A Personal Message that Needs YOUR Reply

President Obama’s Administration is forcing faith based medical institutions to provide abortion and birth control to women even though abortion and/or birth control may directly contradict the tenets of faith. This is a classic example of how Christianity is prevented from influencing government but government specifically in an unconstitutional manner is making a law affecting religion.

The Manhattan Declaration is a coalition of Christians (Catholics, Protestants and Eastern Orthodox) that stands for First Amendment Religious Liberty according to constitutional Original Intent and is embarking to battle this government intrusion into the Christian religion.

JRH 7/8/12

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A Personal Message that Needs YOUR Reply

Take Action to Defend Religious Liberty

By Chuck Colson, Robert George and Timothy George

Sent: February 7, 2012 3:00 PM

Manhattan Declaration

Dear Manhattan Declaration Signer,

We have arrived at the crisis point we knew would come. Our religious liberties are in the greatest peril and we need you to act immediately and sign this petition.  

Our federal government, charged under the Constitution not only to respect, but to protect and defend, our most fundamental freedoms, has now imposed upon people of all faiths a mandate that their institutions provide insurance to their employees to pay for abortion inducing drugs, surgical sterilizations, and contraceptives. There is, for all intents and purposes, no recognition of the rights of conscience for those Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, or other faith-based employers to be free of this imposition.

The Catholic Church, as the largest provider of faith-based education, health care, and social services for the poor, is on the front lines of the struggle, but because of the required abortion drug coverage and the violation of religious freedom at the heart of the mandate, it is a struggle that implicates all believers. If the mandate is rammed down the throats of Catholics, no people of faith will be safe.

The Catholic bishops of the United States, dozens of whom are signers of the Manhattan Declaration, have made clear that they cannot and will not bend to the mandate. If forced to choose between the law of Christ and the edict of Caesar, they have no doubt about which master they will serve. If necessary, they are prepared to close institutions, and even go to jail, rather than comply with a human dictate in violation of what they believe, in conscience, to be the will of God.

All of us pledged such fidelity in the Manhattan Declaration. We saw this day coming, though few of us realized it would come so soon. Now we face the test: Will we, as we promised to do, “ungrudgingly give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, but under no circumstances give to Caesar what belongs to God”?

For our part, we renew our pledge to each other and to each of you. We ask you to do the same. Let us not scatter in fear or yield our precious spiritual and constitutional rights. Let us stand with the Catholic bishops and with those of every faith who will stand with us in the defense of religious liberty and the rights of conscience.

We ask you to do two things:

1.   First, we posted on the Manhattan Declaration website a petition to President Obama prepared by the Becket Fund, which we’re asking everyone to sign. Please let your friends know about this petition. Get 10 others to come to the ManhattanDeclaration.org website to sign it, and at the same time ask them to sign the Manhattan Declaration itself if they haven’t already. Please encourage all of your friends, family, and colleagues to sign it today! Those who would deny our liberties need to know millions of Christians are standing together to oppose them.

2.   Second, we are also raising funds to hire a full-time helper with the Manhattan Declaration enterprise. The list of Manhattan Declaration signers could now double, and there will be significant grass roots activity that we want to encourage.  Up until now, three of the sponsoring ministries have provided funding and part-time staff support. To get the job done we must have a separate staff dedicated to the work of the Manhattan Declaration movement. We haven’t had staff enough to answer all the correspondence let alone do some events. 

If you can make a donation to help with this, please do so, but not at the expense of your church or other Christian organizations. We are asking you to contribute only if you can make an extra, sacrificial gift above and beyond your regular donations. Only twice have we asked the Manhattan Declaration signers to make a gift and you responded.  However, if there is a moment for sacrifice, the moment is now.

Like no other time in recent American history we must stand together no matter the consequences. May God use our strong alliance to prevent this outrageous attack on our most fundamental civil liberty.

VIDEO: Chuck Colson on Religious Freedom and Possible Necessity of Civil Disobedience

Sincerely,

Chuck Colson

Robert George

Timothy George

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The Manhattan Declaration is a non-partisan statement of conscience in defense of human life, traditional marriage and religious freedom.

About Manhattan Declaration

Letter to all signers of the Manhattan Declaration

My fellow Christians of all denominations and creeds, have you heard or remember the appeal for Christians to ban together to fight against the anti-Christian sentiment of the Left? There was an original 140 signatories who made their appeal and labeled it the Manhattan Declaration. The Declaration had three truths as a platform to combat anti-Christian or Christophobic sentiment:

1. The sanctity of human life

2. The dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife

3. The rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Below is an emailed update on the Manhattan Declaration with an appeal to spread the word to gain an influential amount of signatures that will make the anti-Christian Left a bit nervous.

JRH 1/15/10
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Letter to all signers of the Manhattan Declaration

Dr. Robert George
Dr. Timothy George
Chuck Colson
Sent: January 13, 2010 7:35:00 PM
Manhattan Declaration

Dear colleague,

Thank you for your support of the Manhattan Declaration.

It is off to an amazing start - over 370,000 signers and growing. And it is indeed historic: Evangelicals, Catholics, Anglicans, and Eastern Orthodox Christians uniting to give common witness to the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage, and religious liberty for all persons.

But we need your help: our goal is one million signatures.

The marketing pros tell us we will never get to a million signatures without expensive advertising. But we want to prove them wrong. And we can: just think if each person who has signed the Declaration were to get just two others to sign. That would be one million people standing arm in arm in defense of the most vital moral truths in our society.

Remember, too, we are not just collecting signatures; we seek a movement of people defending the truth in the public square. We are already witnessing signs of this: Christians in Mobile, Alabama called us 13 days before Christmas to tell us they were planning a large ecumenical gathering for the 23rd of December. I (Chuck Colson) agreed to speak. At 6:00 AM on December 23, 2,000 citizens, led by clergy from all over the city, gathered in a packed hall in the Convention Center for a rousing rally. Seldom have I seen so much excitement in one room - and all of this was accomplished just by word of mouth with only 11 days to organize!

Just ten days ago, Cardinal Rigali of Philadelphia, Archbishop Wuerl of Washington, DC, Archbishop Dolan of New York and Archbishop Kurtz of Louisville reached out to all of their brother Catholic bishops asking them to spread this document throughout their dioceses and encourage their clergy and faithful to study it and join as signatories.

The Archbishop of Detroit has planned a grassroots effort throughout his archdiocese. The Bishop of Phoenix has already organized a grassroots effort there.

We are also receiving many reports of evangelical gatherings in a number of areas - and many evangelical pastors referring to the Manhattan Declaration in their sermons.

This bold and exciting movement needs to reach 100 or 200 cities in America. Why not? Can you help? We are urging you to encourage your pastors and community leaders to do what these other cities are doing. Organize ecumenical meetings organized around the Manhattan Declaration; get other concerned citizens to join the effort. Get on the internet or phone and ask friends to join you. If you let us know you want to organize something we can help link you up with others in your area.

As with any grassroots movement, the strength and energy has to come from the people. We have no staff and limited budget. We're people who care passionately and deeply about life, marriage, and liberty. So here's what we are asking you to do.

• Pray fervently. Great movements of faith have always spread on the wings of prayer.

• Know the issues. If you study this Declaration - and a study guide is available on our website - then you can winsomely explain and defend it to your neighbors and friends. The document itself makes a great apologetic defense for these moral truths.

• Look for resources on this website as we're able to post them, and search the websites of the Christian organizations that offer resources in these three areas. You can see the names of the various leaders who have signed the Declaration and then visit their websites.

• Of utmost importance, get your own church involved. As pastors preach, the movement will spread. Prayer meetings and Bible studies on the Declaration are being conducted in many churches, which is a great step.

• Make full use of Facebook, Twitter, and all the devices available today for social networking. Or just go to gatherings in your own community and speak out on this issue. Cultures are changed over the backyard fence, the barbeque grill, and in hair salons - always from the bottom up. Do everything you can possibly do to educate others.

• Organize local gatherings like the one in Mobile. If you want an audio or video of Chuck Colson's talk at the event, you will be able to see it on the website in the next few days. You can also read a firsthand report on how they did this.

• If you are a pastor or ministry leader let us know if you would like to be added to the Additional Signers list on the website.

Just think what might happen in our land if one million courageous Christians declared their uncompromising allegiance to Jesus Christ and to biblical faithfulness on some of the most urgent moral issues of our day.

May God give us the strength to do what He is so clearly calling us to do. From our perspective, this is a cause worth giving every last ounce of effort and energy we have.

Dr. Robert George
Dr. Timothy George
Chuck Colson

Go to Contact Us to request additional information or with questions.

Christians Stand-Up with the Manhattan Declaration

John R. Houk
© December 1, 2009

If you are a Believer in Biblical Morality as opposed to the moral relativism touted as the moral compass of Secular Humanism in America then you are in for a treat of knowledge.

A group of 140 signatories ranging across evangelicals, Roman Catholics and Orthodox Churches in America have become fed up with Leftists of the Democratic Party, RINO’s, MSM, the Hollywood pattern (which includes television), the homosexual agenda and anyone I missed encompassing the Secular Humanist agenda.

These 140 signatories have produced a document which could be deemed a manifesto for American Christians. It is called the Manhattan Declaration.

The essence of the Manhattan Declaration can be found in these words on its home page:

A Call of Christian Conscience

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life

2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife

3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Friend there is a war on Christianity. Because the Leftists have successfully enticed the Supreme Court over the years to provide an incorrect interpretation of the FIRST Amendment to the Constitution, the Left has made America’s Christian foundation for the rule of law a bull’s eye for target practice. America’s reluctance to mix any kind of faith within government has led the government to the ability of extracting Christian Moral principles from our public thought processes.

Let’s face it. When State ordained prayer was forcefully removed from schools most of stalwart Christians in the back of their American mind-set were not repulsed. The First Amendment was designed not to institutionalize a particular Church as the established Church of the Land on the Federal, State or local level. Unfortunately that toe in the door of Pandora’s Box was the beginning of forbidding of anything Christian in public and NOT just our schools.

God have mercy if a graduating public High School Valedictorian wishes to share how her faith in Jesus Christ made a successful person with the best GPA in her class.

God forbid a football coach praying with his team before a game. My GOD! Even if that prayer was forced to be a moment of silence.

God forbid that Christians become upset that public funds go to support overtly religious Muslim public schools even though a Christian or two may wish to embellish in a Christian play or school supported campus Christian club.

God forbid that the Ten Commandments have been forcefully removed from many States or County Court Houses because that might be endorsing a religion when it is actually the symbol of awesome moral principles.

God forbid that cities across America may remove nativity scenes because they don’t have the monetary resources to take on the taxpayer supported ACLU in its agenda of stamping out all things Christian.

God forbid that a Christian or Christian Minister in America is on the cusp of being treated like Canadian and European Christians taking a public stand against ungodly homosexuality.

God have mercy on a Christian, Jew or knowledgeable non-religious person who publicizes how contradictory the principles of Mohammedanism with Judeo-Christian principles as well as America’s Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness embodied in our founding documents which includes the U. S. Constitution.

God forbid a Christian abhors the practice of baby murdering (aka infanticide and abortion) as the primary means of birth control in America. Does “You shall not Murder” sound familiar?

When a Christian gets to the anti-abortion issue, the typical Leftist makes the attempt to obfuscate reality. The Leftist loves to tell of the baby that is confirmed will born as a special needs child. Or perhaps the baby is the product of a horrible gruesome rape. Or perhaps a baby will come into the world of a young pregnant teen that has her future ruined if she takes responsibility for consensual sex or worse was brainwashed and molested into sex at barely emerging teen years. There is also the Leftist accusation of hypocrisy when a rabid pro-lifer becomes as evil as an abortionist by taking the life of the baby killer. Frankly it is a rare time a Leftist and I agree. Rendering evil for evil is NOT a Christian principle.

But let us face reality. When the Leftist tries to blur an acceptance of abortion with other moral issues that is the height of hypocrisy. A whopping majority of women get abortions for the mere purpose of birth control. The Left has so propagandized our society that a woman’s right to manage their body is greater than a separate life growing within a womb which more often than not is there because female hormones for a sex drive was just as strong as a male’s.

Here is Bill O’Reilly taking notice of the Manhattan Declaration.

With polls showing that more than 80 percent of Americans believe in G0d, the question now becomes: Will they rally behind The Manhattan Declaration? So far, the secular media have given it little attention, and that might well continue. But even if the manifesto gets a full airing, are people of faith as upset as some of their leadership with the secularism of America?

At this point, I simply don't know.

My fellow Christians Let us bring certainty to Bill O’Reilly: SIGN THE MANHATTAN DECLARATION

JRH 12/1/09
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MANHATTAN DECLARATION
A Summary
http://manhattandeclaration.org/images/content/ManhattanDeclarationSummary.pdf

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are (1) the sanctity of human life, (2) the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife, and (3) the rights of conscience and religious liberty. Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Human Life

The lives of the unborn, the disabled, and the elderly are ever more threatened. While public opinion has moved in a pro-life direction, powerful and determined forces are working to expand abortion, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. Although the protection of the weak and vulnerable is the first obligation of government, the power of government is today often enlisted in the cause of promoting what Pope John Paul II called “the culture of death.” We pledge to work unceasingly for the equal protection of every innocent human being at every stage of development and in every condition. We will refuse to permit ourselves or our institutions to be implicated in the taking of human life and we will support in every possible way those who, in conscience, take the same stand.

Marriage

The institution of marriage, already wounded by promiscuity, infidelity and divorce, is at risk of being redefined and thus subverted. Marriage is the original and most important institution for sustaining the health, education, and welfare of all. Where marriage erodes, social pathologies rise. The impulse to redefine marriage is a symptom, rather than the cause, of the erosion of the marriage culture. It reflects a loss of understanding of the meaning of marriage as embodied in our civil law as well as our religious traditions. Yet it is critical that the impulse be resisted, for yielding to it would mean abandoning the possibility of restoring a sound understanding of marriage and, with it, the hope of rebuilding a healthy marriage culture. It would lock into place the false and destructive belief that marriage is all about romance and other adult satisfactions, and not, in any intrinsic way, about the unique character and value of acts and relationships whose meaning is shaped by their aptness for the generation, promotion and protection of life. Marriage is not a “social construction,” but is rather an objective reality—the covenantal union of husband and wife—that it is the duty of the law to recognize, honor, and protect.

Religious Liberty

Freedom of religion and the rights of conscience are gravely jeopardized. The threat to these fundamental principles of justice is evident in efforts to weaken or eliminate conscience protections for healthcare institutions and professionals, and in antidiscrimination statutes that are used as weapons to force religious institutions, charities, businesses, and service providers either to accept (and even facilitate) activities and relationships they judge to be immoral, or go out of business. Attacks on religious liberty are dire threats not only to individuals, but also to the institutions of civil society including families, charities, and religious communities. The health and well-being of such institutions provide an indispensable buffer against the overweening power of government and is essential to the flourishing of every other institution—including government itself—on which society depends.

Unjust Laws

As Christians, we believe in law and we respect the authority of earthly rulers. We count it as a special privilege to live in a democratic society where the moral claims of the law on us are even stronger in virtue of the rights of all citizens to participate in the political process. Yet even in a democratic regime, laws can be unjust. And from the beginning, our faith has taught that civil disobedience is required in the face of gravely unjust laws or laws that purport to require us to do what is unjust or otherwise immoral. Such laws lack the power to bind in conscience because they can claim no authority beyond that of sheer human will.

Therefore, let it be known that we will not comply with any edict that compels us or the institutions we lead to participate in or facilitate abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide, euthanasia, or any other act that violates the principle of the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every member of the human family.

Further, let it be known that we will not bend to any rule forcing us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality, marriage, and the family.

Further, let it be known that we will not be intimidated into silence or acquiescence or the violation of our consciences by any power on earth, be it cultural or political, regardless of the consequences to ourselves.

We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s.