Posted on 11/20/2009 6:02:54 AM PST by marshmallow
Citing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to civil disobedience, 145 evangelical, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders have signed a declaration saying they will not cooperate with laws that they say could be used to compel their institutions to participate in abortions, or to bless or in any way recognize same-sex couples.
“We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence,” it says.
The manifesto, to be released on Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, is an effort to rejuvenate the political alliance of conservative Catholics and evangelicals that dominated the religious debate during the administration of President George W. Bush. The signers include nine Roman Catholic archbishops and the primate of the Orthodox Church in America.
They want to signal to the Obama administration and to Congress that they are still a formidable force that will not compromise on abortion, stem-cell research or gay marriage. They hope to influence current debates over health care reform, the same-sex marriage bill in Washington, D.C., and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
They say they also want to speak to younger Christians who have become engaged in issues like climate change and global poverty, and who are more accepting of homosexuality than their elders. They say they want to remind them that abortion, homosexuality and religious freedom are still paramount issues.
“We argue that there is a hierarchy of issues,” said Charles Colson, a prominent evangelical who founded Prison Fellowship after serving time in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal. “A lot of the younger evangelicals say they’re all alike. We’re hoping to educate them that these are the three most............
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Welcome to the anti-abortion fight, guys.
Glad to have you aboard.
“Ira C. Lupu, a law professor at George Washington University Law School, said it was “fear-mongering” to suggest that religious institutions would be forced to do any of those things. He said they are protected by the First Amendment, and by conscience clauses..”
He should tell this to Belmont Abbey College.
“On July 30 of this year, a regional office of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) notified Belmont Abbey College, a small Catholic institution not far from Charlotte, N.C., that its policy of not covering contraception in its employee health insurance plan violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the landmark law forbidding discrimination in employment on the basis of race, sex, and other characteristics.”
FYI
Fearmongering to suggest that a government would violate religious freeom?
Truly, he jests.
Or he hasn’t read history.
I hope you realize that it is only the metropolitan OCA that went along, not the other Orthodox Churches. No one but Russia even recognizes OCA as a separate Church, and for good reason. It is more a way of shedding the weight than acknowledgment. The OCA still has some growing up to do and shedding its otherwise Protestant mindset. It's getting there, but it's not there yet.
Be it as it may, I can assure you that if and when the government tries to force any Orthodox Church to approve of abortion publicly or to marry same-gender couples, that Church will refuse on religious–not political–grounds, and also on legal grounds (separation between Church and State(.
Likewise, no Orthodox church will preach that abortion or same-sex marriage is acceptable to their congregations. There is no need for politicking and political activism, m. There is no silence in Orthodox Churches on these issues, as you suggest. The Orthodox faithful hear what Church teaches every week loud and clear.
“...the primate of the Orthodox Church in America.”
Very, very bad example, M. Trust me on this one, your hierarchs don’t want to become identified with Jonah.
BTTT!
You're right, there are lots & lots of ongoing threads about this; I didn't realize that the NY Times had a story on it, which has been posted several times at FR.
Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience (Against Abortion, Same-Sex 'Marriage')
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2390864/posts
Religious leaders vow civil disobedience on anti-life issues
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391534/posts
Christian Leaders Release Declaration of Conscience[ "believers must fight and disobey those laws" ]
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