Posted on 11/22/2009 3:08:18 PM PST by Jim Robinson
A formidable coalition of 150 Catholic, Orthodox and evangelical leaders are calling on Christians in a new manifesto to reject secular authority – and even engage in civil disobedience – if laws force them to accept abortion, same-sex marriage and other ideas that betray their religious beliefs.
On Friday, these leaders released a 4,700-word document – called the "The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience."
The document was signed by leaders ranging from evangelical leader Chuck Colson to two of the leading Catholic prelates in the U.S., Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C. and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, and calls on Christians to engage in civil disobedience to defend their doctrines.
The document also blasts the Obama administration, saying that social ills have grown since the election of President Obama, an abortion rights advocate, along with an erosion of what it calls "marriage culture" with the rise of divorce, greater acceptance of infidelity and the uncoupling of marriage from childbearing.
Colson says the project is aimed at instilling social conservative beliefs in a new generation of believers.
"We argue that there is a hierarchy of issues," he told The New York Times. "A lot of younger evangelicals say they're all alike. We're hoping to educate them that these are the three most important issues" – abortion marriage and religious liberty.
"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," says the declaration, which was drafted by Colson, an evangelical, and Princeton University professor Robert P. George, a Roman Catholic.
The declaration lists the "fundamental truths" as the "sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage...
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Interesting note, I heard James Dobson said he would live the life of an exile in another country rather than be forced to pay into a medical plan that includes the murder of the unborn.
Up over 56,000 now
Now, I’ve always considered myself a good Christian man with solid Christian beliefs, but it wasn’t until the travesty of gay marriage destroyed my life that I started seeing what a powerful force for good The Church can be in this world. Just finding this site has restored a measure of my faith. Perhaps I’ll be able to share my story and help wake America up to the real threat.
This is good to hear. SumProVita made a brilliant suggestion to form parish groups at church as well.
I’m really beginning to think we can save this nation.
God Bless Everyone Here,
-Bodie
71,956 now.....
72,221 ... and counting.
thanks
Visit http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/ to sign.
And spread the word via email and word of mouth.
112186 signatures in support.
And growing...
Peter said in the Acts Of Apostles that Christians have to OBEY GOD rather then man. These times call for such. God Bless those who put the Manhattan Declaration together and signed it as well.
Civil disobedience by Christian clergy is part of our American heritage as well. Example, the famous letter from a Birmingham jail by the Rev. Martin L.King.
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