They are everywhere and nowhere at the same time! Where is the admonishment by the Christian community to those who clearly advocate uprisings in response to not only the Obama administration merely existing, but constant and relenting attacks on secular humanism? Frank Schaeffer has been posing this question repeatedly of late...
"The mainstream evangelical leadership recently showed again that they are happy to speak out when the issue suits them and -- more importantly -- cost them nothing with their supporters. For instance evangelicals and other conservative religious leaders released a declaration against stem cell research just a few weeks ago called the "Manhattan Declaration" directed at Obama. The list that signed this document was a who's who of evangelicalism. So where were these same people's declaration of conscience against their own followers when it came to praying for the President's removal or death?
It seems to me that the evangelical leaders, like [Rick] Warren, who talk love but won't reign in their own people are like the moderate Muslim leaders that many of us condemn for rarely denouncing their extremists. And the media who don't ask people like Warren and [Franklin] Graham the tough questions about their silence and culpability in the face of the hate pouring out of religious people directed at our President is part of the problem." ~ Frank Schaeffer
Well, they are very busy...re-stating what I refer to as the Big 3! They have kept their supporters and followers successfully distracted and hooked with these 3 major ranting points, and now they are reviving them again through their recent "Manhattan Declaration" gathering...
The Manhattan Declaration
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:
the sanctity of human life
the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
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.
Here are the founders of this "organization"...
Focus on the Family - James Dobson (oh yeah, we know how respectful of life Mr. Dobson is!)
Family Research Council - Tony Perkins (I always think of Mutual of Omaha's weekly TV show from the 60s when I hear his name)
Charles Colson - (Born again in 1973 just before serving a prison term for unlawful activities in the Nixon Administration)
Dr.s Robert & Timothy George - (Robt is a Natural Law resource; Timothy is Dean of Beeson Divinity School)
What is happening here, which has happened hundreds of times before, is they are fracturing. Family Research Council is an offshoot of Focus on the Family. Now the Manhattan Declaration is organized as an offshoot of them. They do this repeatedly. It is like the game called "Whack-a-Mole". When they pop up in one place, you try to bop them and before you know it they pop up in another location.
These people are experts at this. The other areas they are experts in are 1) grass roots community organizing; 2) avoiding IRS revocation of their non-profit status even though they blatantly use their pulpits to preach politics! Example: directly from their MD.org site...
"Talk to your pastor or small group leader in church. We have heard from a number of pastors who are already referring to this document in their sermons and using it in their teaching. We've also heard from bishops and other church leaders who are planning ecumenical gatherings in their areas of responsibility. Some are talking about campaigns to equip the faithful. Other pastors are asking their congregations to sign the document, and become informed. Go to your pastor; urge him to do this. You can really help in this area. Suggest it, and then volunteer to be a part of it. Step forward as a leader."
This is #5 of the action steps they have laid out for their supporters. This begs the discussion of revoking non-profit status to these institutions that hide behind protection from scrutiny of their books and activities as churches and ministries. But for now, this post is to introduce yet another organizing attack from a purely Christian perspective to insinuate their beliefs into politics and force the rest of us to abide by what they believe to be true and right.
It is really a declaration about their beliefs - and a blatant disregard and repudiation of the beliefs (or non-beliefs) of any other American. This IS Political Dominionism! This is the fight. This is how they succeed. They organize, they rally, they pressure with money and might...and they often win.
This is what we are working so diligently to expose.