Posted on 09/14/2013 4:49:46 AM PDT by IbJensen
A Florida Christian ministry that has been distributing food to the needy for the past 31 years said it will drop all connections with the federal USDA agriculture bureaucracy rather than bow to orders that it must remove Christian symbols from its facility.
Fox News reported that officials from the Christian Service Center of Lake City (CSC), Florida, were told by the state agriculture department that in order to continue to receive food from the USDA they would have to remove portraits of Christ and a 10 Commandments display from their facility and stop giving Bibles to those who came for food.
They told us they could no longer allow us to have any religious information where the USDA food is going to be, the group's executive director, Kay Daly, told Fox.
The USDA policy boils down to the separation of church and state that secular groups read into the First Amendment. A USDA spokesperson explained to Fox News that under current law, organizations that receive USDA nutrition assistance can still engage in religious activities so long as the activity is not used to create a barrier to eligible individuals receiving food. In the minds of USDA bureaucrats, a banner in the CSC that reads Jesus Is Lord and pictures representing Jesus equate into a barrier to those coming to the facility for help.
Instead of complying with the ruling, Daly said, the group has decided to simply drop the USDA's help and trust God for His provision. If God can multiply fish and loaves for 10,000 people, he can certainly bring in food for our food pantry so we can continue to feed the hungry, said Daly.
Daly told the Christian Post that when a counselor with CSC meets with a person in need, We ask them if they know Jesus Christ and if we may share with them. If they decline, we don't. If they do want to, we share the gospel with them. Sometimes we lead them to the Lord and sometimes we don't.
She said that while faith in Christ is not a litmus test for whom the group serves, they are nonetheless a Christian ministry with a mission of sharing the gospel. Our purpose is to help people in need and to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, she said. We are going to pray with them. We are going to offer them a Bible. We are going to counsel them in Christian help. We are going to use our chapel.
To eliminate the core of their beliefs, as the USDA appears to demand, would be an unacceptable compromise, Daly told the Christian Post. We would deny what we stand for, which is Jesus Christ, which is why we are, she said. The USDA has drawn the line in the sand. If they are going to put stipulations on the use and distribution of the food, we make a choice and our choice is to stand with Christ.
Daly said that area churches, local Christians, and others have already stepped up to fill the void left by the USDA. She said that above all else Im called to do what the Lord tells me to do. Im not called to worry about it. I pray about it. The Lord answers our prayers and we move forward one day at a time, one person at a time.
In 2012, an Indiana food pantry faced the loss of its USDA food privileges after its director refused to stop offering to have pantry volunteers pray for needy people coming to his facility for help. Ultimately government bureaucrats backed down from their threats when Paul Brock, founder of Community Provisions of Jackson County, Indiana, agreed to wait until individuals receive their food before volunteers ask them if they would like prayer. I'm glad this is finally over, Brock said in response to the end of the annoying federal roadblock that prevented him from helping people. I need to get back to work.
Wanna bet the USDA moves the Christians' food down the street to the Mosque?
Our American government has become a genuine evil.
Promotes faggotry, and drives out Christians.
Of this, I have no doubt.
FMCDH(BITS)
Why the HELL does the USDA involve itself with ANY RELIGIOUS ISSUE???!?
So much for the separation of church and state. Our federal government is now using its powers to establish atheism in a North Florida food kitchen. And they actually have the audacity to do so under the guise of “separation of church and state”. There is no separation here. Instead of minding their own business and staying on their side of the wall, they have chosen instead to cross that barrier and enforce their religious mandates upon a faith-based group.
Tell them to f##k off and die. Distribute it anyway. Challenge der Fuehrer’s brownshirts to shut you down or arrest you and make a huge deal about it. Make sure every recipient of their charity knows who is shutting them down and why.
May the usda be damned to hell.
That is not at all what the Amendment I says. First of all, the amendment is a restriction on Congress only. Secondly, not only does it prohibit Congress from making a law respecting an establishment of religion, it also prohibits them from making one which prohibits the free exercise of religion. Everyone wants to ignore that second part. In this case, it is clear that the USDA intends to prohibit the religious free exercise of this North Florida kitchen. And THAT is a violation of the Free Exercise clause.
'Separation of church and state' means the government must butt out and not get involved no matter what. Instead, we get a government that instills atheism in anything and everything it can get its hands on.
Since this is Florida, I believe we should look no further than the Florida State Constitution for proper legal guidance:
Preamble
We, the people of the State of Florida, being grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, in order to secure its benefits, perfect our government, insure domestic tranquility, maintain public order, and guarantee equal civil and political rights to all, do ordain and establish this constitution.
They are just going to cut off the government cheese
Because they are a bunch of lying liberal statists who really don’t believe in the separation of church and state. In fact, they don’t believe in the separation of anything and state.
He is playing the Jews who were victim of USDA thugs before
He is playing the Jews who were victim of USDA thugs before
Wouldn’t surprise me at all.
Is Obama FDR’s revenge on Jews?
Along with the rest of this evil government!
States had better take notice. Americans with functioning minds have had enough of government!
So agree with you.
Amen and we have had enough of harry reid calling us anarchists etc! This world is upside down.
Post this over the entry:
Joshua 24:15
"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
It’s better that people starve to the USDA.
There will be no separation of mosque and state, however.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.