Pulpit Freedom Sunday October 7th. Ask Your Pastor to Participate

Will your Pastor speak out on Pulpit Freedom Sunday? Ask them.
The choice was never more clear. Here's what I sent my Pastors.

America is the world's last best hope for freedom of religion. Or it was. Judging by the HHS mandates against the Catholic church's freedom of religion, assaults on freedom of speech in which that ridiculous "movie" maker was perp-walked to get a photo-op to appease terrorists, and economic enslavement to a debt, there's deep cause to worry about the future of our country. We're on the edge of fiscal collapse. You already know of our moral degradation. Our children, grandchildren and on and on will pay tomorrow for our excesses of today.

It doesn't have to continue.

If you don't fearlessly speak truth from the pulpit about the stakes of this election, who will? Please consider participating in Pulpit Freedom Sunday (see information below). You actually have a First Amendment right to do so (see below).

"We have learned a bit too late in the day that action springs not from thought but from a readiness for responsibility." Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison

I realize you may think I'm "going nuclear" with a Bonhoeffer quote. However, considering our continued appeasement to Iran, its leader's promise to annihilate Israel, its continued efforts to build a nuclear bomb and the announcement this week that they now have a delivery drone that can be deployed to Israel,  I believe it's appropriate.

I think it would be appropriate for clergy to support a candidate who:

    Does not have the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff call a Florida Pastor and demand he shut up about a movie the President claimed is responsible for rioting in the Middle East. Here's the story.
    Does not encourage dependence on government while at the same time making it more difficult, through regulation and taxation, for business to create jobs so people can help themselves. (In the news every day)
    Does not unconstitutionally regulate the churches' free speech and freedom of religion rights in order to accommodate a health care bill. Here's one of several stories.
    Does not draw a moral equivalence between Israel defending its existence and Hamas led Palestinians whose stated aim is to "wipe Israel off the map."

We need in America a leader who believes in the exceptional nature of this country, who believes that government is there to serve the individual, not the other way around. We've seen much degradation of this value in just the past four years. I can't imagine what we're in store for if this President has free reign for another term. Indeed, this election will decide if we will become a nation of citizens-- or serfs.

Please participate in Pulpit Freedom Sunday.

Prayerfully,

Victoria

Grand total: More than 1,000 pastors to challenge IRS
Registration for Oct. 7’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday nearly double last year’s--and growing
Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Attorney sound bites:  Erik Stanley #1  |  Erik Stanley #2
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The number of pastors registered to participate in Alliance Defending Freedom’s fifth annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday has exceeded 1,000, nearly doubling last year’s participation. Registration continues until Oct. 7, so the number continues to rise.

The registered pastors have committed to preach sermons that present biblical perspectives on the positions of electoral candidates. In so doing, they will exercise their constitutionally protected freedom to engage in religious expression from the pulpit despite an Internal Revenue Service rule known as the Johnson Amendment that activist groups often use to silence churches by threatening their tax-exempt status.

“Pastors should decide what they preach from the pulpit, not the IRS,” said Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “It’s outrageous for pastors and churches to be threatened or punished by the government for applying biblical teachings to all areas of life, including candidates and elections. The question is, ‘Who should decide the content of sermons: pastors or the IRS?’”

“No government-recognized status can be conditioned upon the surrender of a constitutionally protected right,” Stanley explained. “No one would suggest a pastor give up his church’s tax-exempt status if he wants to keep his constitutional protection against illegal search and seizure or cruel and unusual punishment. Likewise, no one should be asking him to give up his church’s tax-exempt status to be able to keep his constitutionally protected right to free speech.”

Pulpit Freedom Sunday, on Oct. 7 this year, is an event associated with the Pulpit Initiative, a legal effort designed to secure the free speech rights of pastors in the pulpit. Alliance Defending Freedom hopes to eventually go to court to have the Johnson Amendment struck down as unconstitutional for its regulation of sermons, which are protected by the First Amendment.

Pulpit Freedom Sunday began in 2008 with 33 participating pastors. Participation increased each year, with last year’s participation blossoming to 539. This year’s registered participation is currently 1,050 and growing.

A national phone survey conducted by Alliance Defending Freedom and LifeWay Research with 1,000 randomly drawn senior pastors prior to last year’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday found that nearly nine out of 10 Protestant pastors believe that the government should not regulate their sermons.

    “Speak Up” Church website

Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly Alliance Defense Fund) is an alliance-building legal ministry that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.


Pulpit Initiative resource page
To book an interview, click on the "Book an Interview" button
Wednesday, September 26, 2012

News releases:  9/26/2012  |  9/30/2011  |  9/12/2011  |  9/27/2010  |  9/23/2010  |  6/22/2010  |  2/17/2010 |  10/5/2009  |  9/24/2009  |  7/28/2009  |  9/29/2008  |  9/25/2008  |  5/9/2008