Archive for the ‘Religious Freedom’ Category
Is Our Society Dying From Economic Influences or Moral Influences?
By Tom Stark, 04/25/2012
This might be what is needed to secure America's future.
One of the fundamental methods that the secular humanists and progressives have used to influence society through the teaching of history and indoctrination of our youth through government schools and liberal colleges is the revision of America’s history into purely economic terms. In this way, the left is able to paint a far different picture of the USA as a “money-grubbing,” avaricious, greedy, “back-stabbing” organism rather than a self-sufficient, freedom-loving, capitalistic, free-market country full of self-sufficient, free and independent people.
But beginning around 1910, the effort was expanded. The pace of change was agonizingly slow. Something had to happen to speed it up. The assault on the economy moved to high gear with the Wilson Administration, and that is what gets most of the news and place in history because it fits the liberal’s more public purposes. However, the 1960s were the catalyst for a less obvious assault on faith to move into high gear. Two world wars and a depression (where faith was all many people had to hold on to) got in the way of any earlier push.
Daniel Greenfield, writing for Front Page Magazine and discussing Charles Murphy’s book “Coming Apart, The State of White America, 1960 – 2010,” zeroes in on this latter branch of their two-pronged attack on American values. Murphy’s premise is that the economic factors and strata of society were not caused by class warfare or economic factors exclusively. He believes that if they had some influence it was in allowing the deterioration of spiritual, Christian faith and support systems to impact the less fortunate to a greater degree – far greater than was experienced by the higher income families.
Murphy believes that the difference in the rate of marriage among upper-middle-class households (83%) versus the working class at about 48% shows the profound impact secularism had on the cohesiveness and the stability of families and society in general. According to Murphy, a marriage rate was a strong indicator of a deterioration of “founding beliefs” that were the basis for the success of our country and our society.
Why? Why Won’t Obama Just Say it?
by Nathan A. Cherry, 04/24/2012
Not too long ago I wrote an article on President Obama’s refusal to “come out of the closet” and fully endorse marriage redefinition and vocally give his support for homosexuals and homosexual advocate groups. People close to the president say it is just a matter of “when” and not “if” the president will publicly declare his support for marriage redefinition. Why he hasn’t done it yet is easy to figure out, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.
An update on this political chess game from the New York Times says that President Obama will not sign an executive order banning discrimination of LGBT employees working for, or seeking employment with federal contractors.
“While it is not our usual practice to discuss executive orders that may or may not be under consideration, we do not expect that an executive order on L.G.B.T. nondiscrimination for federal contractors will be issued at this time…We support legislation that has been introduced and we will continue to work with Congressional sponsors to build support for it.”
It’s no secret that LGBT persons and advocacy groups are huge supporters of Obama and have contributed significantly to his re-election campaign. So this comes as a surprise to them as they continue to wait for the president to publicly endorse and support them.
Some might use this and Obama’s hesitancy to include same-sex “marriage” in his campaign platform as a reason to support the president, or to think that he doesn’t support marriage redefinition. Such trust and ideas would be terribly misplaced.
It’s not surprising to me that Obama would not fully embrace homosexuals and marriage redefinition at this time. Looking back to 2008 Obama ran on a platform of “Hope and Change” without ever specifically telling anyone what that meant. His campaign of arbitrary one-liners won him the presidency, why wouldn’t he continue with that same strategy?
If It Can Happen In Texas It Can Happen In West Virginia
By Tom Stark 04/21/2012
Back in November 2010, the citizens of El Paso, Texas, managed to add an initiative to their election ballot that, very simply put, prevented the city from providing unmarried domestic partner benefits. The fact that it was passed into law in today’s world is remarkable. That Mayor John Cook and some members of the City Council chose to ignore the will of their city’s citizens and pass an ordinance reinstating such benefits for city employees is, in a word, outrageous. But it gets even crazier.
According the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Christian organization dedicated to stopping such actions and protecting religious freedom in our country, the city’s elected leaders weren’t finished with the “outrageous” behavior.
In a Press Release, datedMar 8, 2012, ADF provides the fact that a number of the citizens, many of whom were instrumental in passing the original initiative, started a recall petition effort against those who passed the new ordinance over the demonstrated desires of the people.
Apparently, based on aTexasstatute stating that churches were prohibited from involving themselves in petition drives for political issues, the mayor and council members being subjected to the recall effort sued several church-connected organizations and a Superior Court Judge decertified the petition signatures, effectively stopping the recall dead in its tracks.
ADF has filed a separate action to overturn theTexasstatute on First Amendment grounds.
Eventually, hundreds of citizens who were involved with the recall petitions were being scrutinized by a Grand Jury empanelled to review their alleged violation of thatTexasstatute and may face jail time for exercising their free speech rights.
According to Bob Unruh, writing for World Net Daily,
Make Sure Every Student in WV Knows About the Day of Dialogue
by Nathan A. Cherry, 04/17/2012
I had a conversation with some middle school students recently that epitomizes the problem with public education and illustrates the effects of interference by the government related to issues within public schools. What I heard from these students was troubling, to say the least. But it served as a reminder for why we must be diligent in spreading the truth on these critical issues.
While discussing some faith-based topics with the students they mentioned they were learning about evolution and it was being taught as fact (Interesting, considering it is called the “theory” of evolution). I asked if any of the students objected in class and shared that they were Christians and believed in Creation. The students all said “no, we aren’t allowed to do that.”
That alone should shock and infuriate us. Students are being told they cannot exercise their 1st amendment right to free speech and their right to freedom of religion when taught something that runs contrary to their personal convictions. As you can imagine, I promptly corrected the error and made it very clear that they had every right to “politely and respectfully” disagree and share the reason why they disagreed.
It is experiences like this one, happening in schools across America, that make events like the “Day of Dialogue” even more important and necessary. While liberals try and silence our students on issues of marriage, homosexuality and bullying (under the guise of “anti-bullying”) groups like Focus on the Family are creating events in public schools designed to engage in “a loving and Christ-centered response to hot-button topics like bullying, sexuality and gender identity already being discussed on their school campuses.”
This year, the Day of Dialogue is happening on Thursday, April 19 in schools across America.
The website, www.dayofdialogue.com describes exactly what this day is about:
Christians Who Want America to Remain Free Must Speak Out and Vote!
By Tom Stark, 04/14/2012
Our articles here at www.engagefamilyminute.com are usually focused on a single issue at a time. This particular missive is intended to address all three of our core issues with a single thread that runs through all of them. That thread is the need for committed Christians and members of the clergy to become, again, as they were in the distant past, completely engaged in the political battles as well as the spiritual battles. Gary DeMar makes some highly persuasive arguments in an article at Godfather Politics where he examines this vital issue.
Demar provides a classic example of why so many Christians fail to understand the need to become participants in the struggle for the soul of our country with a quote from a reader who disagreed with him.
“God does not need Christians to take over governments in order for Him to rule on earth. On the contrary, God says the governments are ordained by Him, and it is our duty to pray for those in authority, not scheme to take over.
Thanks, TD”
I have heard this sentiment countless times in the past three years as I became personally engaged in this fight. Since then, I have made a number of efforts to encourage my fellow Christians to get involved. The resistance level is difficult to comprehend.
What I do know is that this resistance to involvement could seriously jeopardize our ability to stop the onslaught currently being experienced with the current federal government’s efforts to silence opposition, silence Christian voices, and silence dissent in general.
Alaska Says No – Minnesota Says Yes
by Nathan A. Cherry, 04/12/2012
Two cases from two different states that are quite different – though very much the same and connected – have looming implications to marriage and religious freedom. While we are constantly told by a liberal media that same-sex marriage is now accepted by a majority of Americans, and that religious freedom is not in any jeopardy as a result of passing civil unions, or “anti-bullying” laws that include special provisions for LGBT persons, such may not be the case.
One case out of Alaska proves once again that when put to a vote of the people, the radical homosexual agenda is not accepted (which is why they seek judicial and legislative interference rather than allowing Americans the freedom to vote).
As reported in the Anchorage Daily News (www.adn.com);
“Anchorage voters rejected a proposed ordinance to add legal protections for gay, lesbian and transgender people…With more than 90 percent of the precincts reporting late Tuesday, 58 percent of voters had voted against Proposition 5, the equal rights ordinance that was far and away the most controversial and emotional component of this spring’s election.”
The article goes on to say that an unusually high voter turnout contributed to the overwhelming defeat of the measure. This is not surprising to me or anyone else that favors traditional marriage and sees the overt threat to traditional marriage and religious freedom contained in such “anti-bullying” measures. I’ve said it many times, and will continue saying that creating special classes of persons in bullying measures only serves to elevate one class above all the others and further divide people. The qualifiers of race, creed, religion, ethnicity and nationality cover all pertinent areas necessary for successful anti-bullying legislation. These are all the areas of a person’s life that are unalterable and permanent.
If They Can Do It in the U.K. – We Can Do It in the U.S.
by Nathan A. Cherry, 04/10/2012
A headline from FRCBlog.com caught my attention because it is something that has been on my mind continually the last few weeks. The article title reads, “Same-Sex Marriage in the U.K. Met with Christian Resistance.” The reason it caught my attention was the fact that it centered on the opposition to marriage redefinition by Christians in the U.K.
I find it refreshing to see that Christians in the U.K. – a typically more liberal area of the world than the U.S. – are standing against marriage redefinition. Don’t get me wrong, Christians in America have taken a stand over the years as evidenced by the fact that marriage redefinition has never once been approved by voters on a ballot. Every state where same-sex “marriage” is legal in the United States has been through judicial activism or state legislature.
But the difference it seems, is that Christians in the U.K. are getting vocal; something desperately needed in the U.S. if we hope to stem the tide of liberal ideology seeking to wash across our shores. People, especially Christians in the U.K. have witnessed firsthand what sitting on the sidelines and allowing liberal, progressive ideas to dominate the political conversation while those with traditional values do nothing; and they’re sick of it.
And as PM David Cameron seeks to convince Christians to go along with his redefinition plan his promises that it won’t affect the church or religious freedom are falling on deaf ears:
“Mr. Cameron asserted that same-sex ‘marriage’ would ‘change what happens in a register office, not what happens in a church.’ In doing so, he insults homosexuals, whose ‘marriages’ would be, apparently, merely matters of legal accounting, not of anything substantive. And he insults orthodox Christians, who understand too well that placing homosexual unions on the same plane as marriage not only sends a moral message that runs contrary to their convictions but also has legal ramifications that inevitably would affect the way a church operates.”
While Cameron seeks to further secularize Britain through marriage redefinition he admits that;
Engaging the Issues: Austin Nimocks
On this week’s edition of Engaging the Issues, Austin Nimocks, Senior Legal Counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, discusses whether nondiscrimination laws can peacefully coexist with religious freedom.
The discussion begins by discussing what exactly nondiscrimination laws are and what they have become. Then, we discuss the recent rejection of such a law by voters in Anchorage, Alaska, and how that compares with the local actions of the Kanawha County Commission. Finally, Austin and I discuss the impact such nondiscrimination laws have upon religious freedom and the institution of marriage.
Click here to listen to Engaging the Issues now.
Don’t forget to download your copy of this week’s ETI@Home, a companion tool to our Engaging the Issues Podcast for families to use around the kitchen table to help start an engaging conversation about how their faith connects with the world around them.
Should Foster Kids Be Placed with LGBT Couples?
By Tom Stark, 04/07/2012
Are they really better off with LGBT couples?
Well, it died in the last Congress, but just like the proverbial “bad penny” it keeps coming back, and it probably will continue to do so until enough people who support traditional American values stand up and say, “Enough is enough!” I refer to the fact that Senator Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representative Pete Stark (D-CA) have introduced the Every Child Deserves a Family Act (H.R. 1681 in the House; S. 1770 in the Senate) again in the 112th Congress.
“By removing all barriers for LGBT families to serve as foster parents, New York State has increased its foster parent pool by 128,000 prospective parents. This legislation would open thousands of new foster and adoptive homes to children ensuring they are raised in loving families,” Gillibrand has said when her bill was introduced, last session (quoted in The Christian Post).
So…this piece of left-wing pandering to the homosexual community is allegedly intended to make it possible for more of the approximately 400,000 children in U.S. foster care to escape their existence within the states’ foster care system to the “security” of a home with homosexuals or transvestites, or transgenders, or lesbians. Isn’t that a little like forcing children to jump from the frying pan into the fire?
So let’s see what it really does…
First of all, so-called LGBT “couples” have been statistically proven to be highly unstable relationships fraught with problems of their own without introducing children into the mix. Many of these relationships – to a far greater extent than even the dismal divorce rates for traditional marriages – end in break-ups that are less than amenable. The insecurities of living in such situations add a lot to the stress that often creates that instability and problems.
Will Local Government Force Businesses to Violate Religious Convictions?
by Nathan A. Cherry, 04/05/2012
The Facebook page calling for a boycott of local T-shirt company Hands On Originials
A common question is why we oppose “anti-bullying” laws. This seems to confuse people and give the impression that we advocate bullying or simply don’t care. Nothing could be further from the truth. Unfortunately, the truth of these laws that claim to “protect” people is not exactly the truth either.
The fact is we ardently oppose bullying in all forms. However, most of these so-called laws aim to create a special class of citizens for the LGBT community. The problem with this is that one groups’ rights are necessarily trampled in order to create this special class; specifically at stake are the rights of religious groups. Rather than simply opposing bullying in all forms, LGBT advocates seek to elevate their groups beyond all others – creating a special class – by inserting language into “anti-bullying” laws that singles out “sexual orientation and gender identity.” This is the language inserted in to the recently passed West Virginia Board of Education bill.
A very good example of the problems that come from bullying bills with this sort of special class language comes from Kentucky where a local T-shirt company is facing charges of discrimination.
According to a recent article found at TheBlaze.com, local T-shirt Company “Hands On Originals” is being accused of discrimination for refusing to provide services for a gay pride parade sponsored by the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization (GLSO). The privately owned company cited its Christian beliefs as the basis for its refusal to provide services. A complaint was filed by GLSO stating:
“Hands On Originals does a lot of business in this town, and people should be aware of the situation, so they can make an informed decision about whether they want to buy from them… It came as a shock because many of us are Christians, too, and what’s that have to do with anything?”
While I could write an entirely, very lengthy, article on exactly what being Christian has to do with this issue, I will save that for another day. Suffice it to say that is has everything to do with the issue.
