CULTUREWARS

HOLY WEEK AND HOLY WAR, PART 1

Exclusive: Chuck Norris examines assault on religious liberty in America

Published: 03/24/2013 at 6:14 PM

by CHUCK NORRIS Email | Archive

Chuck Norris is the star of more than 20 films and the long-running TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger." His latest book is entitled The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book." Learn more about his life and ministry at his official website, ChuckNorris.com.

(Editors note: This is Part 1 of a two-part series on religious liberty. Read Part 2 here.) Its Holy Week, but whats not so holy is the assault on religious liberty in the U.S. Religious liberty has been called rightly Americas first freedom, not only because the right is contained in the First Amendment but also because it predates the U.S. and has its origin in God, not government, and the freedoms He endowed within us. But over the past few decades, that basic freedom has come under assault, and in recent years particularly against Christianity. Last week, I discussed how religious liberty in foreign countries is being suppressed and persecuted. This week, I will address how it has been assaulted right here in the U.S. I will give you roughly 36 examples in Parts 1 and 2 yes, three dozen. The assault on religious liberty isnt a matter of opinion, or a simple issue of left vs. right, or even religious vs. secular. The case is as clear as a blue sky. Most glaring in recent news is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate forcing religious organizations to pay for free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortioninducing drugs in their employee health-care plans, regardless of any moral or religious objections. And if you think this is an isolated circumstance, consider that in just the last few years alone the following assaults on religious liberty occurred, as reported by the Family Research Council, the office of Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., and various media outlets:

A social service worker at a Minnesota senior living complex banned an elderly resident from praying, reading her Bible, and discussing her faith in private conversations with other residents in the commons area. A New York high-school science teacher, who teaches biology and anatomy and has been with the school district for seven years, was threatened with termination by school district officials if she didnt take down posters with religious messages, notes with Bible quotes, and a prayer request box for the schools Bible Study Club. In neighboring New Jersey, the censorship continued, as a substitute teacher was fired for giving a student a Bible. An East Texas high school barred its cheerleaders from using banners with Bible verses on them at football games.

A Pennsylvania school district demanded that a group pay a rental fee to hold a Biblebased, afterschool program at Foose Elementary School, while other nonprofits, including the Boy Scouts, the Boys and Girls Clubs and the American Legion arent charged for using school facilities. A similar case was made by a California school districts rejection of a Christian youth clubs request to meet in district facilities on equal grounds with similar, nonprofit, nonreligious youth organizations. Another school board, this one in New Holland, Pa., decided to replace prayer with a moment of silence. An Eastern Michigan University counseling student was expelled during her last semester for her Christian beliefs. Officials at Louisiana State University airbrushed a snapshot of football fans to remove small crosses painted on the students bodies at a game. Tufts University, a private school in Massachusetts, suspended official recognition of Tufts Christian Fellowship because the organization required its leaders to adhere to its religious beliefs. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Several religious student organizations at Vanderbilt University had been placed on provisional status unless they allowed for students who do not share their core religious beliefs to obtain leadership positions within the organizations (yes, you read that correctly, too). Culture and courts are also trumping citizens First Amendment rights who are refusing on religious grounds not to support or participate with groups and events that run contrary to their faith and practice. As a result, wedding cake bakers, T-shirt makers, bed and breakfast owners,pastry shops, high-school teachers, military chaplains, restaurant owners, photographers, parents, churches and others have been harassed, bullied, suspended, fired and sued for merely exercising their Christian beliefs. (Next week in Part 2, I will bullet 24 more examples of the assault on U.S. religious liberty) According to a recent poll by the Barna Group, Not only are most Americans worried about the future of religious freedom, many feel the restraints have already started. One-third of adults believe religious freedoms have grown worse in the last decade. The study added, more than half of adults say they are very (29 percent) or somewhat (22 percent) concerned that religious freedom in the U.S. will become more restricted in the next five years. Gone are the days when most truly understand and practice what PBS explained as Americas First Freedom: the Fight for Religious Liberty: On the eve of the revolution, colonial America included virtually every Christian denomination, with no single religious sect holding a majority. Congregationalists were the largest single denomination; they comprised only twenty two percent of all religiously affiliated colonists. Next were the Presbyterians, next was the Church of England. Judaism, Native American religions and the beliefs of a growing slave population also were represented. No European society looked like this. Up close, in any given town, the differences among sects were distinct, yet viewed from a distance the population of the colonies was homogeneous. In their First Amendment to the Constitution, the founders guaranteed freedom of religion for each and every citizen in the new United States. As a matter of practical governance, that single action might have brought about the destruction of all that they had achieved and all that they had planned for the new country. After all, no nation throughout the Western tradition, dating back thousands of years, had ever been created without a state-sanctioned religion, one that might well be controlled by the government in order to control the populace.

Now is not the time to flee the fundamentals of America, especially our religious liberties. Rather, we should re-embrace them, especially during this sacred Holy Week. What is so difficult about understanding the Free Exercise Clause in the First Amendment, in which governing authorities shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof ? As Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council explained, Well, its time to get something straight. Theres no fine print in the U.S. Constitution excluding certain people from the First Amendment not teachers, not businessmen, not even politicians. America will start understanding that fact as more Christians find their voice and stand their ground. That is why I said in my last column: We shouldnt fear diversity or differences; rather we should be proud of them. We must not hinder others opinion or be intimidated by the sharing of our own. We must neither fear repercussions nor threaten others with them because of our differing beliefs. We must learn again the power and benefits of religious liberty and free speech (even debate), and to agree to disagree agreeably on even the most passionate of issues. It is everyones individual right (first freedom) to express their faith and practice as they wish and where they wish, just as during this Holy Week my wife, Gena, and I profess our belief in Jesus Christ, His crucifixion and resurrection, and His free offer of salvation to the whole world His steps to peace with God. Its high time for teachers, leaders, politicians and clergy (the black robe regiment), as well as every other American citizen, to start standing up and pushing back against these assaults on religious liberty. Its time we all turn into cultural heroes by standing up for our faith and First Amendment rights! Friends, its Holy Week, and you have rights from God and country to exercise your religious freedoms, faith and practice, wherever and whenever you would like. (To fight against the assault on our liberties, I recommend following the advice in my New York Times best-seller, Black Belt Patriotism.)
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/03/holy-week-and-holy-war-part1/#dbGImWFlFfXpvyLK.99

CULTUREWARS

36 EXAMPLES OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY ASSAULT, PART 2

Exclusive: Chuck Norris lists dozens of disturbing attacks on Christian faith

Published: 10 hours ago

by CHUCK NORRIS Email | Archive

Chuck Norris is the star of more than 20 films and the long-running TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger." His latest book is entitled The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book." Learn more about his life and ministry at his official website, ChuckNorris.com.

(Editors note: This is Part 2 of a two-part series on religious liberty. Read Part 1 here.) Last week in Part 1, I gave 12 examples of how religious liberty has been assaulted in just the past two years in the U.S. Here are a couple dozen more instances just for good measure, as reported by the Family Research Council, the office of Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., and various media outlets.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The following public institutions have recently joined the growing rank of those which have banned the use of Easter in order to diminish or eliminate references to religion: East Meadow School District in Long Island, N.Y.; Prospect Heights Public Library, Ill.; Heritage Elementary School, Ala.; Manhattan Beach School District, Calif.; Flat Rock Elementary School, S.C.; and West Shore School District, Pa. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that the states annual Day of Prayer proclamations violated the state constitution. Officials in Buhler, Kan., are removing a cross from the citys seal, which was placed on it four decades ago to represent the citys founders, who were immigrants fleeing religious persecution. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled crosses placed on Utah roadsides to honor fallen state troopers violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a cross displayed as part of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego, Calif., was unconstitutional. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that a North Carolina board of commissioners prayer policy was unconstitutional because the prayers mentioned Jesus too frequently. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that a Florida city commissions practice of offering invocations at the beginning of meetings was unconstitutional. For decades, the Sussex County Council in Delaware had opened meetings with the Lords Prayer, but after a year-long court battle challenging the practice, the council agreed to replace it with a recitation of Psalm 23. Other lawsuits by activist groups are sweeping the nation targeting the tradition of city and county council prayer. Here are a few more recent examples: NorthCarolina Prayer in public meetings debated in Greenville. NewJersey New Invocation Policy Includes Indemnification Waiver for All Council Members. California Rialto City Council defends public prayers before meetings. Michigan Prayer at Oakland Twp. meeting draws ACLUs attention. Georgia Cave Spring rethinking Lords Prayer issue. Washington Christ ban signals apparent end to Longview council meeting invocation. Officials at HHS denied funding for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops successful program for sex trafficking victims because of the churchs teaching on human life. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, many New York synagogues and other houses of worship discovered that they were ineligible among other nonprofits for financial assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Presidential administration officials refused to intervene in the closing of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center drafted policy that prohibited individuals from using or distributing religious items during visits to the hospital. Three-star Army general and Delta Force war hero, Lt. Gen. William G. (Jerry) Boykin, couldnt speak at West Point because of his Christian faith. The Air Force Academy apologized for merely announcing Operation Christmas Child a Christian-based charity and relief program designed to send Christmas gifts to impoverished children around the world. The Marine Corps considered tearing down a Camp Pendleton cross meant to honor fallen heroes. The Navy relocated a live nativity at a base in Bahrain to the chapel area. Air Force officials stripped religious curriculum from a 20-year-old course on just war theory. Yet, as reported in the Los Angeles Times, as of November 2011, the Air Force is building an $80,000 Stonehenge-like worship site for earth based religions, including pagans, Wiccans, druids, witches and followers of Native American faiths. The Department of Veterans Affairs censored references to God and Jesus during prayers at Houston National Cemetery. The Pentagon released new regulations forcing chaplains to perform same-sex weddings, despite their religious objections. However, members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus worked tirelessly to ensure that the final version of the FY 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law in January (2013), included key religious freedom protections for service members generally and chaplains specifically (Section 533). The Pentagon revoked approval to use the logo of each service branch on the covers of Bibles sold in military exchange stores. What is going on in the U.S. military? Apparently the militarys urge for neutrality is officially and fundamentally transforming into hostility on faith. What is so difficult about the feds understanding of the Free Exercise clause in the First Amendment, in which they shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof ? Long gone are the days when, before the start of World War II, the commander in chief, President Franklin Roosevelt, actually wrote the prologue to the Gideon Bibles given to the Armed Forces, encouraging them to find strength and courage from its contents: As Commander-in-Chief, I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries, men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel, and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength, and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul. As I wrote in my New York Times bestseller, Black Belt Patriotism, skeptics are quick to point to Thomas Jefferson, who is generally hailed as the chief of church-state separation. But proof that Jefferson was not trying to rid government of religious (specifically Christian) influence comes from the fact that he endorsed using government buildings for church meetings, signed a treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians that allotted federal money to support the building of a Catholic church and to pay the salary of the churchs priests, and repeatedly renewed legislation that gave land to the United Brethren to help their missionary activities among the Indians.

Some might be completely surprised to discover that just two days after Jefferson wrote his famous letter citing the wall of separation between Church and State, he attended church in the place where he always had as president: the U.S. Capitol. The very seat of our nations government was used for sacred purposes. As the Library of Congress website notes, It is no exaggeration to say that on Sundays in Washington during the administrations of Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) and of James Madison (1809-1817) the state became the church. The official website for the Office of the Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives explains that near the Rotunda of the Capitol there is a room set apart for prayer, established by the passage of both Houses in Congress in 1954: Its only purpose is to provide a quiet place where individual Representatives and Senators may withdraw to seek Divine strength and guidance, both in public affairs and in their own personal lives. The rooms inspirational lift comes from the stained glass window with George Washington kneeling in prayer as the focal point. Surrounding him are the words from Psalm 16:1, Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. Above him are the words from Lincolns Gettysburg address: This Nation Under God. The only fight left is for we the people to defend our First Amendments freedom of religion, not espouse or enable the freedom from religion. Start in your own town or city, and take the battle all the way to Washington. Write or call your representatives, then the White House to voice your opinion about the assault on religious liberty occurring across our land and what you think should be done about it. You can reach the White House at 202-456-1111 or by email here.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/03/36-examples-of-religious-liberty-assault-part2/#UKqe3JWufuFQwOKB.99