Feb 17, 2012

TRAMPLING ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

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February 17, 2012
Cheyenne, WY-(WyWatch Family Action) President Obama is not the only one trampling on religious freedom!

We have a prime example of this in our own state government! On Tuesday, February 14, 2012, three groups of no more than 10 teenagers supervised by an adult were walking through the Wyoming State Capitol praying quietly in groups. They were approached by the Wyoming Highway Patrol who is in charge of security at the state capitol and were politely told they needed a permit to continue to pray through the capitol. These teens and their adult chaperones did not know this policy was in place. So they left the building and went back to talk to the organizers of the prayer time. Turned out the organizers had a permit, they showed it to the Highway Patrol Officers and they next day there were allowed to continue their prayer time.

WyWatch Family Action learned of the new policy and started asking questions. Turns out that in January when the State Building Commission, which consists of Governor Matt Mead, Secretary of State of State Max Maxfield, State Auditor Cynthia Cloud, State Treasurer Joe Meyer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill, met they voted to implement a new set of policies. We were informed that part of that new policy is that anytime a group of citizens hold hands, bows their heads, and prays to their Heavenly Father in our state capitol building it is considered to be a “DEMONSTRATION.”

Because prayer is considered a Demonstration it is no longer allowed as the current policy clearly states on page 4, Section IV:
Applicants are not permitted to Use the Capitol Building interior for demonstrations or like activities.
Religious Freedom seems to be under attack in our own state in the peoples Capitol Building by our elected officials who sit on the State Building Commission. Do the people of Wyoming really believe that prayer is a demonstration? Do they truly believe that prayer in groups should not be allowed.

Remember, our state legislature opens each morning in prayer in both chambers. Lobbyists and citizens join them while standing in the balcony and lobby. They do not break policy during this time, but step out of the lobby and pray with a group of your friends and you are now DEMONSTRATING?

The SBC who is chaired by Governor Matt Mead needs to correct this policy as quickly as possible, don’t you agree?

Apparently, our Governor and other elected officials serving on the State Building Commission either do not understand what the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States says or they willfully choose to ignore it! It says:
“Congress shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right to the people to peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Our Wyoming State Constitution in section 97-1-037 states:
“The State of Wyoming is an inseparable part of the federal union, and the constitution of the
United States is the supreme law of the land.”
How can our State Building Commission blatantly ignore the “supreme law of the land” and think they can
require people to get a permit to pray.

How can our Governor and other elected officials who sit on the SBC adapt a mindset that the State Capitol does not belong to the citizens of Wyoming? To be fair, it should be noted that Superintendent Hill voted against restricting religious freedom at the January meeting of the State Building Commission when this new policy was implemented.

Call Governor Matt Mead at (307) 777-7434 first thing Monday Morning and ask him to stand for the first
amendment and take the necessary action to correct this infringement of Constitutional Freedom in the
People’s Capitol Building.

Feb 16, 2012

America's Christian Heritage Quiz

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Feb 15, 2012

America's Christian Heritage - Question

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Feb 14, 2012

Social issues and the economy

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Do divorce rates, incarceration, abortion, and low educational achievement affect the economy and government spending in America?

Of course they do.  Yet political pundits are trying to make us think the upcoming presidential election is solely about the economy.  Even some right-leaning commentators want us to believe that America's political parties, candidates, and voters have to choose between economic issues and social ones.

It's a false dichotomy. America's social and economic issues are inextricably inter-connected! America cannot have a healthy economy without strong moral values. Consider:
Marriage—Traditional marriage is vital for numerous reasons. As I've witnessed working in prisons for the past 35 years, the breakdown of the family is the principle reason why the prison population has increased tenfold since 1975. As the traditional marriage unit disintegrates, more and more single parents struggle to provide for their children, relying on public assistance and putting further strain on our economy. A recent study by the Institute of Marriage and Family says that the family breakdown's cost to society amounts to more than $6 billion a year in the U.S.  It's both a moral and economic crisis.
Protection of life—This is key.  Abortion, which kills more than 1 million babies each year, is the leading edge of the encroaching culture of death today. It is the overriding issue at the heart of what we are as a civilization. In addition to the moral toll that abortion takes on our society, the economic costs are also significant. Besides the $330 million of taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood every year, there are also 52 million lives that have ended since the legalization of abortion. These babies could have been consumers, producers, and inventors in our society. In essence, abortion has eliminated key players in our national economy.
That defense of life—that commitment to the equal dignity to every single human being—is the reason we have a free market economy! Christian theologians realized that work had innate dignity. As a result, a capitalist economic system developed in the northern Italian states during the 11th century. This freed people to work and give full expression to their God-given creative gifts.
Low Educational Achievement—As the world economy globalizes, the U.S. public school system has less and less influence on the world market. Historically, the mission of schools was to develop in the young both intellectual and moral virtues. Early universities—Bologna, the Sorbonne, Oxford, and Cambridge—were founded by Christians to serve as institutes for Christian education. Christians knew that to fulfill their God-given potential they needed to be educated not just in the Bible but also in virtue.  Without a virtue-filled education, society—both moral and economic—will eventually breakdown. We are witnessing these effects in our lifetime. Our schools are now ruled by moral irrelevance resulting in low educational achievement and limited Kingdom impact.
To have a strong economy, you must have a strong moral foundation. But the "Great Illusion"—the myth that we can somehow have a values-free economy and keep it free—has affected American lifeOur nation's social and economic issues have always been inextricably interconnected and must remain so if we are to survive.

As a Colson Center supporter, we know you "get it." Your courage to speak out is paramount—especially since courage is in such short supply! I hope you know how much we appreciate your efforts to seek out and speak out truth.

The Colson Center is here to help strengthen your Christian worldview. Please use the articles, tools, resources, and educational materials available at ColsonCenter.org. Participate in our ministry. Grow in your faith. And speak out for truth.

To encourage you, your family, and your friends to live unashamedly for God's Truth, we would like to offer you a copy of The Sky Is Not Falling. This book is a compilation of articles I've written in Christianity Today over the past dozen years, and it addresses many of the issues facing our culture today—and how we Christians can arm ourselves with knowledge and a vision for living with renewed optimism.

The support of friends like you is vital to our ability to share these truths with others! I am delighted to offer you this book as a thank you when you become a Member of The Colson Center.  Your contribution will help us share these truths, educate our friends and family, and restore our country's moral and fiscal values.

By standing together, combating the myths, and educating with Christ's love and hope, God can awaken His people and change our world. Our society can be changed. In fact, the onlyway a society is ever changed is by a movement of the people—and that's you and us together.


Yours in His service,
Signature
Charles W. Colson
Founder

Feb 7, 2012

Deafening Silence

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Moral Issues in the Election

By Chuck Colson Published Date: February 06, 2012

This reflection from the 2010 elections continues to be relevant for this year.

Here we are, six days from the midterm elections, and the silence is deafening.

Next Tuesday, I hope you will do your Christian duty and head to the polls to vote for the candidate of your choice. I trust that your faith will guide you in your decision. Which candidate will best promote justice and preserve order? After all, those are the biblically sanctioned roles of government.

And which candidate best exemplifies the cardinal virtue of prudence in his or her public and private life?

And which candidate will best promote the sanctity of human life, advocate for traditional marriage, and protect religious freedom?  Well, if you’ve got an answer for that last question, then you’re among the few. Because for the life of me, I have never heard so little about these core issues during a political campaign. These core issues—human life, marriage, and freedom—which—all expressed so powerfully in the Manhattan Declaration and supported by half a million signatories, aren’t even on the political radar this year.

And that, to me is shocking.

Shocking to me because I know that politicians are survivors. They watch the polls. They know what people want. And all the candidates seem to be talking about is the economy.

One side swears up and down that they have saved our economy from another great depression. The others side says Congress is spending our nation into bankruptcy and that they’ll slash federal spending.

But no one—OK, hardly anyone—is talking about life, marriage, and liberty.

Why is that? It’s because we Christians--whether it’s from culture-war fatigue or worry over our own jobs and bank accounts--have not been vocal enough on these issues.

The Republicans devised their Pledge to America after months and months of polling, focus groups, and web chats. These moral issues weren’t on their supporters’ minds or lips—at least not until I asked you to tell the Republican leadership that you want them to address these issues. You emailed by the thousands . . . but it was only enough to get the Republicans to throw us a bone. One short paragraph in a 45-page document!

But folks, I’ve made the case again and again, we cannot have a healthy economy apart from morality and ethics. Without promoting stable, healthy families, without protecting life and freedom, without promoting a Christian ethic that values work and saving over instant spending and gratification, no economy or nation can thrive.

So, where do we Christian stand with our political leaders and the two political parties?

I want you to come to ColsonCenter.org today and watch this week’s Two Minute Warning. It’s called “Politically Homeless.” I want to share some thoughts and observations that may startle you.

And I also want you to share your thoughts with me. Go to ColsonCenter.org or BreakPoint.org and click on “Speak Out with Chuck” session. How should Christians approach this election? Will either party ever realty promote the values we hold dear? I want to hear from you. I will read every comment and will respond where I can.

But make no mistake. No matter how silent the candidates are on life, marriage, and liberty, we believers must never be silent. For the sake of our faith in Christ, our nation, and the common good, we must speak out.

Feb 2, 2012

Outrageous Choice

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Religious Freedom or Healthcare? By: Chuck Colson Published: February 2, 2012

I’ve told you that the Obama Administration is intentionally restricting religious freedom. I’ve told you we are in danger of losing the right to exercise our faith in public.

Well, maybe I’ve been too understated. The attack is relentless.

Just recently, the Obama Administration announced that the Affordable Healthcare Act, otherwise known as ObamaCare, requires that employers pay for contraception, including abortifacients, and that Catholic institutions are not exempt from this requirement.

Well, Catholic Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh and other bishops are blowing the trumpets on the ramparts. And my hat’s off to them. They see the Administration’s actions for what they truly are.

In an open letter released last week, Zubik said that, “Kathleen Sebelius and through her, the Obama administration, have said ‘To [H-] with You’ to the Catholic faithful of the United States. To [H-] with your religious beliefs, to [H-] with your religious liberty, to [H-] with your freedom of conscience.” I’ll leave it to your imagination what the H- stands for.

In the administration’s twisted way of thinking, contraception is “preventive care” that helps prevent illness in the same way that cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes screening do — even though pregnancy is the means by which life is perpetuated and the species’ existence continued.

Even worse is the willful refusal to accommodate the beliefs of the nation’s largest religious body.

Sibelius defended the decision as “striking the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services.” This is the same Kathleen Sibelius who told the crowd of abortion supporters at a NARAL fund-raiser, “we are at war” over the “pregnancy prevention” issue.

This the same Kathleen Sibelius whose department has issued hundreds of waivers for plans that fail to meet other Health and Human Service standards, including those offered by McDonalds. “Appropriate balance,” my foot!

Every Christian, not just Catholics, should be outraged by the Obama Administration’s decision. The regulations represent a move to define religious liberty in the narrowest possible terms. As one wag put it, the exemptions in these regulations are so narrow Jesus would not have been able to get through them.

Given the Catholic presence in areas such as health care, education and other social services, this is folly. Think of the public serves that won’t be delivered to people in need.  And, Catholics are being asked to make a choice no Christian should ever be forced to make: heeding your conscience or serving your neighbor.

Folks, we’ve got to stand with all Christians and protest the Administration’s outrageous assault on religious liberty. Our religious freedom is in grave peril. Today, now, I want you to go to BreakPoint.org. We will link you to Bishop Zubik’s letter. I want you to read it and then send it to everyone you know.

And then today, as well, go sign the Manhattan Declaration. Again, we’ll link you to it. In the coming months, you will be hearing much more from us on efforts to defend life, marriage, and religious liberty, for we have no time to lose.
 

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