Posted on 08/17/2018 8:03:09 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
As California appears poised to pass a draconian bill that directly attacks your religious freedoms, it’s time for you to draw a line in the sand. If the bill passes, you must choose to obey God rather than man. It’s time for civil disobedience.
I’m speaking about AB 2943, which the Senate just approved by a vote of 25-11. Next is the Assembly, then the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown, then the length and breadth of your great state.
In an August 16 email, Greg Burt, Director of Capitol Engagement, California Family Council, explained the significance of AB 2943, which I previously dubbed the “Must Stay Gay” bill. He wrote, “With Thursday's [Senate] vote, elected leaders told churches and those with biblical beliefs about gender and sexual orientation that advocating for their views could get them sued.”
He continued, “This bill attacks the freedom of Christians . . . to find the services and resources from counselors, schools, and faith-based organizations that help them live out their biblical convictions regarding sexual behavior and gender identity. Shouldn't these people have the freedom to find true joy by embracing and living out their faith without government persecution?”
The potential impact of this bill should not be downplayed. As Burt noted without hyperbole, “The implications of AB 2943 are staggering. Legal experts confirm that by targeting financial transactions, AB 2943 threatens religious non-profits, churches, and pastors who provide paid resources to help people practice their faith.”
My brothers and sisters in California, should this bill become law, your choice is simple: Say yes to the will of God and no to the will of man (Acts 5:29).
The bad news is that AB 2943 is on its way to becoming law. How in the world did we get to this place in America?
The good news (albeit a little late) is that many church leaders who previously sat on the sidelines have gotten directly involved. They have spoken out publicly against the bill. They have urged their congregants to contact their elected officials. And they have stood together with many ex-gays who have testified to the life-changing power of gospel-based counsel.
Yet the California legislators continue their march of oppression, all in the name of saving people from the alleged harm of so-called conversion therapy. And they have done so despite hearing firsthand testimonies of transformed lives, despite peer-reviewed, scientific evidence that change is possible, and despite the fact that such “therapy” is completely voluntary and non-compelled.
Still, these California lawmakers proclaim, “No! “You must stay gay (or trans)! We will not allow you to explore the possibility of change.”
This is nothing less than governmental tyranny, nothing less than an abuse of elected power, nothing less than an unholy mandate against the holy claims of God.
Will you sit back and take it? Or will you rise up as one, with all respect for your government, and say, “If people want help, we will supply it. We will practice our faith. We will not deny the life-changing power of the gospel to anyone.”
Stop for a moment and look at these smiling faces. Meet Jeff and David and April and others. Read their testimonies and hear their stories.
Some struggled with unwanted same-sex attractions for years. Some were out and proud homosexuals. Some identified as transgender. Others had their own unique story of sexual brokenness or addiction.
Yet every single one of them testifies to radical change through the gospel and godly counsel. And under AB 2943, every one of them would be denied such godly help. Are you going to take this sitting down?
If you get sued for doing what’s right, so be it. If you get arrested, so be it. Great is your reward in heaven! Our brothers and sisters around the world are being exiled or stoned or burned alive or imprisoned or kidnapped for their faith. Surely we can take a little opposition for our faith here in the States.
But I don’t believe it will end there. I believe that, if AB 2943 passes, we will see it overturned, either through legal challenges that make it to the Supreme Court or through the voice of the people saying, “Enough is enough.”
So, let’s make holy history together. And let’s make a solemn determination: No earthly power will stop me from loving my neighbor as myself.
He's a Jesuit. Draw your own conclusions from that.
The bill violates two fundamental rights - freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
The bill would still violate freedom of speech even if the counseling was not being advocated or run by any religious based organization or if the counseling was not based on any religious ideas at all.
Frankly, there does not have to be religious questions to believe that “being gay” is not a given from birth, nor to believe that persons can with or without any counseling decide a “gay” life the once had is wrong and choose to discontinue it.
“Is Jerry Brown still a Christian?”
Before “entering politics,” Jerry tried to become a Jesuit Priest. But he was so lazy they kicked him out of the monastery down in Los Gatos, CA.
“California must be purged from the Union”
You are full of $hit!
I feel for you. But you have lost control and California is a detriment to the union. After the purge, we’ll come get you and the other good guys back
That is a concern.
“California must be purged from the Union”
I guess you haven’t read The Constitution. And don’t bother coming for me, I’m fine, along with Jim Rob and a bunch of good conservatives who still control most of the land area in the state. And as far as it goes, I’m tickled pink that the legislature keeps doing this unconstitutional crap; it just hastens the day when they will be sent down the road.
——who still control most of the land area——
That makes me wonder....... what constitutes control? I understand that there are large red areas of California, and lots of conservatives. California conservatives provide the greatest portion of the funding for Free Republic. For that we are thankful.
It would seem that a thread concerned with direct attacks on Chtistianity by the whole state government belies the fact you control anything. The fact seems to be that the cities and urban areas exert absolute control over the lesser populated areas. In effect, you are powerless to resist.
By purging the state and then accepting application for rejoining the union, you can in fact regain the lost control.
Nominally, yes. Substantially, no.
Roberts bends to the source of the heaviest pressure. That is one thing the Dilantin he takes does to you, kills will power
The problem with California, and, in point of fact, every state in the union ultimately, is the idea of one man, one vote. As our cities have become DemoRAT cesspools of bums and welfare recipients, their negative impact on the decent citizens who are more dispersed in each state, becomes ever greater. The difference, today, between Red and Blue States is only that in the Red States, the big city voting bloc has not yet reached critical mass. Illinois is a shining example. In the 2014 Gubernatorial Election Rauner won EVERY COUNTY IN THE STATE but Cook County (Chicago). His opponent won Cook County. The vote tally 1.8 million votes for Rauner, 1.6 million for his opponent. Here in CA, three or four of our 58 counties have enough votes to control the entire state. And those same counties also account for about half of our state’s murders. You have do go 36 counties deep to find a county with ten or more murders in a year, but LA County alone has something on the order of 600! So unless and until we do something to blunt the electoral might of our big cities, all states will eventually become Blue states. Nevada, my wife’s original home has just under 4 million residents, 2.5 million of which live in Clark County (Las Vegas) and Las Vegas continues to grow faster than the rest of the state. Soon, Nevada will become Illinois. So are you going to kick Nevada and Illinois out along with California? Your idea doesn’t pass the smell test. You don’t fix the country by carving it up.
bkmk
I see by your profile you are in Tennessee. I used to work in Memphis thirty years ago. As beautiful as Memphis Midtown mansions are, it is a Shit hole city run by the Fords for many years! So just how does this business of staying a Red State play out in Tennessee? You’re lucky that you don’t have a number of really big cities, so it will take longer for you to become Blue. But the big cities in Tennessee are probably growing faster than the rural areas Not a lot of major growth in Shiloh.
So all I can say is you had better watch out, because I can still remember when CA was the bedrock of Conservatism, Ronald Reagan was our governor, and we had majority Republican Legislatures and Congressional Representatives!
I live in East Tennessee, 500 miles from Memphis in the diagonally opposite corner. The district is solid Republican and pretty conservative.
As a point of interest, there is a FReeper I will not name who with her husband left California within the past two years and has settled on a few acres in what might be considered boon docks. I haven’t talked with her recently but believe they are settled into a semi Mother Earth life with jobs and the good life.
I hear your message and do not doubt it.
If the California government sends in gestapo goons to interfere with religious worship, then Trump needs to send in the 101st Airborne to ensure that religious freedom is not hindered.
It’s time for an armed showdown against these California communists.
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