17 without a prescription.  In order to protect children from the program, parents must proactively direct the school to exclude their own daughter from the program.

". . . in an ideal world a teen would consult with a parent or caregivers before becoming sexually active and seeking out birth control, [instead, this program] equips school nurses and other qualified staff to be those responsible adults providing appropriate advice and medical care."
-- Joan Malin, president of Planned Parenthood of New York City

(It takes a village . . .)

UPDATE 2/3/13 - Truth leaks out: 12,721 Plan B Handed Out last year in NY City Schools

For background, read Condom Training Mandated for NY City Schools and even worse NY Schools To Teach Sex Performance Techniques

Also read Washington School Arranges Secret Abortion as well as Secret Abortions Continue in Illinois and read Abortifacients Given to Kids via Vending Machine for $25





-- From "Morning-after pills available to N.Y. high school students" by Jonathan Allen, Reuters 9/24/12

The program, which started last year and now has been instituted at 13 high schools, allows school nurses to give students emergency contraceptive pills, designed to prevent pregnancy following unprotected sex or a contraceptive failure if taken within 72 hours. It also provides condoms, birth-control pills and pregnancy testing.

Parents were informed of the program from the start and given the choice of opting out of any or all of the services but have largely supported the program, [Alexandra Waldhorn, a health department spokeswoman] said, but it had not been reported on until the New York Post wrote about it during the weekend.

Greg Pfundstein, the executive director of the Chiaroscuro Foundation, an anti-abortion group in New York, said the program should be conducted on an opt-in basis so that parents had to actively give their consent.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.



From "NYC Schools Offer Morning-After Pill" by Cristina Costantini, ABC News 9/24/12

Although the program -- called CATCH, or Connecting Adolescents To Comprehensive Health -- allows parents to opt-out their daughters, only 1 to 2 percent of parents have chosen to do so after letters were sent to their homes, according to Deborah Kaplan, assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Maternal, Infant and Reproductive Health for the NYC Department of Health.

Some critics say the initiative encourages unhealthy decision-making when it comes to sex. Still others, like Pania Palacios, the mother of a sophomore at one of the participating CATCH schools, say the use birth control should require parental oversight. Palacios never received the letter allowing her to remove her daughter from the program, and she wasn't happy about it, she told the New York Post:

"Parents should know if their daughter is pregnant."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Girls age 14 can get birth control at New York City schools" by Cheryl Wetzstein, The Washington Times 9/24/12

“We’re incensed at the arrogance of this administration. The state is constantly telling parents, ‘We know better than you on how to raise your children,’” said the Rev. Jason McGuire, executive director of the New Yorker's Family Research Foundation.

“Our kids are being targeted and they’re being sold sex. That’s what this is all about, and it needs to stop,” said Michelle Mulledy, New York state director for Concerned Women for America.

The plan is “tragic and misguided,” New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn said in a blog post Monday.

This plan “usurps” parents’ roles as first educators for their children “and allows the public school system to substitute its beliefs and values for those of the parents,” they wrote.

Plan B is a birth-control product designed to prevent pregnancy if taken 72 hours after unprotected sex. While hailed as an essential tool to prevent unwanted pregnancy, it is controversial because it could disrupt implantation of a fertilized egg; many pro-life supporters see it as an unacceptable abortion drug.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Abstinence Education Yields Lowest Teen Birth Rate Ever as well as Abstinent Teens the Norm, Moral Sex-Ed Works: Study but nonetheless, Doctors Say Teenage Girls Need More Risk-free Sex

Will 'Wimpy' Pastors Engage War on Christianity?

One thousand American pastors are challenging their fellow heretofore spineless church leaders to stand up to the federal government's totalitarian effort to curtail religious liberty.  Pastors are being called to preach to election issues on "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" (October 7th), urging their congregations to vote consistent with Biblical principles, thus endorsing particular candidates from the pulpit -- a direct challenge to the never-enforced IRS restrictions on churches.

For background, read Pastors Defeating IRS on Freedom to Preach -- it's because the IRS Fears Prosecuting Churches over Politics

UPDATE 9/1/13 - Atheists & Pastors Agree: IRS Must Audit Sermons

Also read Religious Liberty & Anti-Christian Totalitarianism as well as Catholic Bishops Throw Down Gauntlet: Obama War on Christianity

UPDATE 2/16/14: America Going to Hell; Christians Lose Convictions



From "Pastors To Challenge IRS Ban On Political Speech With 'Pulpit Freedom Sunday'" by Meredith Bennett-Smith, The Huffington Post 9/20/12

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of American pastors plan on challenging the Internal Revenue Service next month, endorsing specific candidates in an attempt to force the courts to decide if politics should be allowed in the pulpit.

Dubbed "Pulpit Freedom Sunday," the Oct. 7 event marks the fourth year that churches, led by conservative group Alliance Defending Freedom, have carried out the protest. Pastors [participating in] the event will “preach sermons that will talk about the candidates running for office” and then “make a specific recommendation,” Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the ADF, said.

Last year hundreds of pastors participated in the special Sunday event, preaching about American politics and hot-button issues including same-sex marriage and abortion, according to The New York Times. The politically charged sermons were recorded and sent to the IRS to prove the pastors' violations of a 1954 tax code amendment banning such discourse.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "As churches get political, IRS stays quiet" by Nanette Byrnes, Reuters 6/21/12

The situation is fraught with peril for the IRS, which needs to be seen as apolitical. When it cracks down on political activities proscribed by the 501(c)(3) regulations [that restrict church free speech], it is inevitably branded as partisan.

When the target is a church, mosque or synagogue, enforcement puts two fundamental American values at odds: freedom of speech and the separation of church and state. Although the agency has enforced the tax-exemption rules against churches in the past, it has so far ignored the provocations of Freedom Sunday.

The IRS has also been silent about the increasingly aggressive political activity of the U.S. Catholic bishops, who have called for their own Fortnight for Freedom [in June]. Masses, rallies, and parish bulletins are being mobilized against the Obama administration's healthcare regulations on contraceptives.

IRS church audits seem to have halted entirely in January 2009. That was when Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, successfully appealed an IRS audit. In question were an endorsement of Republican Michele Bachmann for Congress by pastor James Hammond and financial deals that may have benefited him personally, a violation of IRS rules.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Pastors pledge to defy IRS, preach politics from pulpit ahead of election" by Cristina Corbin, FoxNews.com 9/23/12

The defiant move, they hope, will prompt the IRS to enforce a 1954 tax code [the Johnson Amendment] that prohibits tax-exempt organizations, such as churches, from making political endorsements. Alliance Defending Freedom, which is holding the October summit, said it wants the IRS to press the matter so it can be decided in court. The group believes the law violates the First Amendment by “muzzling” preachers.

“The purpose is to make sure that the pastor -- and not the IRS -- decides what is said from the pulpit,” Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group, told FoxNews.com. “It is a head-on constitutional challenge.”

“We’re hoping the IRS will respond by doing what they have threatened,” he said. “We have to wait for it to be applied to a particular church or pastor so that we can challenge it in court. We don’t think it’s going to take long for a judge to strike this down as unconstitutional.”

Stanley and others, like San Diego pastor Jim Garlow, say the IRS regularly threatens churches that they will lose their tax-exempt status if they preach politics. But Stanley and Garlow claim the government never acts on the threat because it wants to avoid a court battle.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "IRS Complaint Filed Against Colo. Christian Group for Endorsing Republicans" by Michael Gryboski, Christian Post Reporter 9/21/12

A Washington, D.C.-based church-state watchdog group has filed a complaint to the IRS against a Colorado-based Christian group, saying they violated tax-exemption rules by endorsing a political party.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent the complaint on Wednesday against Ridgway Christian Center, an organization connected to Praise Him Ministries. The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, wrote the letter to the IRS in response to a fall 2012 publication of RCC which apparently endorsed the Republican Party for the upcoming elections.

According to Erik Stanley of ADF, groups like Americans United have used the Johnson Amendment to "scare churches."

"It's ironic that an organization committed to the 'separation of church and state' is arguing for more governmental monitoring and control of churches and pastors."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read President Obama Denies Leading War Against Christianity

Judge Stops Atheists, School from Banning Bible

Hardin County, Texas District Judge Steve Thomas has issued a temporary restraining order that allows the Kountze High School cheerleaders to continue to include Bible verses on signs at football games for the next two weeks.  The ruling resulted from a lawsuit by local families countering the school's decision to bar use of Bible verses because of threats received from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation.

For background, read Religious Liberty & Anti-Christian Totalitarianism in America and also read Atheists Attack Christians Across America via Government

UPDATE 5/9/13: Judge rules for cheerleaders, against atheists and school district


-- From "Texas cheerleaders win court battle over high school 'Bible banners'" by Jim Forsyth, Reuters 9/21/12

The banners typically use Biblical passages for messages such as "thanks be to God which gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," and are a tradition in Kountze, which has about 2,100 residents northeast of Houston.

The dispute began when a group that seeks to enforce separation of church and state sent a letter to the school superintendent that contended the banners represented an illegal endorsement of religion by a public entity.

Superintendent Kevin Weldon, a former high school football coach, said he contacted the school's lawyers after he received the letter and ordered the practice with the banners canceled.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Judge grants temporary restraining order for Kountze cheerleaders" by Amy Moore, Beaumont Enterprise 9/20/12

[Kountze] attorney, David Starnes, filed the restraining order against the district and it was granted by Hardin County District Judge Steve Thomas.

The district and the cheerleaders' attorney will return to court Oct. 4 for a temporary injunction hearing.

"I think what [the cheerleaders and their families are] doing is right," said Jessica Daughtry, a Kountze resident. "When I saw it (the sign), it brought tears to my eyes. It's just so awesome and positive."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Texas high school cheerleaders barred from using Bible verses on football banners" by CBS News & Associated Press 9/20/12

Most people in Kountze viewed the banners as evidence of the students' admirable moral upbringing - Christianity and the Bible always had been fundamental to this town of 2,100.

But someone complained to a foundation that fights for the separation of church and state, and by Tuesday, a day after receiving a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the superintendent banned the banners, and the town became embroiled in a controversy that has touched other communities nationwide.

People in the town 90 miles northeast of Houston talk of little else. Parents and students have plastered pictures of the banners - some of which quote scripture, declaring "I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me" - on their Facebook pages. A Facebook group created after the ban, Support Kountze Kids Faith, had more than 36,000 members by late Thursday. They argue that it was the students' decision to "give the glory to God this year," and they pledge to help the children make sure their opinions and rights are not violated.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Judge Temporarily Allows High School Cheerleaders to Use Bible Banners" by Jeff Schapiro, Christian Post Reporter 9/21/12

Judge Steven Thomas issued the order in response to a lawsuit filed by the Liberty Institute, a Texas-based nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting religious freedoms, on behalf of several Kountze High School cheerleaders and their parents. The school district will now have to explain why it decided to ban the banners during a court hearing set for Oct. 4.

"We are excited that the cheerleaders for the Kountze High School Lions can again do what they do best-cheer on their football team without government censorship," Mike Johnson, senior counsel for Liberty Institute, said. "This is a quintessential example of students' private speech being censored unnecessarily by uninformed school officials. This is a well-established principle of constitutional law that students don't have to shed their constitutional rights of free speech when they enter the school house gate."

According to the Houston Chronicle, now that the restraining order has been put in place, the signs marked with Bible verses will be used at Kountz High School football's varsity game next Friday.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Teenage Girls Need More Risk-free Sex, Doctors Say

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists now recommend that post-pubescent girls be made unable to conceive using IUD or implanted birth control because children do poorly at managing other contraceptives that rely on proper usage.

UPDATE 9/29/14: Pediatricians Push IUDs, Implants on Teen Girls

UPDATE 4/8/15: Obama CDC Wants More Worry-free Sex for Teen Girls

For background, read Sex on the Rise, Procreation in Decline as well as To Cut Costs, Lower Birth Rate, Says White House

Also read how Public Schools and Abortionists Sexualize Children

UPDATE 8/5/13: Unlimited Plan B Abortion Pill in Stores for Kids

UPDATE 11/26/12: Doctors Say Teens Need Abortifacients at the Ready



-- From "Experts Recommending IUD Implants for Teens" by Adam Hammond, WREG-TV3 (Memphis) 9/21/12

The Centers for Disease Control reports one-third of teenagers are sexually active.

Some experts are recommending parents implant a device in sexually active teenagers to prevent pregnancy.

Stephanie Williams doesn’t think most teens practice safe sex because that’s the last thing on their minds in the heat of the moment, “You really don’t take any precaution at all you just do the first thing that comes to your mind.”

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists agree.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "IUDs, implants are best birth control methods for teens, docs say" by Lindsey Tanner, Associated Press 9/21/12

Teenage girls may prefer the pill, the patch or even wishful thinking, but their doctors should be recommending IUDs or hormonal implants -- long-lasting and more effective birth control that you don't have to remember to use every time, the nation's leading gynecologists group said Thursday.

Both types of contraception are more invasive than the pill, requiring a doctor to put them in place. That, and cost, are probably why the pill is still the most popular form of contraception in the U.S.

But birth control pills often must be taken at the very same time every day to be most potent. And forgetting to take even one can lead to pregnancy, which is why the pill is sometimes only 91 per cent effective.

The gynecologists group said condoms should still be used at all times because no other birth control method protects against AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. [Although, use of condoms often fails to prevent transmission.]

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "IUDs and Implants Are the Most Effective Way To Prevent Teen Pregnancy" by Nikki Tucker, Medical Daily 9/21/12

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists are replacing 2007 guidelines that once instructed doctors to view IUD as just an option, but did not emphasize a preference for them in women and teenage girls.

More specifically the new guidelines are geared to sexually active teens. "Implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs) should be offered as first-line contraceptive options for sexually active adolescents," The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists stated in a news release.

An intrauterine device (IUD) is a small T-shaped plastic device that is wrapped in copper or contains hormones. The IUD is inserted into a female's uterus by her doctor. A plastic string tied to the end of the implant hangs down through the cervix into the vagina. A female may check the implant is in place by feeling for the string. It is also the way the doctor removes the IUD.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "IUDs, Implants Best Teen Birth Control, ACOG Says" by Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer, MedPage Today 9/21/12

Short-acting contraceptive methods, favored by the vast majority of teenagers who use contraception, have lower adherence and higher pregnancy rates compared with long-acting reversible contraceptives. Among teens who report using contraceptive methods, long-acting reversible options account for < 5% of use.  More than 80% of teen pregnancies are unintended, reflecting high rates of non-use, inconsistent use, and use of failure-prone contraceptive methods -- typically condoms, withdrawal, and oral contraceptives. Teenagers account for 20% of all unintended pregnancies in the United States.

Addressing issues related to cost, insurance coverage, and confidentiality, the committee suggested referral to a public clinic as a reasonable option to facilitate teenagers' access to long-acting reversible contraceptives.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Abstinence Education Effective, Fed Study Shows as well as Abstinent Teens the Norm, Moral Sex-Ed Works: Study

Jesus Talk Outlawed in New Orleans, Arrests Made

A new city ordinance in New Orleans against religious free speech in public after dark is being challenged in federal court after repeated arrests of Christian preachers.  The most reviled incidents of speech hyped by the media involve calls for repentance of sinful behavior, such as homosexuality.

For background, read Religious Liberty & Anti-Christian Totalitarianism in America

UPDATE 10/15/14: Houston Lesbian Mayor Subpoenas Opposition Pastors' Sermons

Also read about the California Pastor Arrested for Reading Bible in Public and about how Police Boot Christian from Festival in Buffalo NY as well as Police Halt Bible 'Noise,' Preacher Sues City

UPDATE 7/26/13: City council ends "aggressive solicitation" ban on preaching after dark, but Paul Gros lawsuit continues

-- From "Bourbon Street 'no preaching' law challenged" by Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press 9/20/12

In his federal lawsuit, New Orleans pastor Paul Gros claimed the city's "aggressive solicitation" ordinance sets unconstitutional limits on free speech.

The measure makes it a crime for anyone to "loiter or congregate on Bourbon Street for the purpose of disseminating any social, political or religious message between the hours of sunset and sunrise."

The lawsuit said Gros was a "professing Christian" and pastor of Vieux Carre Assembly of God Church in the French Quarter, a block from Bourbon Street. Gros has been preaching on the French Quarter's streets for 30 years and doesn't intend to harass anyone or solicit any funds, his suit said.

. . . police arrested several preachers on Bourbon Street during the Southern Decadence gay pride festival.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "THIS isn't allowed even on Bourbon Street" by Bob Unruh, World Net Daily 9/20/12

“Religious speech is just as important, and just as protected by the First Amendment, as speech about any other subject at any time of day,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Joseph La Rue. “New Orleans cannot make criminals of people simply because they want to talk about their faith.”

The lawsuit, which also seeks an injunction halting enforcement of the ban, says the prohibition “is unconstitutional on its face and as applied… It is a content-based restriction on speech but is not narrowly tailored to a compelling state interest.”

“Because of the existence of the Religious Speech Ban and the penalties prescribed for violating it, Pastor Gros did not attend the Southern Decadence event that occurred this past Labor Day weekend. He feared arrest. And Pastor Gros soon learned that his fear was well-founded, discovering that several people communicating a religious message were arrested or threatened with arrest for violating [New Orleans ordinance] 54-419.”

“City Officials in New Orleans have chosen to criminalize speech about faith while allowing just about every other conceivable topic to be discussed and exposed,” said La Rue. “It’s not up to the government to decide the topics we can and cannot discuss. The First Amendment protects an individual’s freedom of speech.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "National Evangelistic Group Denounces Arrest of Christians in New Orleans, Calls for DOJ Intervention" by Heather Clark, Christian News Network 9/17/12

As previously reported, this past Friday, Pastor Troy Bohn of Raven Ministries and five members of his ministry team were arrested while ministering the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the large crowds that were reveling on Bourbon Street, a popular section of the city that is known for its preponderance of bars and strip clubs. After being marched down to the 8th Precinct, three of the Christians were cited for violating the city’s “Aggressive Solicitation” ordinance, which primarily serves to curb the aggressive solicitation of donations.

“New Orleans’ ‘Agressive Solicitation’ ordinance is not only unconstitutional, but unGodly, as it is nothing less than an attempt to silence the public proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is being used as a tool to protect wickedness and criminalize righteousness,” said Repent America director Michael Marcavage. “New Orleans, which has seen great suffering, remains a city full of lawlessness, and is now targeting the messengers of mercy that God has sent into its streets. God is patient, but his judgments are sure.”

Repent America states that it will now be sending a letter to the United States Department of Justice to request that the government intervene by halting the enforcement of New Orleans’ “Aggressive Solicitation” ordinance as it pertains to free speech.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.



From "Nine preachers arrested at Southern Decadence" by Katherine Fretland, The Times-Picayune 9/4/12

Nine preachers were arrested Saturday after police said they yelled anti-gay slurs [in other words, quoting the Bible] over bullhorns during a demonstration at Southern Decadence, an annual celebration of gay culture in the French Quarter. Patrick O'Connell, 45, Rolando Igleasias, 31, Cesar Chavez, 22, Daniel Hoogerhuis, 26, Danny Guevera, 20, Larry Craft, 52, Montes Diego, 32 and Gary Brown, 33 were arrested on suspicion of aggressive solicitation, a city law passed last October.

French Quarter activist Leo Watermeier, who has long opposed the vitriolic demonstrations by religious fundamentalists at Decadence, took pictures of the incident outside of Tropical Isle. Some of the preachers carried signs tagged with officialstreetpreachers.com, but police said they did not know the exact organization the men represented.

The Vieux Carre Assembly of God Church in the French Quarter usually allows the preachers to use the church as a base where they can get water and rest, said Pastor Paul Gros, who said he believes the city ordinance violates their free speech rights. "I'm not saying I approve of everything they say and do," Gros said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Pres. Obama Denies Leading War Against Christianity

While President Obama has always lagged in support by Christian America, the latest polls show him dropping in the heretofore loyal demographics of Catholics, Jews, and African Americans who oppose his Gay Agenda.  The president has responded with a new campaign aimed at Americans who have not paid attention to his record of attack on religious liberty.

For background, read Most Americans Oppose Obama's War on Christianity

In addition, read Christians OK with Romney, Non-religious Prefer Obama and also read Catholic Bishops Throw Down Gauntlet: Obama War on Christianity as well as Black Pastors Line up to Oppose Obama and for the "big picture," read Religious Liberty & Anti-Christian Totalitarianism in America

UPDATE 7/1/14: Supreme Court Rules Against Liberals' War on Religious Liberty

UPDATE 5/2/13: President Obama Prays to an Unknown God

UPDATE 1/24/13: Obama's National Cathedral is the Seat of Apostasy

UPDATE 11/12/12: Obama NOT Antichrist, Poll Numbers too Low, Says Pastor

-- From "Obama campaign expands faith effort" by Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor 9/17/12

President Barack Obama's campaign is continuing its push for people of faith to cast a November ballot in their favor.  On Monday they unveiled a "People of Faith for Obama" a new initiative to mobilize voters that included Web video of the president and a faith platform.

Religious liberty has become a hot-button political issue in this campaign cycle . . .

In the video the president also framed the auto bailout and the passage of health care legislation, two signature issues of his presidency, as playing into his faith narrative.  "We're greater together than we are on our own.  These shared moral obligations have guided me as president," he said.

The campaign is also releasing what it's calling a "faith platform."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Obama makes ‘unwavering’ pledge to protect religious liberty in new video" by Alicia M. Cohn, The Hill 9/17/12

“I know faith is often used as a wedge in our politics, and with a new election year comes new attacks,” Obama said in the video. “The American people should know this: In a changing world, my commitment to protecting religious liberty is and always will be unwavering. As America's religious diversity grows, we have the chance to reaffirm the pluralism that has defined us as a nation. A pluralism that is expansive enough to protect the rights of all to speak their minds and to follow their conscience.”

The video points supporters to a page on the campaign website set up specifically for “people of faith” to sign up to support the president’s reelection

Obama has faced numerous charges of conducting a “war on religion” from Republicans.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Religion in a Footnote" by Ashley E. McGuire, Editor-in-Chief of Altcatholicah (posted at Real Clear Religion) 9/19/12

Remember the time that Barack Obama looked right into the camera and pledged his "unwavering" support for religious liberty while concurrently being sued by countless Americans whose religious liberty he is expressly violating?

That was Monday.

In a bizarre and befuddling new campaign video, President Obama makes himself to be the patron saint of American religious freedom. Forget how sappy and trite the video is, it's the most disingenuousness and dishonest thing he has done yet.

To read the entire opinion column above, CLICK HERE.

For more background, read Obama a Christian? No, Say Two-Thirds of Americans 

Also read about the Christian Tea Party Uprising Across America





AGENDA: Grinding America Down (full movie on YouTube):


AGENDA: Grinding America Down (Full Movie) FREE to watch for a limited time (click here)! from Copybook Heading Productions LLC on Vimeo.

Mother/Father School Activities Against Law: ACLU

Recognition by public schools of the family being mother and father with children has been deemed illegal by the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Cranston, R.I. schools agreed -- ending all school activities that associate children with a gender-specific parent.

For background, read Rhode Island Student Censored for Traditional Marriage Artwork and also read More Than Two Genders, Kindergartners Taught as well as Gay Agenda: Illinois School Redefines Family



-- From "ACLU defends Cranston schools' ban on father-daughter dances" by Lynn Arditi, Providence Journal 9/18/12

The Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday defended Cranston school officials' decision to ban "father-daughter" and "mother-son" dances, saying they recognized that such events perpetuate gender stereotyping and violate federal law.

Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island ACLU released a statement that said, "the school district recognized that in the 21st Century, public schools have no business fostering the notion that girls prefer to go to formal dances while boys prefer baseball games. This type of gender stereotyping only perpetuates outdated notions of 'girl' and 'boy' activities and is contrary to federal law."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Father-daughter dances banned in R.I. as 'gender discrimination'" by Rene Lynch, Los Angeles Times 9/18/12

The ACLU, the self-proclaimed guardian of the nation's liberty, says such events violate the state's gender-discrimination law. The organization challenged their existence following a complaint from a single mom who said her daughter was prevented from attending a father-daughter dance in the Cranston Public Schools district.

The phones at Cranston City Hall were already ringing off the hook bright and early Tuesday morning when staffers unlocked the doors. The outrage prompted a reaction from Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, even though he has no control over the schools.

"I am utterly disappointed to have such a time-honored tradition under attack," Fung said in a statement that urged parents to turn their fury on the school district. "I implore the Cranston School Committee to review this decision and find a way to make this work for the children and their parents. I encourage all parents that are upset with this decision to contact their school committee members and make their voices be heard."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "RI School System: Father-Daughter Dances Violate Law" by The Associated Press 9/19/12

School Committee Member Andrea Iannazzi said the committee will consider at a Monday meeting a resolution asking the General Assembly to change state law to allow the events.

On Monday, Sean Gately, a Republican running for state Senate, criticized the district decision, calling gender-based events, including the mother-son baseball games, important traditions. Gately's political opponent, Democrat Frank Lombardi, is a school committee member.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read ACLU Forces Prayer Banner Out of Cranston School

City Finds Family Guilty of Home Bible Studies

Officials in Venice, Florida say a $250-per-day fine against Shane and Marlene Roessiger for holding unauthorized weekly Bible study and prayer involving a handful of Christians in their home is justified as a "zoning violation."

“That may be fine in some tyrannical parts of the world. That is not okay in the United States of America.”
-- Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute (representing the Christians vs. the government)

For background, read Religious Liberty & Anti-Christian Totalitarianism in America and also read Phoenix Christian Jailed for Home Worship Gatherings as well as City Permit Required for Bible Study in California

UPDATE 6/15/14: Bible Study Limit in Homes in Texas City Rescinded



-- From "Venice dispute erupts over religious sign in yard" by Kim Hackett, Correspondent, Sarasota Herald-Tribune 9/6/12

When does praying at home with a group of believers cross into illegally operating a church in a neighborhood? And can a city allow political signs on a residential yard but not religious ones?

Weighty constitutional issues that are typically reserved for federal or state courts found their way before this city's Code Enforcement Board on Thursday in the case of Venice versus the William and Florence Brewer Trust and Linda Roessiger.

"I'm going to stand for what I believe," said ministry leader Shane Roessiger, who lives in the house.

Members of the In Him Healing Touch Ministry said they, too, listen to a higher authority and will not take down the "Need Prayer?" sign or a 20-foot white, blood-red splattered crucifix, regardless of how the city rules.

The group vows to take the matter to federal court.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Family Faces Fines for Hosting Bible Study" by Todd Starnes, Fox News 9/17/12

“It is difficult to understand how it is illegal to have a prayer meeting on Friday night with a half dozen people but it is alright if I invited the same group on Monday evening to watch Monday night Football,” Roessiger said.

The Roessigers are also facing a fine for putting a small sign in their front yard that reads: “Need Prayer (941) 484-4915.”

“The Code Enforcement Board has continued both cases, although Mr. Roessiger was found guilty a few months ago of zoning violation (as it relates to land use),” [Pam Johnson, a spokesperson for the city of Venice] said. “It has not been determined at this time if the use violation has been abated. No determination of guilt has been made for the sign issue because the case is continued.”

Johnson confirmed that the two cases involve a code infraction regarding the use of a sign and a zoning infraction regarding using their home as a ‘house of worship.’

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "City Threatens Family With $250 Per Day Fine For Weekly Prayer Meeting In Home" posted at Pacific Justice Institute 8/27/12

The Roessigers head a small ministry called In Him Healing Touch Ministries. Like many small nonprofits, they initially chose to get mail at their home instead of renting out a post office box. Venice Code Enforcement officials are using the listing of the residence as the ministry's address to build a case against the Roessigers. In addition to prayer and Bible study, the ministry has food outreaches in the community and engages in foreign missions work. The latter includes ministering to people living in garbage dumps through providing meals and religious services.

In a letter sent by attorney Kevin Snider of the Pacific Justice Institute, the City Code Enforcement Board was informed that the corporate address has been changed so that the home address is no longer listed with the Florida Secretary of State. However, this family intends to continue to exercise their rights to the use and enjoyment of their property for prayer and Bible study, Snider wrote. In an unusual response, the Board "continued the matter indefinitely."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read California Pastor Arrested for Reading Bible in Public

Religious Liberty & Anti-Christian Totalitarianism

Catholic and Evangelical leaders alike are framing the elections as a choice between the first freedom upon which America was founded, versus an ever-increasing, controlling government hell-bent on secularizing the nation with its companion hostility toward religion, absent any freedom of conscience.

For background, read Atheists Attack Prayer Across America via Government and also read City Finds Family Guilty of Home Bible Studies as well as Pro-life Pharmacists Battle Government in Court and read how Homosexualists and Foreigners Bash Christian Baker

-- From "Dolan Defends Religious Liberty" by Julianne Dudley, Weekly Standard 9/11/12

[Cardinal Timothy] Dolan, who recently attended both the Republican and Democratic conventions (“as a pastor [and] not to endorse any party, platform, or candidate”), has so far avoided taking an overtly partisan stance this election season. He has, however, been at the forefront of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ criticism of President Obama’s Health and Human Services mandate requiring many Catholic institutions to provide insurance plans to their employees that would cover contraceptives and abortifacients.

Addressing a largely Catholic audience Monday night at an event sponsored by the John Carroll Society in Washington, D.C., Cardinal Timothy Dolan . . . did not mention the president or the upcoming election once during his remarks, he did express his growing concern over the administration’s lack of protection of religious liberties. America is “the teacher to the world,” he stated. If her government cannot protect democracy’s “first and most cherished liberty,” who will?

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

For background, read Bishops Throw Down Gauntlet: Obama War on Christianity

From "Cardinal Dolan: That ‘Conscience Thing’ Is ‘Ennobling,’ ‘Enlightened’" by Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review 9/11/12

“The threats to [that] freedom are abundant,” [Cardinal Dolan] said. He focused on two timely ones: First, a secularist drive that “will tolerate religion as long as it’s just considered some eccentric private hobby for superstitious, unenlightened folks, limited to an hour on the Sabbath, with no claim to any voice in the public square.” This “is hardly ‘free exercise,’” he countered, and quoted the first lady speaking at the African Methodist Episcopal Church Conference, where she seemed to understand this: “Our faith just isn’t about showing up on Sunday . . . it’s about what we do on Monday through Saturday.”

And then “America’s shepherd,” as Speaker of the House John Boehner introduced him for the final prayer at the Republican convention in Tampa, highlighted the HHS contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing-drug mandate that currently has his New York archdiocese suing the federal government, calling it “a direct intrusion of the government into the very definition of a church’s minister, ministries, message, and meaning.” The HHS mandate controversy, he repeated, is about “the raw presumption of a bureau of the federal government to define a church’s minister, ministry, message, and meaning.”

“The defense of religious freedom is not some Evangelical Christian polemic, or wily strategy of discredited Catholic bishops,” the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said, countering the media narrative, “but the quintessential American cause, the first line in the defense of and protection of human rights.”

“Freedom of religion,” he said, “has been the driving force of almost every enlightened, unshackling, noble cause in American history,” the cause of some of our most “liberating, ennobling” movements, including the civil-rights movement, he said. In defending religious liberty today, he said, we are “protecting America. We act not as sectarians, but as responsible citizens. We act on behalf of the truth about the human person.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Conservative groups release survey on religious hostility" by Lauren Markoe, Religion News Service - posted at Washington Post 8/22/12

“America today would be unrecognizable to our Founders,” according to the report [“Survey of Religious Hostility in America”], unveiled on Monday (Aug. 20) by the Texas-based Liberty Institute and the Washington-based Family Research Council.

“Our first freedom is facing a relentless onslaught from well-funded and aggressive groups and individuals who are using the courts, Congress, and the vast federal bureaucracy to suppress and limit religious freedom,” the report says.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Report Highlights Consistent Pattern of Hostility Toward Christians in US" by Paul Stanley, Christian Post Reporter 8/22/12

The report was released earlier this week and includes over 600 incidents over a 10-year period.

The attacks range from rulings from the judiciary branch to an elementary school student who was physically lifted from his seat and reprimanded for praying before eating his lunch. Yet another example shows a Christian couple was fired as apartment complex managers and forced to move because a painting with a Christian reference was displayed in their office.

. . . Kelly Shackelford, president of Liberty Institute [said,] "This radicalized minority is driven by an anti-religious ideology that is turning the First Amendment upside down."

FRC's Tony Perkins added, "As dark as this survey is, there is much light. The secularists' agenda only advances when those who love liberty are apathetic. Let this be a call to stand for religious liberty in the United States."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.



From "Religious liberty emerges as sensitive political issue" by Melissa Maynard, Myrtle Beach Online.com 9/17/12

For the first time in American history, both candidates on a major ticket in presidential politics aren't Protestants. And for that matter, religiously speaking, none of the four candidates leading the Democratic and Republican tickets will be WASPs either — from a white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant background.

One issue is whether governments and courts are trying to relegate believers of varying creeds to private expressions of faith within the walls of their places of worship. Nathan Diament, executive director of public policy for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, says the correct definition of religious liberty includes "the protection and the valuing of individuals not just to believe what they want to believe but to act and live their lives in conformity and consistent with those beliefs." Critics of this understanding of religious liberty assert that faith should not be an excuse to be exempted from any public policy with which one disagrees.

The Ethics and Public Policy Center, a D.C. think tank, has formed an American Religious Freedom Program that is working to form bipartisan caucuses in all 50 state legislatures. One goal is to allow believers to opt out of providing professional services such as photographing same-sex weddings or dispensing contraceptives at pharmacies - based on their personal religious convictions. Another is to make sure that any same-sex marriage legislation includes provisions stating that religious institutions are not legally required to allow the use of their property for same-sex weddings.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read about the Christian Tea Party Uprising Across America

AGENDA: Grinding America Down (full movie on YouTube):


AGENDA: Grinding America Down (Full Movie) FREE to watch for a limited time (click here)! from Copybook Heading Productions LLC on Vimeo.