From Catholic News Agency:

Washington D.C., May 21, 2012 / 10:39 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Forty-three Catholic dioceses and organizations across the country have announced religious liberty lawsuits against the federal government to challenge the Obama administration’s contraception mandate.

The announcement was applauded by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, who called it “a compelling display of the unity of the Church in defense of religious liberty.”   …

The lawsuits argue that a federal mandate issued by the Obama administration violates their fundamental religious liberty. The controversial mandate will require employers to offer health insurance plans that cover contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences.

The new lawsuits join with 11 others previously filed against the HHS mandate by states, colleges, private employers and organizations throughout the U.S.

<Read the whole article> Also view the informative video.  

Response: This will not be the last for sure. Several Protestant organizations including the Southern Baptist Convention have also opposed the mandate and see it for what it really is- a ‘freedom of religion’ issue. Meanwhile the Obama administration has ridiculously framed the opposition as in a ‘war on women’ and the MSM has eagerly joined in that sham.

This is one of those issues that people of faith cannot ignore even if not directly affected by the mandate. In the long run if it stands, the freedom of religion will have been diminished in this country and set a precedence that all believers will come to regret. It is time to stand up now and be counted before it is too late.            *Top

Related Posts?:

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2. -Obama Proposes an Expanded ‘Religious Exemption’ for Birth-Control Mandate?

           Colorado highlighted (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From the Denver Post:

The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that governors’ proclamations of a state Day of Prayer violate the Constitution’s provisions for religious liberty.

When the state sponsors the particular religious practice of prayer, the three-judge panel found, it sends a message that those who pray are favored members of Colorado’s political community.

"In doing so, they undermine the premise that the government serves believers and nonbelievers equally," Judge Steven Bernard wrote in a 73-page decision.

The content of six Colorado Day of Prayer proclamations, 2004 to 2009, is "predominantly religious," lacking a secular context or purpose, and the effect is "government endorsement of religion over nonreligion," Bernard wrote. Judges Alan Loeb and Nancy Lichtenstein concurred.

The lawsuit against the Colorado Day of Prayer was brought by the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation. The foundation also attempted to shut down the US National Day of Prayer but were turned back by the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in 2011.

<Read the entire story>

Response: Hopefully the governor will appeal the ruling. The Colorado Day of Prayer is entirely voluntary and not really a forcing of a particular religion upon people in the state. Unbelievers are really not forced to participate and really are not harmed or affected in anyway unless they choose to be. 

Our religious heritage in this country continues to be under assault. Secularists and atheists continue to use constitutional passages that were meant to protect religious liberty in order to erase religion entirely from the public square. 

The Colorado Day of Prayer and similar events across the country in reality are not attempts to establish any kind of state religion. Not only that, no one really believes that they are. Nevertheless, activist groups like the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation are using that legal language in order to destroy all vestiges of religion and displays of faith wherever they find them.

The effect is really not a question of establishment or favoring a particular religion but forcing the establishment of atheism as the new official state doctrine in Colorado and ultimately all across America.             *Top

Related Posts?:

1. -Federal Judge Rules ‘National Day of Prayer’ Unconstitutional
2. -National Day of Prayer Ruled Constitutional by Court of Appeals

A reporter for the Raleigh N.C. News and Observer criticized the Republican candidate for Lt. Governor for having a Bible clearly visible behind him on a bookshelf in a campaign ad.

The accused- Dan Forest commented on the supposed MSM controversy:

(the newspaper) “ridiculed my recent television commercial because I had a Bible on the shelf behind me in the camera shot.”

“I am not ashamed of my faith, nor should I be. I did have a Bible in clear view of the camera in my television ad, and in the ad I openly profess my belief in Judeo-Christian values. I stand by that decision because that is who I am.”

<Read the article>

Response: Now Bibles are controversial? Really? It is amazing where the political correctness of the MSM has taken us. So many now in the main stream media are secularists and over sensitive to any hints of religious display –especially Christian. Remember a few years ago a Mike Huckabee ad was criticized because the bookcase seem to look like a cross in the background of one his ads. If a book on Darwin was on the self presumably no one from the media would have been offended and said a thing.

There isn’t supposed to be a religious ‘test’ for offices in America according to the US Constitution but to many in the MSM ones faith should not even be mentioned or displayed? In fact it is getting to be rather obvious that serious Christians really bother many in the press and that prejudice definitely shows up in their treatment of candidates. The time may come in America when sadly being a Christian may be a political liability? But that time is not now no matter what the PC MSM may think.           *Top

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(Image Credit: WPRO)

From the Chippewa Herald:

An estimated 1,500 people _ many of them veterans _ turned out Wednesday in the Rhode Island city of Woonsocket to defend a war memorial topped with a cross whose constitutionality is being challenged by an atheist group.

Speaking before a crowd of people bearing crosses of their own and signs including one that warned "Don’t Cross God," Mayor Leo Fontaine said he has a new resolve to fight to keep the monument where it is _ on city property, in the parking lot of the fire department.

He and others stressed that the 1921 monument isn’t about religion, or forcing it on anyone, but rather honoring four local residents killed in World Wars I and II, including three brothers _ Alexandre, Henri and Louis Gagne. He urged those in the crowd to donate to a legal defense fund the city has set up in case there is a legal challenge; firefighters canvassed the crowd seeking to fill their boots with contributions.

"If Mrs. Gagne can give her three sons," Fontaine said, "I can give a fight for her sons’ monument."

The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has called for the cross or the monument to be taken down, saying it violates the constitutional principle of separation of church and state. The group said it complained to the city after receiving a complaint from a local resident who is not Christian and who is offended by the cross.

<Read the whole article>

Also here’s a post about this event in The Blaze: ‘Don’t Cross God’: See 1,000+ Christians & Veterans Defy Atheists’ Demands & Rally In Support of RI WWII Cross

Response: Attacks upon our religious heritage are going on all across the country. There are literally thousands of crosses and memorials on public lands in America. The Wisconsin atheist radicals are insisting that crosses on public land are an establishment of state religion and demand that they be removed wherever they find them.

The constitution supports freedom of religion and religious expression. However, the courts in this generation have at times turned the provisions on its ear to mean freedom from religion instead. The battle goes on and will continue for sometime. There was a time when America was nearly 95% Christian and the crosses offended no one.

My question is this- why can’t we continue to honor our past religious heritage. Memorials put up 60-150 years ago really are not establishing a state religion in the 21th century America. They merely reflect America historically as it once was. The crosses and memorials are everywhere in every state and in most communities.

They are also all over the place in our national military cemeteries like Arlington. I was at Arlington National Cemetery last year and observed thousands of crosses on display in memorials there. I also observed crosses all over Washington DC. The Wisconsin group doesn’t dare go there. Instead they are picking on small communities.

I also visited the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg, PA which is a national park. There are literally hundreds of memorials with crosses there. The Wisconsin folks could have a field day at Gettysburg but I doubt they are ready for the fallout that would come with that attack.

Taken to its logical conclusion, this battle could one day demand that all crosses be removed from the graves of veterans in national cemeteries. Can you imagine the outcry and bad PR? The atheist groups are far too smart to take it that far.  Instead they will continue to push their agenda upon small communities that have limited funding for litigation.               *Top

Related Posts?:

1. -The Battle Raging Over Crosses and Our Religious Heritage
2. -Case Settled: Mohave Cross is Coming Back

(Image: Christian Post)

We  often read the comments of radical Muslims in the Middle East and we hear the defiance of the Israeli’s but seldom have the opportunity to receive the testimony of a Palestinian Christian pastor in the midst of it all in Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Steven Khoury, a Jerusalem-born pastor, could be bitter and radical considering all of the persecution he and his Palestinian Christian congregation has endured. Can you imagine going to Sunday services in a church that routinely has buckets of water in the aisles in order to put out any Molotov cocktails that a Muslim radical may happen to decide to throw into the congregation during worship?

Yet what is the message that he wants to convey to Western Christians? It is time to get back to the Bible and the teachings of Jesus and reflect God’s love to everyone.

<Read the entire article in Christian Post>

*Top

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         The Mojave Memorial Cross  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From ABC News:

A federal judge approved the lawsuit settlement on Monday, permitting the park service to turn over a remote hilltop area known as Sunrise Rock to a Veteran of Foreign Wars post in Barstow and the Veterans Home of California-Barstow.

The park will give up the acre of land in exchange for five acres of donated property elsewhere in the 1.6 million acre preserve in Southern California.

The swap, which could be completed by the end of the year, will permit veterans to restore a cross to the site and end a controversy that became tangled in the thorny issues of patriotism and religion and made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003.

Response: After 11 years of legal battles the Mohave Memorial Cross will soon be able to be restored on what is now private land. The original Mohave Memorial cross was erected in 1934 to honor those killed in World War I and maintained by volunteers for years. The controversy began when the land it was on became part of the new Mohave National Park and the lawsuits followed beginning in 2001 to have the cross removed. In the mean time the cross was boarded up in order to not offend.

It was thought to be resolved by a Supreme Court ruling in April 2010 but shortly after that in May 2010, activist tore down the cross and stole it. The ruling on Monday makes it now possible for the cross to be restored.

Here are links to our previous posts on the Cross:

-Does the Constitution Really Protect Us from Being Offended?

-Supreme Court: Mojave Memorial Cross Can Stay

-Mojave Desert Memorial Cross is Stolen

What I really don’t understand about this case is why the opposition tried to block the land transfer to private hands if the only issue was that it was on public lands and thus a matter of church and state. The only explanation for continuing the fight and the subsequent destruction of the cross is that the opposition really doesn’t care about church and state issues but only uses that as an excuse to fight any display of religion where ever they find it regardless. It is ultimately a battle against people of faith and radical secularists.            *Top

Related Posts?:

1. -Mojave Desert Memorial Cross is Stolen
2. -Supreme Court: Mojave Memorial Cross Can Stay

On Saturday, Chuck Colson passed at age 80. It is really fascinating to me how different news groups handled the occasion and reflected upon his life.

The main stream media emphasized his few years as an advisor to President Nixon and his role, downfall, and subsequent jail sentence due to his very active part in Watergate cover-up. 

However the real story of Colson began in 1976 after getting out of prison and starting the Prison Fellowship ministry to prisoners and their families. While in prison he found Christ, his life was completely transformed, and he dedicated the rest of days to ministry. Obviously his life is an example of true conversion and not one of convenience. Chuck spent the next 36 years of his life helping others and in the process became an influential and respected Christian leader.

Again, for most of the MSM the story of Chuck Colson revolves around the few years he was with Nixon and his role in the Watergate scandal and his fall from grace. In the Christian news stories I read over the weekend, Chuck’s life changing acceptance of true grace through Jesus Christ and his role in helping fellow prisoners and their families for over 36 years was the real story. What a contrast.

The life of Chuck Colson is not only an example of how the world and major culture views success but also the very different values in the Christian community. Chuck was a brilliant guy who had obtained all the trappings of power and success in his White House position only to fall from power and end up in prison. The story ends there from a worldly perspective.

However, God had different plans and a different track of success for Colson- eternal plans that will last far more than his several years of success, fame, and subsequent infamy. The example of Chuck Colson is one that testifies to us all that it isn’t over till God says it is.

Here’s a several articles that give the real measure of the man from a Christian perspective:

“Chuck Colson, 1931-2012” 

“Colson – a guardian of the faith”

“Chuck Colson Dies at 80; Remembered for Dramatic Faith Conversion, Life”

*Top

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