Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
So read the words of the First Amendment to the one-of-a-kind Constitution of The United States. The instructions to Congress are mandatory, absolute. You, Congress, shall make no law, NO LAW respecting an establishment of religion. That means, Congress, Senate and House, that you can not authorize, condone, support or in any way enforce religion of any kind in the United States or upon the people. Stay out of the business, Congress, of the church, and of worship and belief. NO LAW.
And furthermore, House and Senate, you shall not be in the business of prohibiting the free exercise thereof (religion). Make no law and in no way prohibit the free exercise of religion. The free exercise of religion can occur anywhere, at any time, by anyone, Congress. Don’t try to stop or in any way prohibit the right of we the people to exercise, to carryout, to do, to perform and be proud of our exercise of religion, including a testimony to our beliefs, anywhere, at any time, by anyone, Congress. When we exercise our religious rights we are free to do so anywhere, including the public square. We are free to pray, to worship, to testify, to sing, to dance, any way we want, in any civil, loving, passionate and praising way we choose. Don’t make any law of any kind, Congress, none whatsoever establishing or constructing religion and most importantly, Congress, don’t make any law which prohibits the free exercise, THE FREE EXERCISE of any and all things religion. And, to be sure, Congress, that right is not at all confined to the four walls of a church, but can occur anywhere at any time in this great and free land of ours. Don’t even think about it, Congress, don’t. MAKE NO LAW!
But they do. This Congress and this President make laws which tell religion what it must do and without any respect therefore. Like ObamaCare (APA) and the mandatory medical insurance requirements which force religious non-profits Protestant, Catholic, Jew and Islam to provide medical insurance for abortion, abortifacients and other medical devices and substances which kill babies. They the Congress, and of course the President, usurp a power not granted by the Constitution, ESTABLISHED a requirement for all, including religious organizations, which PROHIBITED these religious organizations from practicing their faith, following it and refusing to participate in any activity or law which was fundamentally opposed to their beliefs. And that former Democratic Congress and of course this President could care less about the Constitution, or violating one of its most precious principles and rights, wanting only to do what they wanted to do irrespective of the Constitution. Never mind the establishment clause or the prohibition clause in the First Amendment, never mind. If you don’t like what we do, take the Obama approach:
SUE US!
Which of course, millions of American citizens did, and will do as the PROHIBITIONS OF THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION increases, and it will.
And now comes gay marriage, this brand, newly found and minted constitutional right, found nowhere, not even hinted at in our Constitution. Three women and two men, TOTAL FIVE had the infinite wisdom to identify this long hidden constitutional right, announce it with judicial fiat in the landmark decision Obergefell v. Hodges and now 320 million Americans are subject to all of the legal ramifications of this decision which in fact in part establishes a religion, or at least fundamentally changes long held beliefs by existing religions no matter the harm or the constitutional prohibition. The Supreme Court of the United States just established theRELIGION OF GAY MARRIAGE, and the further establishment of this new religion has only just begun.
Religious establishment by any governmental agency not only means the creation of something new but as well the tearing down of something old and traditional. Three black robed women and two men, again, have announced that gay marriage is a constitutional right, requiring all religions in the free exercise of their religious beliefs to recognize these newfound religious and constitutional rights and beliefs, and grafted on their religion, abridging their freedoms, and telling them what to believe, WHAT IS RIGHT! And the extension of this newfound constitutional right has only just begun. The courts will be swamped with litigation, of course by the gays pushing hard a gay agenda, and then in return, all others who passionately disagree and refuse to obey this newfound ruling, in essence this new law. That led the Wall Street Journal to state as follows:
Future legal contests may determine whether tax-exempt religious schools can reject gays and lesbians, and whether private businesses can refuse them service because they believe their religion compels such exclusion.
And there will indeed be many of these so-called future legal contests to determine the rights of religious schools. Take the Catholic Church for example. Can they, with the direct demands and requirements of Catholic theology and belief, be forced to accept gay and lesbian students no matter their beliefs? You can be sure those schools will be tested, and legally so. And the same for private businesses. The case Hobby Lobby granted certain protections and rights to business owners with firm and fair religious beliefs. You can be certain that decision and its ramifications will be tested once again. There is newfound power and encouragement to gay and lesbians to do more, get more, destroy more as a result of the Obergefell decision. This newfound constitutional empowerment will wreak havoc on established religious institutions. Here come the lawsuits.
Not only did Obergefell establish legal right and empowerment to gay marriage, but emotional and psychological as well. Hear the words of Justice Anthony Kennedy who wrote the decision for the Majority-5 as follows:
“Marriage responds to the universal fear that a lonely person might callout to find no one there.”
Kennedy then went onto state:
“Marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. The plaintiffs in this case hope not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions.”
That led one journalist to state that Justice Kennedy had constructed an ODE TO LOVE rather than a strong legal opinion and another described this emotional ranting by Kennedy as “nine parts romantic poetry and one part legal analysis (if that).” The Kennedy writings in Obergefell, said yet another writer, were judicial activism, extremism at its highest.
Kennedy’s Supreme Court colleague Antonin Scalia to state that if he were ever to join an opinion with a sentence like that (Kennedy’s writings), he would “hide my head in a bag. This was the language of the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie.” The Supreme Court indeed, run amok, well away from its Constitutional authority making law, the Supreme Court making law!
And more from an aggressive dissenter Chief Justice John Roberts who said:
“If you are among the many Americans of whatever sexual orientation who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision. But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it.”
A hearty amen to that, Justice Roberts. There is no such right to gay marriage, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, in our Constitution of the United States. None whatsoever. This was a matter as another justice said for the states to decide. Marriage was the special legal province of each of the 50 states and not the federal government. That mattered nothing to the blinded, prejudiced, liberal and radical liberal element of the Supreme Court, four justices voting in lockstep for anything and everything liberal whether constitutional or not, including Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan and when joined by the newly-minted romantic poet par excellence Anthony Kennedy, forced this newly found constitutional right on romantic poet par excellence Anthony Kennedy, forced this newly found constitutional right on we the people now and forevermore. The right to gay marriage came as a result of Kennedy’s ODE TO LOVE.
There are two major concerns for religious institutions, entities and individuals. The first is a fear that the church and the synagogue will be legally required to employ or otherwise permit gays and lesbians to participate in and be a part of the religious life of that institution. That of course includes what may become a legal requirement for pastors, priests and rabbis to perform gay marriage in their church or synagogue, even though that would expressly forbidden by their scripture or Torah. So then, they say, it would be a matter of whether or not the people of faith and their institutions would follow GOD’S LAW OR MAN’S LAW. To employ gays, admit them freely to religious schools, or marry them will be the new issues of the day, sure to come. And litigation with it. The first battle of the war having been won, the next battle will be indeed “at the church door.” Sooner or later, said one gay leader, your church will be required by Affirmative Action to hire gay and lesbian employees and to perform gay marriage in your church, no matter what you believe. We will fight for those rights with all of our might and sooner or later, we will make them happen. So now, in this fight, one Chase Jennings of Family Research Council sent out a cry and encouragement to Christian people with these words:
“He’s (God) looking for a faithful people.”
Those he went onto say who would show the love of Christ by speaking the truth of Christ, urging the Church to rise up and realize that this is not the end of the struggle for marriage, but the beginning of the fight for freedom! And indeed it is.
For there is no conservative or person of faith who could ever possibly accept in good conscience or in any credible way the words of Justice Anthony Kennedy who wrote in the Obergefell decision the following:
“It must be emphasized that religions, and those who adhere to religious doctrines, may continue to advocate with utmost, sincere conviction that, by divine precepts, same-sex marriage should not be condoned. The First Amendment ensures that religious organizations and persons are given proper protection as they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central to their lives and faiths, and to their own deep aspirations to continue the family structure they have long revered.”
High sounding words, more romantic poetry for conservatives and religionists but for most, anything but legally compelling. Not that Kennedy said anything about practice, exercise or conduct. Those high sounding words said nothing about the right of EXCLUSION of anything gay or lesbian from the religion itself. That admonition from Kennedy said nothing about the right not to hire, or not to perform gay marriages, or not to allow gays and lesbians in parochial schools, NOTHING! All it said was that religions and religious doctrines may continue to advocate (testify and preach) regarding their belief in divine precepts that gay marriage should not be condoned. Kennedy seems to be stating that the First Amendment allows such contrary speech but again, says nothing about conduct. When you talk about gay marriage, says Kennedy from a religious perspective, you will be protected by the First Amendment, with PROPER PROTECTION in your teaching, TEACHING. But not in your conduct, including employment, church practices, marriage performances and religious school enrollments. The Kennedy statement is almost an endorsement and empowerment of the gay and lesbian agenda to go further, demand more and create further legal upset to established religions, their beliefs and the practices thereof. So the fight begins. No person of faith should ever believe those Kennedy words. No person of faith should ever believe that there will in fact be PROPER PROTECTION for anything religious and even eventually the free speech of that religion. No one.
And even President Barack Hussein Obama weighs in with the following words:
“I know that Americans of goodwill continue to hold a wide range of views on this issue (gay marriage). Opposition, in some cases, has been based on sincere and deeply held beliefs. All of us who welcome today’s news (Obama the Christian has always been an aggressive advocate of the gay agenda), should be mindful of that fact and recognize different viewpoints, revere our deep commitment to religious freedom.”
Do you believe this so-called Christian? I don’t. But if you analyze those Obama words carefully, there is nothing legal, nothing at all about PROPER PROTECTION, but only a suggestion that people are entitled to different viewpoints even as they revere their deep commitment to religious freedom. It is a typically bland, generalized, Presidential ODE TO LOVE which says nothing at all about his future conduct as President, legal and otherwise even as Obama and his ilk do anything and everything possible to foster the gay agenda and in the views of millions, attack TRADITIONAL PEOPLE OF FAITH. You can bet your next offering gift that Obama and company have no intention whatsoever of “revering our deep commitment to religious freedom.”
There has been at work in Congress but since back-burnered a proposed piece of legislation known as ENDA:
EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT
That Act, Congressional Legislation, if passed would require all entities, ALL to hire gay and lesbian employees in an Affirmative Action way. That is, either directly or indirectly by quotas, percentages, and otherwise to make certain that there was fair and proper representation in employment of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons. You can bet your next gift in the offering plate that this legislation will move forward and the principles contained therein will wreak havoc upon Christian and Jewish institutions and entities, whether profit or non-profit. Watch out for ENDA. Not a good time to be a Christian unless you, like me, are prepared to:
FIGHT THE FIGHT OF FAITH
And more from TIME magazine, an extremely liberal rag. TIME editors were urging Washington to hurry about the business of doing what solicitor General Donald Verrilli threatened, namely to:
STRIP THE TAX-EXEMPTIONS FROM FAITH-BASED GROUPS, SCHOOLS AND CHARITIES.
Hear the words of Verrilli, scary words indeed:
“Rather than trying to rescue tax-exempt status for organization that dissent from settled Public Policy on matters of race or sexuality, we need to take a more radical step. It’s time to abolish or greatly diminish their tax-exempt statuses.”
Wow. There it is, straight on, bold and clear. If any faith-based group, including schools and charities and perhaps even companies like mine, do not follow (dissent from) settled Public Policy on matters of race or sexuality, including the gay agenda and of course gay marriage, we will do everything possible to ABOLISH OR GREATLY DIMINISH their tax-exempt status. In short, putting them out of business. Talk about a legal war soon to come not on the private side, but an angry, activist, aggressive federal government and the feared and biased IRS at work against the churches and all such who don’t accede to and accept the gay agenda. I wonder about your church, or synagogue, or even mosque. Will the IRS with all of its muscle ever dare to take on the Roman Catholic Church, forcing it to comply with SETTLED PUBLIC POLICY and threaten to strip the Catholic Church of its tax-exempt status because it would not endorse or perform gay marriage? What a battle that would be, would it not? I bet those four liberal justices on the Supreme Court would be thrilled to see this kind of legal action and dissent no matter that Justice Kennedy has promised full protection for such dissent. And when that litigation winds its way back up to our (their) Supreme Court, those four justices don’t even have to look at the issue, or the legalities, but merely vote like lemmings to expand the gay agenda. It is, as one writer stated,AMERICAN UPSIDE-DOWN.
In fact, opposing conduct, dissenting conduct has already begun. There are clerks in marriage license offices in various states that have refused to issue marriage licenses to gays. In Tennessee, an entire office of clerks has resigned as a result of refusing to issue licenses for gay marriages. Decatur County Commissioner David Boroughs had nothing but praise for the clerks. He said:
“I am proud of them that their faith is so strong and well-rounded that they feel they can do that.”
People of faith at work, living out their faith, following God’s Law. Said one clerk who indicated she wasn’t worried:
“I honestly believe God will take care of it.”
Kentucky clerk Chris Cockrell indicated that he will not change his beliefs and issue marriage licenses to gays. He said that if that means going to jail, so be it. In reply to Cockrell’s statement, a Kentucky law professor indicated that:
“Two things can happen if a Kentucky clerk won’t issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple. They can resign or go to jail.”
Or be fined in addition to spending ONE YEAR IN JAIL! This Kentucky clerk, if he does not issue a marriage license, must resign his position, which he refuses to do, or go to jail, which he is willing to do. When we talk about people of faith, this man is at the top of the list!
And no matter, the left marches on. The target of course is more evisceration of the First Amendment. Senator Tammy Baldwin, Democrat from Wisconsin on MSNBC (of course) has set her sights on men and women of faith. Baldwin thinks that there are clear limits to the exercise of that faith and in her view, constitutional protections essentially exist within the “four walls of a church.” She says some haunting words:
“I don’t think it extends far beyond that.”
Yet another liberal (radical) Senator from the once great State of Wisconsin who seems to care little about the First Amendment protections for freedom of religion and speech. Watch out for her. I bet yet another offering plate gifting that Baldwin would be in the lead with respect to any legislation which would abolish or restrict the tax-exempt status of religious institutions which fail to abide in full by the requirements of this NEWLY-MINTED CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT for gay marriage and the gay agenda.
And more from a Mississippi state clerk in the Office of Marriage Licenses, one Linda Barnette. Barnette said that after 24 years of service, there was now a choice between her job and her faith, but for her, a no-brainer. Barnette said:
“My final authority is the Bible. Christians are being put to the test. We are going to see THE TRUE CHRISTIANS who stand. It’s going to be time to stop talking the talk. It’s going to come down to that (walking the walk).”
Amen, marriage license clerk Barnette. You go to the top of the list of real people of faith who will standup for freedom of religion, real constitutional rights enumerated and fashioned in our great Constitution, and not a fabricated one by five black robed human beings run amok.
In Louisiana, Governor Bobby Jindal, one good man, is about the business of protecting religious liberty. Jindal is determined to build a legal firewall around religious liberty through legislation and Governor action and challenges the left to sue. You can be certain that Jindal will hear from the ACLU and other liberal and radical organizations and Jindal encourages them to bring it on. He jabs:
“The left likes to pick and choose which liberties they support at any given time.”
Then there is Representative Raul Labrador, Republican from Idaho who stated as follows:
“This marriage ruling means we must speed action on the First Amendment Defense Act by me and Senator Mike Lee to protect religious freedom.”
That is not, he says, simply for Protestants and Evangelicals, but for Orthodox Jews and Catholics as well. Watch for that Act.
And then there is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who is taking swift steps to shield the state from the government’s retribution. Paxton states:
“This newly minted federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage can and should peacefully coexist with long standing constitutional and statutory rights, including the rights to free exercise of religion and freedom of speech.”
Paxton even went so far as to give public officials the right to opt out of same-sex marriage and advise them that numerous lawyers were ready to provide representation if necessary. Good for him and good for those right-thinking lawyers! They rise up to the very top of the list of the faithful in the fight. Looks like solicitor General Donald Verrilli in his avowed attempt and threat to strip the tax-exemptions from faith-based groups has a real fight on his hands, don’t you think?
But the pastors of churches and their congregations are already preparing themselves for the legal storms which lie ahead. They are calling insurance companies to see what kind of insurance coverage they may have if they are sued for not performing same-sex “weddings.” They want to understand whether or not they have liability insurance coverage in that regard. Unfortunately, for most if not all, they do not have that coverage and they are “on their own.” You can bet your very next offering plate gift that those churches will be sued and their tax-exempt status threatened if not eliminated and along with it, the deductibility of that very offering plate gift of yours. The fight for religious freedom, my fellow Americans, and for religious freedom of speech HAS BEGUN. It is here, it is here! Now comes the call to the faithful to fight the fight of faith, and to walk the walk, no more talk. I’m in, are you?
And then there is the Bisbee Baptist Church in Texas. The pastor Freddie Matthews put the following message on his church marquee:
“Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s right.”
Almost immediately, vandals painted over the sign with profanity. Pastor Matthews regards gay marriage as “immoral.” He preaches aggressively against that, but all immorality, so he states. That is for any conduct outside of God’s design for marriage, whatever that is. You can be sure this man is on the liberal-radical radar screen of the left and sooner or later, they will come after him.
And then there is California Pastor Jim Garlow, God bless him, who made headlines for standing before his congregation with a copy of the court’s marriage ruling in one hand and his Bible in the other. Said the Reverend Garlow:
“It’s time to decide (as he threw the Supreme Court ruling to the ground).”
Standing only with the Bible in his hand, Garlow said:
“This is who I stand with. And I with you, Reverend Garlow. Where do you stand?”
And then there is one good, strong, right-thinking, solid Christian Pastor Jack Hibbs. This good man, Christian tough, has never shied away from the marriage debate. Jack Hibbs, courageous and daring, blasted the Supreme Court Justices for tearing out the heart and soul of the Bible with respect to God’s definition of marriage. Pastor Hibbs said the following:
“They raise the flag, and they said, Christians, stay out of it. This is a political issue. And Christians and America, led by weak, pathetic hirelings in the pulpits, backed down and went into their little cloisters and hid out.”
Wow, what a powerful and right-on statement Pastor Hibbs. Thank you for taking the courageous lead in speaking the truth. Indeed, marriage radicals in fact raised the flag and have now ordered Christians to the sidelines. And the weak and wimpy Christians and their leaders, in Hibbs words “the pathetic hirelings in the pulpits” have backed down and they refuse to take up the cudgel. The Christians and their leaders he said have gone into little clusters, IN THE CLOSET and hid out. What an upside-down world where gays have come out of the closet, and Christians have taken their place in the closet. The right-thinking Jack Hibbs has thrown down the gauntlet to pastors everywhere to standup, fight the fight, be true to the Word of God which they represent and believe in and:
FIGHT THE MARRIAGE FIGHT OF FAITH!
Work well done, Pastor Jack Hibbs, well done.
And more from courageous Christian leaders and pastors. Jonathan Falwell, Pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Virginia said the following:
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again here today just to make sure that we’re clear. At Thomas Road Baptist Church, there will never be a same-sex marriage or any other form of marriage outside of between a man and a woman conducted at this church as long as I am your pastor.”
Of course, the crowd erupted as it would everywhere if pastors standup, courageous defend, and indicate to their congregations that they will fight the fight of faith, no matter the cost. Christianity in America desperately needs the younger pastors to take a stand and join the “push back” as one writer calls it against these constitutional onslaughts. If, especially these new leaders and pastors are little more than, as Pastor Jack Hibbs stated “pathetic hirelings in the pulpits,” and in fact bow out of the culture wars, Christianity fights back with one hand tied behind its back. You should urge your pastor, priest or rabbi to:
FIGHT BACK
And yet another response, a loving one from Bishop E.W. Jackson who spoke in behalf of a hurting Christian culture and said:
“People think we are angry, but we are brokenhearted. It ought to make us weep that so many have hardened their hearts toward Him (God).”
Well said Bishop Jackson. We should weep indeed, even as we stand and fight.
And then there is Appellate Judge Janet Rogers Brown who expresses grave concern over the usurpation by the judicial branch and especially the Supreme Court, making law instead of interpreting it. The government and the courts, Justice Brown says has taken over the role of the church, imposing its own orthodoxy on the people. Orthodoxy, she says has been rehabilitated and dissent from a government’s determinations may be quelled through coercion, onerous fines or banishment from commerce and the public square. She condemns activist judges who make law and especially this law, Obergefell and gay marriage. In short, says Brown, the government and the courts are establishing this new kind of orthodoxy which will in fact prevent dissent much less conduct which opposes the government’s determinations and dissenters can expect fines, imprisonment and certainly banishment from commerceand the public square. In essence, Brown says that the court is moving toward a clear definition of the exercise of religion only within church walls and on church property and not outside thereof! Right-thinking judges and justices know that the courts in the majority are operating, legislating and creating judicial fiat in matters for which the court is “neither qualified nor authorized” to do so. The government and the courts indeed are taking over the role of the Church.
Senior Pastor of Times Square Church, Carter Conlon urged pastors to join with people of faith and make prayer a priority as real energy for this fight now here and to come. Dr. Erwin Lutzer, Pastor of Chicago’s Moody Church so well stated that even as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced the fiery furnace, so also must pastors be willing to preach the truth and submit themselves to God’s law. Life, Lutzer said, is short and eternity is long. Let us remain faithful to God no matter the cost. NO MATTER THE COST.
And so we deal with the Supreme Court and its rulings in Obergefell and the Affordable Care Act which fully abandon the text of the Constitution and institutionalize subjectivism, that is the thinking and wisdom of the justices no matter the words and specific demands of the Constitution. We now live in a day and age of Constitutional revision, those revisions as determined by the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court, unelected and without accountability. You can be sure there will be civil disobedience and cultural wars in America like never before. It will be most interesting to see who the real Christians are, the real Protestants, the real Roman Catholics, the real Jews who believe in the Bible and especially the Torah and who are willing to stand tall for their religious convictions. It will be equally interesting to see those who are ready and willing to compromise, withdraw, go back IN THE CLOSETand refuse to fight the fight of faith. The battle has begun. How will you fight the battle or will you? Many won’t, far too many for lack of courage and real belief. And, fear of persecution and penalty. But Christians are told in Second Timothy 3:12:
“Everyone who wants to live a Godly life in Messiah Jesus will be persecuted.”
Indeed they will. Are you willing to endure persecution, whatever its form?
And there are the same admonitions in the Torah for all Jews and Christians. Jews are fully accustomed to persecution just because they are Jews. The right-thinking and believing Jews, and not merely the Orthodox, standup and fight the Jewish fight of faith? Time will tell.
We are told by Justice Kennedy of the Supreme Court that we who disagree with Obergefell and the decisions regarding the Affordable Care Act have the right to dissent, to freely express our opinions and our disagreements. You can bet your very next offering plate gifting that the radical left will claim any such dissenting speech as HATE SPEECH, and of course more litigation. You can bet that a radical IRS, extremely biased to the left, will come after churches and other religious entities threatening to do away with tax-exempt status. You can be certain that the ruling of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals which ruled that birth control was more of a compelling state interest than religious liberty will only grow and compound the country over so that more and more, any compelling state interest will trump religious liberty and result in the erosion of or eventually the elimination of true constitutional religious liberty.
So, my fellow Americans of any faith, real people of faith, and my fellow Americans without faith, but real and true Constitutionalists, believing sincerely in the rights of religious freedom, the exercise thereof and free speech, including religious speech, which side are you on? Will we the people have a government, and a judicial system which in ever-growing fashion becomes more despotic, telling us how to live, eroding our freedoms and otherwise producing a government orthodoxy or will we standup and proclaim to the 545 people who rule us, President, House and Senate, and Supreme Court and say:
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Will we have the courage to civilly disobey and fight back and aggressively going about the business of:
CHANGING AMERICA BACK
Back to the great America it once was, free in every way to live democratically and live the life America was meant to afford. Will you?
I wonder. I know what I will do. I am ready at any time to lay my all on the altar and do what is required by my faith and my love for this country.
WHAT WILL YOU DO?