Let US Adore HIM …

Manhattan Declaration

A Summary

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

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. These truths are (1) the sanctity of human life, (2) the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife, and (3) the rights of conscience and religious liberty. Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Human Life

The lives of the unborn, the disabled, and the elderly are ever more threatened. While public opinion has moved in a pro-life direction, powerful and determined forces are working to expand abortion, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. Although the protection of the weak and vulnerable is the first obligation of government, the power of government is today often enlisted in the cause of promoting what Pope John Paul II called “the culture of death.” We pledge to work unceasingly for the equal protection of every innocent human being at every stage of development and in every condition. We will refuse to permit ourselves or our institutions to be implicated in the taking of human life and we will support in every possible way those who, in conscience, take the same stand.

Marriage

The institution of marriage, already wounded by promiscuity, infidelity and divorce, is at risk of being redefined and thus subverted. Marriage is the original and most important institution for sustaining the health, education, and welfare of all. Where marriage erodes, social pathologies rise. The impulse to redefine marriage is a symptom, rather than the cause, of the erosion of the marriage culture. It reflects a loss of understanding of the meaning of marriage as embodied in our civil law as well as our religious traditions. Yet it is critical that the impulse be resisted, for yielding to it would mean abandoning the possibility of restoring a sound understanding of marriage and, with it, the hope of rebuilding a healthy marriage culture. It would lock into place the false and destructive belief that marriage is all about romance and other adult satisfactions, and not, in any intrinsic way, about the unique character and value of acts and relationships whose meaning is shaped by their aptness for the generation, promotion and protection of life. Marriage is not a “social construction,” but is rather an objective reality—the covenantal union of husband and wife—that it is the duty of the law to recognize, honor, and protect.

Religious Liberty

Freedom of religion and the rights of conscience are gravely jeopardized. The threat to these fundamental principles of justice is evident in efforts to weaken or eliminate conscience protections for healthcare institutions and professionals, and in antidiscrimination statutes that are used as weapons to force religious institutions, charities, businesses, and service providers either to accept (and even facilitate) activities and relationships they judge to be immoral, or go out of business. Attacks on religious liberty are dire threats not only to individuals, but also to the institutions of civil society including families, charities, and religious communities. The health and well-being of such institutions provide an indispensable buffer against the overweening power of government and is essential to the flourishing of every other institution—including government itself—on which society depends.

Unjust Laws

As Christians, we believe in law and we respect the authority of earthly rulers. We count it as a special privilege to live in a democratic society where the moral claims of the law on us are even stronger in virtue of the rights of all citizens to participate in the political process. Yet even in a democratic regime, laws can be unjust. And from the beginning, our faith has taught that civil disobedience is required in the face of gravely unjust laws or laws that purport to require us to do what is unjust or otherwise immoral. Such laws lack the power to bind in conscience because they can claim no authority beyond that of sheer human will.

Therefore, let it be known that we will not comply with any edict that compels us or the institutions we lead to participate in or facilitate abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide, euthanasia, or any other act that violates the principle of the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every member of the human family.

Further, let it be known that we will not bend to any rule forcing us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality, marriage, and the family.

Further, let it be known that we will not be intimidated into silence or acquiescence or the violation of our consciences by any power on earth, be it cultural or political, regardless of the consequences to ourselves.

We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s.

Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience

Drafted October 20, 2009

Released November 20, 2009

Preamble

Christians are heirs of a 2,000-year tradition of proclaiming God’s word, seeking justice in our societies, resisting tyranny, and reaching out with compassion to the poor, oppressed and suffering. 

While fully acknowledging the imperfections and shortcomings of Christian institutions and communities in all ages, we claim the heritage of those Christians who defended innocent life by rescuing discarded babies from trash heaps in Roman cities and publicly denouncing the Empire’s sanctioning of infanticide.  We remember with reverence those believers who sacrificed their lives by remaining in Roman cities to tend the sick and dying during the plagues, and who died bravely in the coliseums rather than deny their Lord.

After the barbarian tribes overran Europe, Christian monasteries preserved not only the Bible but also the literature and art of Western culture.  It was Christians who combated the evil of slavery: Papal edicts in the 16^th and 17^th centuries decried the practice of slavery and first excommunicated anyone involved in the slave trade; evangelical Christians in England, led by John Wesley and William Wilberforce, put an end to the slave trade in that country.  Christians under Wilberforce’s leadership also formed hundreds of societies for helping the poor, the imprisoned, and child laborers chained to machines.

In Europe, Christians challenged the divine claims of kings and successfully fought to establish the rule of law and balance of governmental powers, which made modern democracy possible.  And in America, Christian women stood at the vanguard of the suffrage movement.  The great civil rights crusades of the 1950s and 60s were led by Christians claiming the Scriptures and asserting the glory of the image of God in every human being regardless of race, religion, age or class.

This same devotion to human dignity has led Christians in the last decade to work to end the dehumanizing scourge of human trafficking and sexual slavery, bring compassionate care to AIDS sufferers in Africa, and assist in a myriad of other human rights causes – from providing clean water in developing nations to providing homes for tens of thousands of children orphaned by war, disease and gender discrimination.

Like those who have gone before us in the faith, Christians today are called to proclaim the Gospel of costly grace, to protect the intrinsic dignity of the human person and to stand for the common good.  In being true to its own calling, the call to discipleship, the church through service to others can make a profound contribution to the public good.  

Declaration

We, as Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians, have gathered, beginning in New York on September 28, 2009, to make the following declaration, which we sign as individuals, not on behalf of our organizations, but speaking to and from our communities.   We act together in obedience to the one true God, the triune God of holiness and love, who has laid total claim on our lives and by that claim calls us with believers in all ages and all nations to seek and defend the good of all who bear his image.  We set forth this declaration in light of the truth that is grounded in Holy Scripture, in natural human reason (which is itself, in our view, the gift of a beneficent God), and in the very nature of the human person.  We call upon all people of goodwill, believers and non-believers alike, to consider carefully and reflect critically on the issues we here address as we, with St. Paul, commend this appeal to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

While the whole scope of Christian moral concern, including a special concern for the poor and vulnerable, claims our attention, we are especially troubled that in our nation today the lives of the unborn, the disabled, and the elderly are severely threatened; that the institution of marriage, already buffeted by promiscuity, infidelity and divorce, is in jeopardy of being redefined to accommodate fashionable ideologies; that freedom of religion and the rights of conscience are gravely jeopardized by those who would use the instruments of coercion to compel persons of faith to compromise their deepest convictions. 

Because the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of conscience and religion are foundational principles of justice and the common good, we are compelled by our Christian faith to speak and act in their defense.  In this declaration we affirm: 1) the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every human being as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, possessing inherent rights of equal dignity and life; 2) marriage as a conjugal union of man and woman, ordained by God from the creation, and historically understood by believers and non-believers alike, to be the most basic institution in society and; 3) religious liberty, which is grounded in the character of God, the example of Christ, and the inherent freedom and dignity of human beings created in the divine image.

We are Christians who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesial differences to affirm our right – and, more importantly, to embrace our obligation - to speak and act in defense of these truths.  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 is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season.   May God help us not to fail in that duty.

Life

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10 

Although public sentiment has moved in a pro-life direction, we note with sadness that pro-abortion ideology prevails today in our government.  The present administration is led and staffed by those who want to make abortions legal at any stage of fetal development, and who want to provide abortions at taxpayer expense.  Majorities in both houses of Congress hold pro-abortion views.  The Supreme Court, whose infamous 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade stripped the unborn of legal protection, continues to treat elective abortion as a fundamental constitutional right, though it has upheld as constitutionally permissible some limited restrictions on abortion.  The President says that he wants to reduce the “need” for abortion – a commendable goal.  But he has also pledged to make abortion more easily and widely available by eliminating laws prohibiting government funding, requiring waiting periods for women seeking abortions, and parental notification for abortions performed on minors.  The elimination of these important and effective pro-life laws cannot reasonably be expected to do other than significantly increase the number of elective abortions by which the lives of countless children are snuffed out prior to birth.  Our commitment to the sanctity of life is not a matter of partisan loyalty, for we recognize that in the thirty-six years since Roe v. Wade, elected officials and appointees of both major political parties have been complicit in giving legal sanction to what Pope John Paul II described as “the culture of death.”  We call on all officials in our country, elected and appointed, to protect and serve every member of our society, including the most marginalized, voiceless, and vulnerable among us.

A culture of death inevitably cheapens life in all its stages and conditions by promoting the belief that lives that are imperfect, immature or inconvenient are discardable.  As predicted by many prescient persons, the cheapening of life that began with abortion has now metastasized.  For example, human embryo-destructive research and its public funding are promoted in the name of science and in the cause of developing treatments and cures for diseases and injuries.  The President and many in Congress favor the expansion of embryo-research to include the taxpayer funding of so-called “therapeutic cloning.”  This would result in the industrial mass production of human embryos to be killed for the purpose of producing genetically customized stem cell lines and tissues.  At the other end of life, an increasingly powerful movement to promote assisted suicide and “voluntary” euthanasia threatens the lives of vulnerable elderly and disabled persons.  Eugenic notions such as the doctrine of lebensunwertes Leben (”life unworthy of life”) were first advanced in the 1920s by intellectuals in the elite salons of America and Europe.  Long buried in ignominy after the horrors of the mid-20^th century, they have returned from the grave.  The only difference is that now the doctrines of the eugenicists are dressed up in the language of “liberty,” “autonomy,” and “choice.”

We will be united and untiring in our efforts to roll back the license to kill that began with the abandonment of the unborn to abortion.  We will work, as we have always worked, to bring assistance, comfort, and care to pregnant women in need and to those who have been victimized by abortion, even as we stand resolutely against the corrupt and degrading notion that it can somehow be in the best interests of women to submit to the deliberate killing of their unborn children.  Our message is, and ever shall be, that the just, humane, and truly Christian answer to problem pregnancies is for all of us to love and care for mother and child alike.

A truly prophetic Christian witness will insistently call on those who have been entrusted with temporal power to fulfill the first responsibility of government: to protect the weak and vulnerable against violent attack, and to do so with no favoritism, partiality, or discrimination.  The Bible enjoins us to defend those who cannot defend themselves, to speak for those who cannot themselves speak.  And so we defend and speak for the unborn, the disabled, and the dependent.  What the Bible and the light of reason make clear, we must make clear.  We must be willing to defend, even at risk and cost to ourselves and our institutions, the lives of our brothers and sisters at every stage of development and in every condition.

Our concern is not confined to our own nation.  Around the globe, we are witnessing cases of genocide and “ethnic cleansing,” the failure to assist those who are suffering as innocent victims of war, the neglect and abuse of children, the exploitation of vulnerable laborers, the sexual trafficking of girls and young women, the abandonment of the aged, racial oppression and discrimination, the persecution of believers of all faiths, and the failure to take steps necessary to halt the spread of preventable diseases like AIDS.  We see these travesties as flowing from the same loss of the sense of the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of human life that drives the abortion industry and the movements for assisted suicide, euthanasia, and human cloning for biomedical research.  And so ours is, as it must be, a truly consistent ethic of love and life for all humans in all circumstances.

Marriage

The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.”  For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:23-24 

This is a profound mystery – but I am talking about Christ and the church.  However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5:32-33 

In Scripture, the creation of man and woman, and their one-flesh union as husband and wife, is the crowning achievement of God’s creation.  In the transmission of life and the nurturing of children, men and women joined as spouses are given the great honor of being partners with God Himself.   Marriage then, is the first institution of human society – indeed it is the institution on which all other human institutions have their foundation.  In the Christian tradition we refer to marriage as “holy matrimony” to signal the fact that it is an institution ordained by God, and blessed by Christ in his participation at a wedding in Cana of Galilee.  In the Bible, God Himself blesses and holds marriage in the highest esteem.

Vast human experience confirms that marriage is the original and most important institution for sustaining the health, education, and welfare of all persons in a society.  Where marriage is honored, and where there is a flourishing marriage culture, everyone benefits – the spouses themselves, their children, the communities and societies in which they live.  Where the marriage culture begins to erode, social pathologies of every sort quickly manifest themselves.  Unfortunately, we have witnessed over the course of the past several decades a serious erosion of the marriage culture in our own country.   Perhaps the most telling – and alarming – indicator is the out-of-wedlock birth rate.  Less than fifty years ago, it was under 5 percent.  Today it is over 40 percent.  Our society – and particularly its poorest and most vulnerable sectors, where the out-of-wedlock birth rate is much higher even than the national average – is paying a huge price in delinquency, drug abuse, crime, incarceration, hopelessness, and despair.  Other indicators are widespread non-marital sexual cohabitation and a devastatingly high rate of divorce.

We confess with sadness that Christians and our institutions have too often scandalously failed to uphold the institution of marriage and to model for the world the true meaning of marriage.  Insofar as we have too easily embraced the culture of divorce and remained silent about social practices that undermine the dignity of marriage we repent, and call upon all Christians to do the same.

To strengthen families, we must stop glamorizing promiscuity and infidelity and restore among our people a sense of the profound beauty, mystery, and holiness of faithful marital love.  We must reform ill-advised policies that contribute to the weakening of the institution of marriage, including the discredited idea of unilateral divorce.  We must work in the legal, cultural, and religious domains to instill in young people a sound understanding of what marriage is, what it requires, and why it is worth the commitment and sacrifices that faithful spouses make.

The impulse to redefine marriage in order to recognize same-sex and multiple partner relationships is a symptom, rather than the cause, of the erosion of the marriage culture.  It reflects a loss of understanding of the meaning of marriage as embodied in our civil and religious law and in the philosophical tradition that contributed to shaping the law.  Yet it is critical that the impulse be resisted, for yielding to it would mean abandoning the possibility of restoring a sound understanding of marriage and, with it, the hope of rebuilding a healthy marriage culture.  It would lock into place the false and destructive belief that marriage is all about romance and other adult satisfactions, and not, in any intrinsic way, about procreation and the unique character and value of acts and relationships whose meaning is shaped by their aptness for the generation, promotion and protection of life.  In spousal communion and the rearing of children (who, as gifts of God, are the fruit of their parents’ marital love), we discover the profound reasons for and benefits of the marriage covenant.

We acknowledge that there are those who are disposed towards homosexual and polyamorous conduct and relationships, just as there are those who are disposed towards other forms of immoral conduct.  We have compassion for those so disposed; we respect them as human beings possessing profound, inherent, and equal dignity; and we pay tribute to the men and women who strive, often with little assistance, to resist the temptation to yield to desires that they, no less than we, regard as wayward.  We stand with them, even when they falter.  We, no less than they, are sinners who have fallen short of God’s intention for our lives.  We, no less than they, are in constant need of God’s patience, love and forgiveness.  We call on the entire Christian community to resist sexual immorality, and at the same time refrain from disdainful condemnation of those who yield to it.  Our rejection of sin, though resolute, must never become the rejection of sinners.  For every sinner, regardless of the sin, is loved by God, who seeks not our destruction but rather the conversion of our hearts.  Jesus calls all who wander from the path of virtue to “a more excellent way.”  As his disciples we will reach out in love to assist all who hear the call and wish to answer it.

We further acknowledge that there are sincere people who disagree with us, and with the teaching of the Bible and Christian tradition, on questions of sexual morality and the nature of marriage.  Some who enter into same-sex and polyamorous relationships no doubt regard their unions as truly marital.  They fail to understand, however, that marriage is made possible by the sexual complementarity of man and woman, and that the comprehensive, multi-level sharing of life that marriage is includes bodily unity of the sort that unites husband and wife biologically as a reproductive unit.  This is because the body is no mere extrinsic instrument of the human person, but truly part of the personal reality of the human being.  Human beings are not merely centers of consciousness or emotion, or minds, or spirits, inhabiting non-personal bodies.  The human person is a dynamic unity of body, mind, and spirit.  Marriage is what one man and one woman establish when, forsaking all others and pledging lifelong commitment, they found a sharing of life at every level of being – the biological, the emotional, the dispositional, the rational, the spiritual – on a commitment that is sealed, completed and actualized by loving sexual intercourse in which the spouses become one flesh, not in some merely metaphorical sense, but by fulfilling together the behavioral conditions of procreation.  That is why in the Christian tradition, and historically in Western law, consummated marriages are not dissoluble or annullable on the ground of infertility, even though the nature of the marital relationship is shaped and structured by its intrinsic orientation to the great good of procreation.

We understand that many of our fellow citizens, including some Christians, believe that the historic definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is a denial of equality or civil rights.  They wonder what to say in reply to the argument that asserts that no harm would be done to them or to anyone if the law of the community were to confer upon two men or two women who are living together in a sexual partnership the status of being “married.”  It would not, after all, affect their own marriages, would it?  On inspection, however, the argument that laws governing one kind of marriage will not affect another cannot stand.  Were it to prove anything, it would prove far too much: the assumption that the legal status of one set of marriage relationships affects no other would not only argue for same sex partnerships; it could be asserted with equal validity for polyamorous partnerships, polygamous households, even adult brothers, sisters, or brothers and sisters living in incestuous relationships.  Should these, as a matter of equality or civil rights, be recognized as lawful marriages, and would they have no effects on other relationships?  No.  The truth is that marriage is not something abstract or neutral that the law may legitimately define and re-define to please those who are powerful and influential.

No one has a civil right to have a non-marital relationship treated as a marriage.  Marriage is an objective reality – a covenantal union of husband and wife – that it is the duty of the law to recognize and support for the sake of justice and the common good.  If it fails to do so, genuine social harms follow.  First, the religious liberty of those for whom this is a matter of conscience is jeopardized.  Second, the rights of parents are abused as family life and sex education programs in schools are used to teach children that an enlightened understanding recognizes as “marriages” sexual partnerships that many parents believe are intrinsically non-marital and immoral.  Third, the common good of civil society is damaged when the law itself, in its critical pedagogical function, becomes a tool for eroding a sound understanding of marriage on which the flourishing of the marriage culture in any society vitally depends.  Sadly, we are today far from having a thriving marriage culture.  But if we are to begin the critically important process of reforming our laws and mores to rebuild such a culture, the last thing we can afford to do is to re-define marriage in such a way as to embody in our laws a false proclamation about what marriage is.

And so it is out of love (not “animus”) and prudent concern for the common good (not “prejudice”), that we pledge to labor ceaselessly to preserve the legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman and to rebuild the marriage culture.  How could we, as Christians, do otherwise?  The Bible teaches us that marriage is a central part of God’s creation covenant.  Indeed, the union of husband and wife mirrors the bond between Christ and his church.  And so just as Christ was willing, out of love, to give Himself up for the church in a complete sacrifice, we are willing, lovingly, to make whatever sacrifices are required of us for the sake of the inestimable treasure that is marriage.

Religious Liberty

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah 61:1 

Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s. Matthew 22:21

The struggle for religious liberty across the centuries has been long and arduous, but it is not a novel idea or recent development.  The nature of religious liberty is grounded in the character of God Himself, the God who is most fully known in the life and work of Jesus Christ.  Determined to follow Jesus faithfully in life and death, the early Christians appealed to the manner in which the Incarnation had taken place: “Did God send Christ, as some suppose, as a tyrant brandishing fear and terror?  Not so, but in gentleness and meekness…, for compulsion is no attribute of God” (Epistle to Diognetus 7.3-4).  Thus the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the example of Christ Himself and in the very dignity of the human person created in the image of God – a dignity, as our founders proclaimed, inherent in every human, and knowable by all in the exercise of right reason. 

Christians confess that God alone is Lord of the conscience.  Immunity from religious coercion is the cornerstone of an unconstrained conscience.  No one should be compelled to embrace any religion against his will, nor should persons of faith be forbidden to worship God according to the dictates of conscience or to express freely and publicly their deeply held religious convictions.  What is true for individuals applies to religious communities as well.

It is ironic that those who today assert a right to kill the unborn, aged and disabled and also a right to engage in immoral sexual practices, and even a right to have relationships integrated around these practices be recognized and blessed by law – such persons claiming these “rights” are very often in the vanguard of those who would trample upon the freedom of others to express their religious and moral commitments to the sanctity of life and to the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife.

We see this, for example, in the effort to weaken or eliminate conscience clauses, and therefore to compel pro-life institutions (including religiously affiliated hospitals and clinics), and pro-life physicians, surgeons, nurses, and other health care professionals, to refer for abortions and, in certain cases, even to perform or participate in abortions.  We see it in the use of anti-discrimination statutes to force religious institutions, businesses, and service providers of various sorts to comply with activities they judge to be deeply immoral or go out of business.  After the judicial imposition of “same-sex marriage” in Massachusetts, for example, Catholic Charities chose with great reluctance to end its century-long work of helping to place orphaned children in good homes rather than comply with a legal mandate that it place children in same-sex households in violation of Catholic moral teaching.  In New Jersey, after the establishment of a quasi-marital “civil unions” scheme, a Methodist institution was stripped of its tax exempt status when it declined, as a matter of religious conscience, to permit a facility it owned and operated to be used for ceremonies blessing homosexual unions.  In Canada and some European nations, Christian clergy have been prosecuted for preaching Biblical norms against the practice of homosexuality.  New hate-crime laws in America raise the specter of the same practice here.

In recent decades a growing body of case law has paralleled the decline in respect for religious values in the media, the academy and political leadership, resulting in restrictions on the free exercise of religion.  We view this as an ominous development, not only because of its threat to the individual liberty guaranteed to every person, regardless of his or her faith, but because the trend also threatens the common welfare and the culture of freedom on which our system of republican government is founded.  Restrictions on the freedom of conscience or the ability to hire people of one’s own faith or conscientious moral convictions for religious institutions, for example, undermines the viability of the intermediate structures of society, the essential buffer against the overweening authority of the state, resulting in the soft despotism Tocqueville so prophetically warned of.¹  Disintegration of civil society is a prelude to tyranny.

As Christians, we take seriously the Biblical admonition to respect and obey those in authority.  We believe in law and in the rule of law.  We recognize the duty to comply with laws whether we happen to like them or not, unless the laws are gravely unjust or require those subject to them to do something unjust or otherwise immoral.  The biblical purpose of law is to preserve order and serve justice and the common good; yet laws that are unjust – and especially laws that purport to compel citizens to do what is unjust – undermine the common good, rather than serve it.

Going back to the earliest days of the church, Christians have refused to compromise their proclamation of the gospel.  In Acts 4, Peter and John were ordered to stop preaching.  Their answer was, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”  Through the centuries, Christianity has taught that civil disobedience is not only permitted, but sometimes required.  There is no more eloquent defense of the rights and duties of religious conscience than the one offered by Martin Luther King, Jr., in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail.  Writing from an explicitly Christian perspective, and citing Christian writers such as Augustine and Aquinas, King taught that just laws elevate and ennoble human beings because they are rooted in the moral law whose ultimate source is God Himself.  Unjust laws degrade human beings.  Inasmuch as they can claim no authority beyond sheer human will, they lack any power to bind in conscience.  King’s willingness to go to jail, rather than comply with legal injustice, was exemplary and inspiring.  

Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family.  We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s.  But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s.

¹Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

Drafting Committee

Robert George         
Professor, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University

Timothy George 
Professor, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University

Chuck Colson 
Founder, The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview (Lansdowne, Va.)

Copyright 2009 Charles Colson, Robert George, Timothy George

List of Religious Leaders Signatories

1. Dr. Daniel Akin
   President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Wake Forest, NC)
2. Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola
   Primate, Anglican Church of Nigeria (Abuja, Nigeria)
3. Randy Alcorn
   Founder and Director, Eternal Perspective Ministries (EPM) (Sandy, OR)
4. Rt. Rev. David Anderson
   President and CEO, American Anglican Council (Atlanta, GA)
5. Leith Anderson
   President of National Association of Evangelicals (Washington, DC)
6. Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila
   Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo, ND
7. Carole K. Ardizzone
   TV Show Host and Speaker, INSP Television (Charlotte, NC)
8. Kay Arthur
   CEO and Co-founder, Precept Ministries International (Chattanooga, TN)
9. Dr. Mark L. Bailey
   President, Dallas Theological Seminary (Dallas, TX)
10. Most Rev. Robert J. Baker, S.T.D.
    Bishop of Birmingham, Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama
11. Most Rev. Craig W. Bates
    Archbishop, International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (Malverne, NY)
12. Gary Bauer
    President, American Values; Chairman, Campaign for Working Families (Washington D.C.)
13. Joel Belz
    Founder, World Magazine (Asheville, NC)
14. Rev. Michael L. Beresford
    (Charlotte, NC)
15. Rev. Thomas V. Berg
    President, Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person (New York)
16. Ken Boa
    President, Reflections Ministries (Atlanta, GA)
17. Joseph Bottum
    Editor of First Things (New York, NY)
18. Pastor Randy & Sarah Brannon
    Senior Pastor, Grace Community Church (Madera, CA)
19. Brian Brown
    Executive Director, National Organization for Marriage
20. Steve Brown
    National radio broadcaster, Key Life (Maitland, FL)
21. Dr. Robert C. Cannada, Jr.
    Chancellor and CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando, FL)
22. Galen Carey
    Director of Government Affairs, National Association of Evangelicals (Washington, DC)
23. Dr. Bryan Chapell
    President, Covenant Theological Seminary (St. Louis, MO)
24. Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput
    Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, CO
25. Timothy A. Chichester
    Catholic Family Association of America
26. Timothy Clinton
    President, American Association of Christian Counselors (Forest, VA)
27. Chuck Colson
    Founder, the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview (Lansdowne, VA)
28. Dr. Mark Coppenger
    Managing Editor, Kairos Journal
29. Most Rev. Salvatore Joseph Cordileone
    Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland, CA
30. Dr. Gary Culpepper
    Associate Professor, Providence College (Providence, RI)
31. Jim Daly
    President and CEO, Focus on the Family (Colorado Springs, CO)
32. Marjorie Dannenfelser
    President, Susan B. Anthony List (Arlington, VA)
33. Rev. Daniel Delgado
    Board of Directors, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference & Pastor, Third Day Missions Church (Staten Island, NY)
34. Patrick Deneen
    Tasakopoulos-Kounalakis, Associate Professor, Director, Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy, Georgetown University (Washington D.C.)
35. Most Rev. Nicholas DiMarzio
    Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn
36. Dr. James Dobson
    Founder, Focus on the Family (Colorado Springs, CO)
37. Dr. David Dockery
    President, Union University (Jackson, TN)
38. Most Rev. Timothy Dolan
    Archbishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of New York, NY
39. Dr. William Donohue
    President, Catholic League (New York, NY)
40. Dr. James T. Draper, Jr.
    President Emeritus, LifeWay (Nashville, TN)
41. Dinesh D’Souza
    Writer & Speaker (Rancho Santa Fe, CA)
42. Dr. J. Ligon Duncan
    Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, & President, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals
43. Most Rev. Robert Wm. Duncan
    Archbishop and Primate, Anglican Church in North America (Ambridge, PA )
44. Dr. Michael Easley
    President Emeritus, Moody Bible Institute (Chicago, IL)
45. Dr. William Edgar
    Professor, Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia, PA)
46. Brett Elder
    Executive Director, Stewardship Council (Grand Rapids, MI)
47. Rev. Joel Elowsky
    Drew University ( Madison, NJ)
48. Stuart Epperson
    Co-Founder and Chariman of the Board, Salem Communications Corporation (Camarillo, CA)
49. His Grace, The Right Reverend Bishop Basil Essey
    The Right Reverend Bishop of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America (Wichita, KS)
50. Rev. Jonathan Falwell
    Senior Pastor, Thomas Road Baptist Church (Lynchburg, VA)
51. William J. Federer
    President, Amerisearch, Inc. (St. Louis, MO)
52. Fr. Joseph D. Fessio
    Founder and Editor, Ignatius Press (Ft. Collins, CO)
53. Carmen Fowler
    President & Executive Editor, Presbyterian Lay Committee (Lenoir, NC)
54. Maggie Gallagher
    President, National Organization for Marriage (Manassas, VA)
55. Dr. Jim Garlow
    Senior Pastor, Skyline Church (La Mesa, CA)
56. Steven Garofalo
    Founder, National Apologetics Training Center (Charlotte, NC)
57. Dr. Robert P. George
    McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University (Princeton, NJ)
58. Dr. Timothy George
    Dean and Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School at Samford University (Birmingham, AL)
59. Thomas Gilson
    Director of Strategic Processes, Campus Crusade for Christ International (Norfolk, VA)
60. Dr. Jack Graham
    Pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church (Plano, TX)
61. Dr. Wayne Grudem
    Research Professor of Theological and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary (Phoenix, AZ)
62. Dr. Cornell “Corkie” Haan
    National Facilitator of Spiritual Unity, The Mission America Coalition (Palm Desert, CA)
63. Fr. Chad Hatfield
    Chancellor, CEO. And Archpriest, St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (Yonkers, NY)
64. Dr. Dennis Hollinger
    President and Professor of Christian Ethics, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (South Hamilton, MA)
65. Dr. Jeanette Hsieh
    Executive VP and Provost, Trinity International University (Deerfield, IL)
66. Dr. John A. Huffman, Jr.
    Senior Pastor, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church (Newport Beach, CA) and Chairman of the Board, Christianity Today International (Carol Stream, IL)
67. Rev. Ken Hutcherson
    Pastor, Antioch Bible Church (Kirkland, WA)
68. Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr.
    Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church (Beltsville, MD)
69. Fr. Johannes L. Jacobse
    President, American Orthodox Institute and Editor, OrthodoxyToday.org (Naples, FL)
70. Jerry Jenkins
    Author (Black Forest, CO)
71. Camille Kampouris
    Editorial Board, Kairos Journal
72. Emmanuel A. Kampouris
    Publisher, Kairos Journal
73. Rev. Tim Keller
    Senior Pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church (New York, NY)
74. Most Rev. Emmanuel Musaba Kolini
    Primate, Anglican Church of Rwanda (Kigali, Rwanda)
75. Dr. Peter Kreeft
    Professor of Philosophy, Boston College (MA) and at the Kings Collge (NY)
76. Most Rev. Joseph E. Kurtz
    Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville, KY
77. Jim Kushiner
    Editor, Touchstone (Chicago, IL)
78. Dr. Richard Land
    President, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the SBC (Washington, DC)
79. Jim Law
    Senior Associate Pastor, First Baptist Church (Woodstock, GA)
80. Dr. Matthew Levering
    Associate Professor of Theology, Ave Maria University (Naples, FL)
81. Dr. Peter Lillback
    President, The Providence Forum (West Conshohocken, PA)
82. Dr. Duane Litfin
    President, Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL)
83. Rev. Herb Lusk
    Pastor, Greater Exodus Baptist Church (Philadelphia, PA)
84. Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer
    Pastor, The Moody Church (Chicago, IL)
85. His Eminence Adam Cardinal Maida
    Archbishop Emeritus, Roman Catholic Diocese of Detroit, MI
86. Most Rev. Richard J. Malone
    Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, ME
87. Gregory John Mansour
    Bishop of Saint Maron of Brooklyn (Maronite), New York
88. Rev. Francis Martin
    Professor of New Testament, Dominican House of Studies, Washington D.C.
89. Dr. Joseph Mattera
    Bishop & Senior Pastor, Resurrection Church (Brooklyn, NY)
90. Phil Maxwell
    Pastor, Gateway Church (Bridgewater, NJ)
91. Josh McDowell
    Founder, Josh McDowell Ministry (Plano, TX)
92. Alex McFarland
    President, Southern Evangelical Seminary (Charlotte, NC)
93. Most Rev. George Dallas McKinney
    Bishop, & Founder and Pastor, St. Stephen’s Church of God in Christ (San Diego, CA)
94. Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns
    Missionary Bishop, Convocation of Anglicans of North America (Herndon, VA)
95. Dr. C. Ben Mitchell
    Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy, Union University (Jackson, TN)
96. Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
    President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY)
97. Dr. Russell D. Moore
    Senior VP for Academic Administration & Dean of the School of Theology, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY)
98. Bishop Robert C. Morlino
    Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison, WI
99. Richard J. Mouw
    President, Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena, CA)
100. Rt. Rev. Charles H. Murphy, III
     Missionary Bishop of Rwanda and Chairman of the Anglican Mission in the Americas
101. Most Rev. John J. Myers
     Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, NJ
102. Most Rev. Joseph F. Naumann
     Archbishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City, KS
103. David Neff
     Editor-in-Chief, Christianity Today (Carol Stream, IL)
104. Tom Nelson
     Senior Pastor, Christ Community Evangelical Free Church (Leawood, KS)
105. Niel Nielson
     President, Covenant College (Lookout Mt., GA)
106. Most Rev. John Nienstedt
     Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, MN
107. Michael Novak
     Author, Philosopher, & Theologian
108. Dr. Tom Oden
     Theologian, United Methodist Minister and Professor, Drew University (Madison, NJ)
109. Marvin Olasky
     Editor-in-Chief, World Magazine and provost, The Kings College (New York City, NY)
110. Rev. Neftali “Charles” Olmeda
     Pennsylvania Chapter Director, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (Allentown, PA)
111. Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted
     Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, AZ
112. Rev. William Owens
     Chairman, Coalition of African-American Pastors (Memphis, TN)
113. Dr. J.I. Packer
     Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology, Regent College (Canada)
114. Metr. Jonah Paffhausen
     Primate, Orthodox Church in America (Syosset, NY)
115. Tony Perkins
     President, Family Research Council (Washington, D.C.)
116. Eric M. Pillmore
     CEO, Pillmore Consulting LLC (Doylestown, PA)
117. Dr. Everett Piper
     President, Oklahoma Wesleyan University (Bartlesville, OK)
118. Todd Pitner
     President, Rev Increase
119. Dr. Cornelius Plantinga
     President, Calvin Theological Seminary (Grand Rapids, MI)
120. Dr. David Platt
     Pastor, Church at Brook Hills (Birmingham AL)
121. Rev. Jim Pocock
     Pastor, Trinitarian Congregational Church (Wayland, MA)
122. Fred Potter
     Executive Director & CEO, Christian Legal Society (Springfield, VA)
123. Dennis Rainey
     President, CEO, & Co-Founder, FamilyLife (Little Rock, AR)
124. Fr. Patrick Reardon
     Pastor, All Saints’ Antiochian Orthodox Church (Chicago, IL)
125. Bob Reccord
     Founder, Total Life Impact, Inc. (Suwanee, GA)
126. Dr. Harry L. Reeder
     Sr. Pastor, Briarwood Presbyterian Church (Birmingham, AL)
127. His Eminence Justin Cardinal Rigali
     Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, PA
128. James and Betty Robison
     Founder and President, LIFE Outreach International (Fort Worth, TX)
129. Rev. Samuel Rodriguez
     President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
130. Frank Schubert
     President, Schubert Flint Public Affairs (Sacramento, CA)
131. David Schuringa
     President, Crossroads Bible Institute (Grand Rapids, MI)
132. Tricia Scribner
     Author (Harrisburg, NC)
133. Dr. Dave Seaford
     Senior Pastor, Community Fellowship Church (Matthews, NC)
134. Alan Sears
     President, CEO, & General Counsel, Alliance Defense Fund (Scottsdale, AZ)
135. Randy Setzer
     Senior Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church (Lincolnton, NC)
136. Rev. Louis P. Sheldon
     Founder and Chairman, Traditional Values Coalition (Anaheim, CA)
137. Most Rev. Michael J. Sheridan
     Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, CO
138. Dr. Ron Sider
     Director, Evangelicals for Social Action (Wynnewood, PA)
139. Fr. Robert Sirico
     Founder, Acton Institute (Grand Rapids, MI)
140. Dr. Robert Sloan
     President, Houston Baptist University (Houston, TX)
141. Charles Stetson
     Chairman of the Board, Bible Literacy Project (New York, NY)
142. Dr. David Stevens
     CEO, Christian Medical & Dental Association (Bristol, TN)
143. John Stonestreet
     Executive Director, Summit Ministries (Manitou Springs, CO)
144. Dr. Joseph Stowell
     President, Cornerstone University (Grand Rapids, MI)
145. Rev. Peter M.J. Stravinskas
     Editor, The Catholic Response
146. Dr. Sarah Sumner
     Professor of Theology and Ministry, Azusa Pacific University (Azusa, CA)
147. Dr. Glenn Sunshine
     Research Fellow of the Action Institute (Grand Rapids, MI)
148. Chuck Swindoll
     Founder and Chairman of the Board, Insight for Living, Senior Pastor—Stonebriar Community Church (Frisco, TX),
     Chancellor—Dallas Theological Seminary
149. Joni Eareckson Tada
     Founder and CEO, Joni and Friends International Disability Center (Agoura Hills, CA)
150. Luiz Tellez
     President, The Witherspoon Institute (Princeton, NJ)
151. Dr. Timothy C. Tennent
     Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (South Hamilton, MA)
152. James R. Thobaben
     Professor of Bioethics and Social Ethics, Asbury Theological Seminary
153. Michael Timmis
     Chairman, Prison Fellowship and Prison Fellowship International (Naples, FL)
154. Mark Tooley
     President, Institute for Religion and Democracy (Washington, D.C.)
155. H. James Towey
     President, St. Vincent College (Latrobe, PA)
156. Juan Valdes
     Middle and High School Chaplain, Flordia Christian School (Miami, FL)
157. Most Rev. Allen Vigneron
     Archbishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Detroit (Detroit, MI)
158. Todd Wagner
     Pastor, WaterMark Community Church (Dallas, TX)
159. Dr. Graham Walker
     President, Patrick Henry College (Purcellville, VA)
160. Fr. Alexander F. C. Webster, PhD
     Archpriest, Orthodox Church in America and Professorial Lecturer, The George Washington University (Ashburn, VA)
161. George Weigel
     Distinguished Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center (Washington, D.C.)
162. David Welch
     Houston Area Pastor Council Executive Director, US Pastors Council (Houston, TX)
163. Dr. James Emery White
     Founding and Senior Pastor, Mecklenberg Community Church (Charlotte, NC)
164. Dr. Hayes Wicker
     Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church (Naples, FL)
165. Don Wildmon
     American Family Association
166. Mark Williamson
     Founder and President, Foundation Restoration Ministries/Federal Intercessors (Katy, TX)
167. Parker T. Williamson
     Editor Emeritus and Senior Correspondent, Presbyterian Lay Committee
168. Dr. Craig Williford
     President, Trinity International University (Deerfield, IL)
169. Dr. John Woodbridge
     Research professor of Church History & the History of Christian Thought, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, IL)
170. Don M. Woodside
     Performance Matters Associates (Matthews, NC)
171. Dr. Frank Wright
     President, National Religious Broadcasters (Manassas, VA)
172. Most Rev. Donald W. Wuerl
     Archbishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.
173. Paul Young
     COO & Executive VP, Christian Research Institute (Charlotte, NC)
174. Dr. Michael Youssef
     President, Leading the Way (Atlanta, GA)
175. Ravi Zacharias
     Founder and Chairman of the board, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (Norcross, GA)
176. Most Rev. David A. Zubik
     Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, PA

   Let US Adore HIM …

“Blessing of the Nativity Scene … My friends, in the wonder of this holy night, let us bless the Lord for this nativity scene, a sign of the presence of our Emmanuel, God-with-us.”

“Book of Blessings, 1564 … God of every nation and people, from the very beginning of creation you have made manifest your love:  when our need for a Savior was great you sent your Son to be born of the Virgin Mary.  To our lives he brings joy and peace, justice, mercy and love.

Lord, bless all who look upon this manger; may it remind us of the humble birth of Jesus, and raise up our thoughts to him, who is God-with-us and Savior of all, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.”

“May the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, come upon US and remain with US for ever.”

May the STAR of Christmas shine upon US, the US and the World now and for ever.

 … Mary Rose … Samctuary@aol.com … “To cheat one’s self out of love is the greatest deception of which there is no reparation in either time or eternity.” 

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same? … NOT!

Man to Man – Fr. James Farfaglia - “I know that as married men you are challenged every day.  I am writing to you in order to encourage you to remain faithful and to be a hero.” 

 … Mary Rose … Samctuary@aol.com … “To cheat one’s self out of love is the greatest deception of which there is no reparation in either time or eternity.” 

Is President Obama a Marxist Professor, a Bible Professor, a Constitutional Law Professor or an Absent-Minded Professor?

Would a Bible professor end “Don’t Ask—Don’t Tell” or would he end Abortions?

Would a Constitutional law professor comprehend and end unconstitutional No-fault divorce laws?  Does our President believe that marriage, families and children are the cornerstones of our society or merely politically correct options?  Personally, President Obama confirms that marriage should remain between a man and a woman, but does he even believe in marriage or does he think of it as an outdated institution where cohabitation would be a better alternative, premarital sex or coveting your neighbor’s “wife” would be irrelevant and adultery would be nonexistent in theory but not in practice, devastation, lamentation and the Ten Commandments.  Today’s marriage and divorce cycles are already damaged and often connected to cohabitation and domestic partnerships.  Why is President Obama against the Federal Marriage Amendment even though it would protect the institution of marriage and put an end to countless Federal and State battles?  Why not change hospital visitation laws instead of changing natural ways and laws of life.  Because marriages and children sustain graver damages from No-fault divorce laws than from the LGBT groups, why is President Obama determined to end “don’t ask-don’t tell,” instead of using his power to end unjust No-fault divorce and child custody laws?

For now, America’s future is not very bright.  Although President Obama was able to vote “Present” in the past, similar political maneuvers on vital family matters would be dangerous and unconscionable. America’s children have the need and right to receive protection NOW, not when politicians are good or ready.  With parental authority being violated by Family Courts, Federal and State Laws along with Expert and Media-driven Trends, America’s children have not been protected for decades.  Non-professional arrogance is only exceeded by professional incompetence:  “A bad father is better than no father” is as illogical and damaging as superficial psychobabble about “A mother loving her child more than hating her ex” or “Homosexual rights and equality” and “A woman having the sovereign right over her own body.”  It’s tragic that our President and other luminary leaders continue caving in to childish tantrums of feminists, homosexuals or adulterous spouses and even find enough compassion to protect animals but not America’s children.

Unfortunately, secular progressives do not have a monopoly on misplaced compassion.  In fact, confused conservatives cause more harm—their misplaced compassion initiated, escalated and sustains our society’s crisis to this day.  While some conservatives are nothing more than manipulative cowards, majority are genuinely too compassionate to hurt the feelings of their adulterous neighbors, homosexual friends or sisters trying to heal the emotional and physical wounds of abortions.  Sadly, such compassion is not utilized as an agent of change but a tool for abuse:  If not by sympathy then by force—for decades, most of us have been told, educated, intimidated or forced and silenced by radical feminists, homosexuals and adulterous spouses to believe that homosexuality, adultery and abortion are natural acts or alternative lifestyles “only because they say so.”  With logic and truth aside, majority of us STILL find it easier to trust feminists, homosexuals and adulterous spouses than our own common sense or God.  Needless to say, scandalous trends and affairs exposed by the media are only the tip of the iceberg—betrayal, tears and agony under the shadows of privacy are much more frequent, brutal, costly, damaging, painful and merciless because mainstream Americans do not have the same resources or protections as our luminaries.

By now, choices for conservative Americans are very limited because radical feminists, homosexuals and adulterous spouses promote and protect each other.  With powerful help from laws and lawsuits, it’s easy for them to “persuade” us to love the sin and the sinner.  As a result, advocating against popular immoral trends is becoming almost illegal.  Even intellectual discussions are met with hostility and accusations of hatred, bigotry, homophobia, jealousy, ignorance and everything else but the truth.  Oftentimes, people who stick to their guns on religion and dare to believe that homosexuality, adultery and abortion are unnatural or immoral, risk loss of family, friends, employment and legal representation or protection.  Their major rights are limited to writing letters, blogging or begging.  After being ignored or exploited by dysfunctional politicians, celebrities or radio and TV hosts, some are forced to integrate and move on while others are silenced into a life of degradation, isolation, pain, poverty and loneliness.

To date, maintaining morality within one’s heart and home is almost impossible.  Ethical parents teaching their sons and daughters to be honorable and responsible are usually fighting a losing battle—they are overruled by our culture, laws as well as adulterous and homosexual parents.  Most women are in double trouble—instead of receiving help from feminists, they are victimized by them more than by any other villains in our society.  Radical feminists will not teach women that—except for rape—they always had control over their own bodies and they always will.  After all, NO is not only the best birth control but also the only natural birth control that eliminates the need for abortions and protects a woman’s right to her own body, sanctity, dignity and sanity.  If truth be told, without popular birth control methods, teen sex, serial adultery, marriage, divorce, remarriage, custody and related homosexual trends would return to natural levels as would physical and emotional injuries, pain or suffering.  Even private finances and our nation’s economy would be different.  Needless to say, greed and abuse or sin are not the major culprits.  Because all of us make wrong choices throughout various stages of our lives, our solutions, remorse and change are much more important than repetitive and natural falls from grace.  Unfortunately, many of the solutions “recommended by our experts” are not only harmful but often immoral.  In fact, when it comes to “moral issues” within the educational, recreational, professional or legal systems, most are being resolved in favor of immoral norms for years—currently, most parents are still being forced into submission while some risk loss of rights to their own children if they do not cooperate with pro-choice, homosexual, adulterous practices and other jams of modernism.

Propaganda and Empowerment to Do Good and Avoid Evil – Private and public responsibility are natural aspects of any society.  As such, propaganda and laws on demand for the good of a society are also natural.  However, ignoring justified demands of conservatives and protecting unjustified demands of secular progressives is not natural, moral or legal.  By now, no religious or secular scholar can deny years of blatant social enslavement and damaging brainwashing.  Nonetheless, even the worst “laws and indoctrination education” are not powerful enough to confuse ANY scholar about simple, basic and indisputable facts of life.  One need not be a Mensan to know where children come from, why boys and girls are different and why families are the cornerstones of our society.

One need not be a scholar to comprehend truth about life’s goods.  Social, biological, emotional, intellectual and religious facts of life are validated by all educational and religious institutions as well as our own bodies, minds and lives.  Consequently, manipulative experts or leaders “indifferent, exploitive, abusive, confused or misinformed” about simple facts of life and their importance in maintaining individual and social equilibrium are either faking it or they are dysfunctional.  As such, ability to manage their own lives will be as questionable as their ability to help, protect or lead others.  All leaders and laws validating or protecting homosexuality, adultery and abortion automatically proclaim God’s and nature’s laws as wrong.  In President Obama’s case, issues like “Don’t Ask—Don’t Tell” are very telling.  Either President Obama’s pastor of 20 years was praising Marxism instead of Christianity or President Obama attended Rev. Wright’s church for all the wrong reasons: politics and connections instead of education and inspiration.  Although actions speak louder than words, wrong actions and wrong words speak even louder.  Thank God that human nature has the good sense to create its own moral code of honor.  For that reason, to deny its existence, demands and pleasures would be as wise as denying the existence of gravity.

Genuine believers and majority of non-believers desire a loving, peaceful and blissful life—accidentally on purpose, many of our laws and leaders do not?  By now, such turkeys are more popular than the real birds on Thanksgiving.  As such, our society’s Crisis must end, because love can’t.  Love is God’s Domain as well as the main source of life—despite our doubts, rejections, deceptions and abuses, God’s love is as powerful as His protection, forgiveness and fidelity.  It’s tragic that nowadays, naughty and nice politicians, journalists, experts, celebrities and other luminaries seem to enjoy greater credibility and power than God while mainstream Americans continue to have none.  Signs, warnings and opportunities for a change of heart and mind are endless—even Santa lets us know whether we qualify for a noble prize or coal in our stockings.  Consequently, failure is rarely an option or choice.  Under God’s care plan and redemption system, “love, truth and justice” will necessarily skyrocket and save us.  Because we are made in God’s image, we are love—it’s quite possible that all of us will desire to reconcile with love before we check out.  Why slither, wither, dither and cheat one’s self or others out of love?  To deny, hurt or deceive ourselves is not very intelligent—to hate or harm others is a double-cross.  

 … Mary Rose … Samctuary@aol.com … “To cheat one’s self out of love is the greatest deception of which there is no reparation in either time or eternity.”

1st President of the United States … George Washington … Father of His Country

 … Mary Rose … Samctuary@aol.com … “To cheat one’s self out of love is the greatest deception of which there is no reparation in either time or eternity.” 

“Mother of Exiles”

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

  America … Samctuary for Love, Truth and Justice

 Uncle Sam … Semper Fidelis        

 

 Our Mother … Virgo Fidelis … Our Father … Semper Fidelis 

 

 … Mary Rose … “To cheat one’s self out of love is the greatest deception of which there is no reparation in either time or eternity.”

 … Mary Rose … “To cheat one’s self out of love is the greatest deception of which there is no reparation in either time or eternity.”

 

It’s quite tragic that only “words” of most Presidents, politicians and other “luminaries” validate America as “The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave” as well as Religious!  ”Words” in President Obama’s 5-21-09 speech on National Security speak for themselves: “These are extraordinary times for our country.  We’re confronting a historic economic crisis.  We’re fighting two wars.  We face a range of challenges that will define the way that Americans will live in the 21st century.  So there’s no shortage of work to be done, or responsibilities to bear … But I believe with every fiber of my being that in the long run we also cannot keep this country safe unless we enlist the power of our most fundamental values.  The documents that we hold in this very hall — the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights — these are not simply words written into aging parchment.  They are the foundation of liberty and justice in this country, and a light that shines for all who seek freedom, fairness, equality, and dignity around the world.”

Although President Obama’s speech covered a multitude of issues, two key areas still seem above his pay grade.  As the President continues to focus on “due process” for terrorists, “due process” for millions of violated Americans continues to be ignored.  The same type of cloudy logic might be attributed to the President’s closing statement: “Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.”  Is our President asking for blessings from the God who is pro-choice or pro-life?  Is our President speaking of the God who condemns homosexuality through the Bible or the God who protects homosexuality through our laws.  Is our President referring to the God who forbids adultery through the Commandments or the God who protects adultery through No-fault divorce laws.  God’s truths and natural laws of life have never been unclear—our laws and trends are.  Since corrupt laws corrupt people, it would seem that Congress needs to have a little chat with the ABA, AMA & APA.  Quite obviously, the clear and present danger of corrupt laws is not the only challenge.  Private & public characters are the other major issue:  “If I fail to keep the promises I made to the people closest to me, then I’m not sure how reliable I’m going to be in keeping promises to total strangers who vote for me.”  (Governor Huckabee)

Private & public violations of traditional American values are known to all of us.  In fact, they have been the root of our Culture Wars as well as the root of personal agony for countless victims for decades.  Oddly, when it comes to protection of our families or security of our nation, Governor Huckabee might have been the only Presidential candidate brave enough to mention the ”other” inconvenient truth:  “What’s the point of keeping the terrorists at bay in the Middle East if we can’t keep decline and decadence at bay here at home?  The growing number of children born out of wedlock, and the rise in no-fault divorce, has been a disaster for our society … They have pushed many women and children into poverty and onto the welfare, food stamp, and Medicaid rolls.  These children are more likely to drop out of school and end up in low-paying, dead-end jobs, they are more likely to get involved with drugs and crime, they are more likely to have children out of wedlock or get divorced themselves someday, continuing the unhappy cycle.” 

Continuing the Unhappy Cycle … “Lying is done with words, and also with silence.”  Because most leaders continue to look the other way or claim to have no right to meddle in “private” affairs of others, our country’s enslavement to “private” agendas & “special” groups has reached an all time low.  Tragically, since “experts” also encourage family members & friends not to take sides in divorce matters, victims continue to be denied justice, validation & empowerment—without emotional & legal protection, their only options have been to bend, beg, blog or blend and remain silent.  Once ethical parenting became a rare right of privileged few, majority of our society was destined to suffer emotionally, intellectually, physically, financially and for some, religiously.  By now, most Americans no longer discern between right or wrong and good or bad.  Consequently most children continue to be groomed into cohabitation, adultery, homosexuality, contraception and countless other “normal” violations.  With adults tolerating or supporting such behaviors as well as enjoying them, our society’s crisis is not only a private travesty & a public disaster—it’s a national catastrophe.

Erosion of discernment between right & wrong erodes love, truth, justice & protection.  In time, endless individual failures guarantee a “failed state” because fundamental values are at the very roots of our sustenance & survival.  Unfortunately, even Houdini could not escape our society’s entrapment—new violations are in the works while old hot spots are never revisited nor cooled.  As such, the injustice of No-fault divorce, domestic partnerships and abortion will continue to enjoy popularity in addition to new “cool goodies” such as being taxed to death to pay for “free” health care with our own money.  Although none of us can blame President Obama for decades of corrupt laws and social engineering, leadership can make and break a nation as well as individuals.  So far, the Obama administration has addressed the financial aspect of our crisis but not its very social & unfriendly twin.  As such, immoral gods and goddesses are still free to judge, legislate & impose their “morality” upon our entire society.  “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil.”  (Is 5:20) Unfortunately, growing popularity of the “bad-girl & bad-boy” mentality finds truth & good very inconvenient, intolerant & biased.  When it comes to No-fault divorce, abortion and homosexuality, truth & good will soon be banned because experts deemed them to be illegal, hateful & offensive.  While not all of our leaders are corrupt or deceptive, to continue with their usual course of inaction is ludicrous.  To only focus on the financial, political or physical sides of life is dangerous and not very wise—”Character and conduct shape each other.”

“There should be no disagreement between our lives and our doctrines.” God’s laws and natural moral laws of life are equal but people are not.  It’s not very wise nor nice when skillful & deceitful “experts” try to fool human beings about being human.  Not all of us are experts on the economy but, being human, all of us are experts on human anatomy.  After all, no other civilization had the benefit of our information on socio-psycho-biological interrelations between a man, woman & child.  As such, unless unless one is a blind hypocrite or an innocent victim of social engineering, one’s ethics & life’s experiences will be equal, except for temporary, occasional but human errors.  Huge & small blunders are normal and sometimes good for us—repeating, enjoying & maintaining abusive behaviors is not normal.  No religious or secular “expert” will deny that moral illness as a social norm is dangerous and must be replaced by moral stability despite continual rise in opposition.

Aside from being honorable & agreeable, only an ethical way of life ensures integrity for self, one’s family & society.  As such, leaders or experts unable or unwilling to confirm and conform to a basic code of ethics are highly dangerous—as usual, with power comes an even graver responsibility.  Tragically, some leaders are too busy with their own adultery, homosexuality, abortion or other violations to confirm or deny anything!  Many leaders are “afraid” to validate the truth, some are genuinely misinformed, some are purposefully negligent while others are “afraid” to even enter the political arena.  It is no secret that major power players are afraid to reconcile our “reconcilable differences” because such actions might cause loss of reputation, power, popularity and money!  If truth be told, none of us should blame them—legal courts and the courts of public opinion have become so vicious that unjust treatment of leaders and private individuals is now a normal part of our culture.  Although duration & depth of our crises are understandable, they are not excusable—countless private & public individuals are at risk or being threatened daily while others have already died from natural, unnatural or mysterious causes.  Even if one manages to survive, no child or adult should be subjected to avoidable & illegal hardship or harm caused by negligence.  Quite obviously, until civil and religious rights or laws become real, we can’t!  Most of current “reality shows” prove it!

“It isn’t very pretty what a nation without pity & justice can do.”  Being blind to justice, some Republicans, Democrats & Independents champion law & order only when it fits their agenda while others tend to be champions of corrupt laws instead of justice & people.  As such, instead of “the press” watching over “the pres and his administration,” our injustice system has been shaped by decades of corrupt media watching over corrupt politicians—so much for our famous checks & balances.  To date, many ethical leaders continue to be barred or overruled; ergo, instead of rule of law & justice, our nation is ruled by whims and whips of extreme liberals, feminists, homosexuals & adulterers.  Ultimate or undeniable proof is in our laws, society, broken homes and hearts.  By now, even the difference between some liberal & conservative “experts or luminaries” is becoming marginal—too many seem to be high on arrogance & information but low on empathy & intelligence.  Unfortunately, they’ll be the first ones to deny IT and US—thus, unopposed, spin doctors not only plot the course for adults but also for all the children in America.  Consequently, as liberals get more liberal so do most conservatives and tyrannical libertarians.  As their blatant & illegal abuse of power continues, love, truth & justice remain on backorder.

“I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.”  (Jonathan Swift)  It’s tragic that leaders insist on apology & change from arrogant preachers or terrorists but allow extreme terrorism from liberalism, feminism, homosexuality & adultery to spread like wildfire.  What was the spark that lit the fuse?  Was it an isolated incident or a series of unfortunate events?  Did abuse of power start with the APA, AMA & ABA or with ABC, CBS, NBC and our government?  When did America begin to negotiate & grant terrorist demands?  The spark was probably lit in 1960 when birth-control became superior to self-control.  While the desire to have lots of sex but not lots of children is illogical, unnatural & dangerous, the “Pill” is not the only “goodie” that made our society ill.  ”On September 5, 1969, with a stroke of his pen, California governor Ronald Reagan wiped out the moral basis for marriage in America.”  In 1973, feminist terrorists demanded that we keep our rosaries off their ovaries.  Their false but “legal & intelligent” claim to fame is for every woman to have “sovereign control over her own body.”  Oddly, only genuine feminists will admit that except for rape and murder, all women in America already had sovereign control over their own body even before the pill and abortion became a possibility—if truth be told, nothing contributed to a woman’s loss of sovereign control over her body and life as much as No-fault, contraception & abortion —to date, nothing enslaves a woman more than liberal sexual freedom.  Similarly, the 1977 battle for homosexual freedom did not end discrimination nor help women, men or children.  As evidenced by the last 30 years of discrimination against Judaism & Christianity, for every unnatural action there is an unnatural reaction.

To date, demands for domestic partnership or gay marriages are based on intimidation and not on intellectual, religious or natural laws of life.  Along with all the obvious reasons, homosexual manipulation of tolerance & compassion innate to all traditional religions has been one of the contributing factors behind the astounding success of the homosexual movement.  Otherwise, bald-faced lies would have never been legalized.  Given that homosexuals cannot be fruitful and multiply should have ended their quest years ago.  All of us know why homosexuals took a bite out of the old fruit theory about apples and oranges, but few of us understand how a Judeo-Christian nation allowed such lifestyles to attain popularity and legality.  Deception about equal rights or equality of a homosexual marriage with a heterosexual marriage is the ultimate goal for homosexuals not for attainment of a marriage license but for attainment of irrefutable moral & legal approval for an immoral & unnatural lifestyle.  “What defines a family? According to Ms. Drew Barrymore, “We do!”  If truth be told, none of us do: human nature defined the bond between a man, woman and child as the only natural bond—inseparable & undeniable needs of every human being validated & protected the natural family from the beginning of “civil” life based on physical as well as emotional needs which are also validated by all traditional religions & ethical principles of life.  As such, even though Ms. Barrymore’s sincerity is genuine, she is a living proof of misguided humanitarian efforts & lifestyles.

Nothing speaks louder than reality—words are not the only means of affirmation—actions of homosexual parents will usually teach children to embrace homosexuality or bisexuality while lifestyles of adulterous parents will usually teach their children to embrace adultery.  Horror and gravity of adultery are confirmed by the Commandments and validated by violated spouses and children.  Most parents want to scream with agony and grab or shield their children from further abuse and pain.  Tragically, following one’s basic instincts and rights is no longer legal and might put one at risk of ending up in jail or worse yet, a mental institution.  Fact that overturning of tables or expelling adulterous cohorts from one’s house might be deemed illegal is one thing.  It’s quite a different matter to be punished for teaching one’s children to differentiate between religious laws and violations.  The double insult of hypocrisy is obvious—since adultery is irrelevant in most Family Law Courts they not only empower it but prevent victims from validating their pain and receiving protection.  To date, stories about fathers loving their children or mothers missing their children evoke empathy but not truth—accidentally on purpose, most of these parents rarely mention their adultery and how much pain and agony they inflicted upon their spouses and children.  Then, to add insult to injury, experts will punish most victimized parents if they “insist” on teaching their children about adultery of the other parent and damages inflicted by the adulterous couple upon the family.  The same legal restraints would apply to a heterosexual parent objecting to parental rights of homosexual parents.

By now, we’ve grown wise and disguise our agony because any parent found screaming or tearing with pain might be deemed by experts as an unfit parent and risk unjust limitations on custody of their child.  Once expert body snatchers are through with most victims of divorce, whether the parents are traumatized, medicated or lobotomized, all become civil or cooperative with any evil courts might mandate.  Having to choose between one’s God, principles and children is one of the most heinous and unjust atrocities of the 21st century and the main atrocity demolishing individuals, families, religions and society.  Anyone who is casual about religious beliefs or ethical principles will not experience or understand the crux of their violations just like most of our children no longer consider divorced parents a novelty but a reality.  With the Roman Catholic Church not allowing divorce within valid marriages even on grounds of adultery, it would seem that they still take adultery seriously.  Sadly, that’s not the case.  It’s highly hypocritical and dangerous that Catholic authorities have taken very serious steps to protect children against homosexual adoptions but have not yet even considered protecting children from adulterous or homosexual parents—being violated by a biological parent is much more heinous than being violated by a stranger.  Damages inflicted upon helpless children by dysfunctional and unnatural violations of adultery and homosexuality are the same damages already proven to be powerful enough to corrupt stable adults and sustain our nation’s catastrophe.

Catholic parents tried to protect their children, families and faith in a manner similar to other ethical and religious parents.  Children might listen to parents’ lectures but trends and laws of our nation speak louder than most parents.  As such, when our government proclaimed adultery, homosexuality and abortion legal, by default, Judeo-Christian teachings on those issues became illegal, irrelevant, outdated, idiotic, hateful, bigoted and all else.  Given that parenting is the most difficult and important of all professions, violating ethical standards on vital and visible facts of life also demolished parental teachings on countless other facts of life related to common sense, not common law.  Manner of clothing or music might not deal with crucial legislation like cloning, but endless issues of lesser importance are mere stepping stones to a lifetime of good or bad habits and the cornerstone of our society—marriage, children and family.  Oddly, instead of blaming the most disastrous social experiment in modern history—No-fault—too many leaders have the audacity to blame parents violated by corrupt laws and experts who are blaming, shaming and scamming or “helping” them.  Who is in charge of our experts?  Why were all experts very vocal and outraged by our nation’s economic crisis or the Madoff Ponzi scheme but not over our nation’s social crisis?  Why are steps being taken to correct financial disasters but not social ones.  Aren’t our lives and children more valuable than money?  Why is abuse of people tolerated in 21st century America?  To date, luminary experts are against termination of “No-fault” mentality and injustice but they do believe in termination of marriages, termination of families, termination of parental rights, termination of pregnancies and termination of common sense dealing with countless issues like homosexuality or cohabitation.

The wounded soul of our society has never been more visible.  Millions of women have been deceived by hostile feminists and their partners in crime—con-fused men and experts.  Nonsense about having the right to one’s own body ignores lives and rights of their children—abortion kills because abstaining from abortion creates life.  As such, only extreme feminists are pro-abortion and against genuine feminists who feel deep sorrow over aborting a child, change, seek help and receive forgiveness.  While all victims of abortion deserve empathy and support, a woman horrified by abortion is quite different from a woman glorifying abortion.  Similar type of toxic cycles are victimizing non-practicing and active homosexuals.  As such, need for help and compassion is obvious.  Understanding victims of No-fault divorce laws is the first vital step in alleviating a very brutal and life-altering way of life. Innocent, violated spouses need validation of their pain, suffering & damages as much as their violators need help to end adulterous trends, addictions, malice or abandonment.  Because children will always need both of their natural parents, sole custody must be given to the ethical parent and protective visitation rights to the dysfunctional parent.  After all, family prostitution is much more vile and harmful than prostitution for money.  Consequently, remarriage should not be an option because it will violate all members of the original family and perpetuate social cycles of marriage, betrayal and abuse.  However, if there is no reconciliation and one or both parents insist on remarriage, legal & social solutions should revert to similar empowerment & attitudes that governed divorces before No-fault divorce laws.

Although serial divorces & remarriages are very alarming, only half of them originate from premeditated malice.  The other half—innocent spouses violated and forced to divorce—usually remarry out of pain, desperation or con-fusion.  Their perpetrators usually remarry for adulterous pleasure or malicious manipulation—court & social empowerment of malicious or adulterous men and women as “honorable spouses” or “good parents” has been the main root & route to every crisis in America.  Oftentimes, they’re our new husbands, wives, parents, bosses, teachers, entertainers, politicians or religious leaders.  Naturally, because separation was always available but rarely used by victims at risk of emotional or physical abuse, a change in divorce laws must be accompanied by a change in social attitudes.

Should adulterous men and women even bother to enter politics?  Is adultery committed with a prostitute less noble than family adultery committed with a coworker or a friend?  Since none of us can be perfect, expecting perfection from public figures is illogical—adultery makes or breaks adulterous men and women—some become saints and could become the most powerful and helpful advocates against adultery, No-fault divorce, homosexuality or abortion.  Because we have yet to witness such a miracle, one might think that most adulterous men and women in the public forum are still clueless and probably not qualified to lead their own families, much less our society.  After proper soul searching, apologies, reparations and forgiveness, most adulterous men and women would probably desire to keep their halos polished—to do so, one must offer private and public reparations to victims until all major wounds have been healed—initially, victims are in dire need of repetitive daily apologies and reassurances—with gradual return of trust, need for apologies and reparations diminishes in frequency but not in necessity.  God does not keep score and allows everyone to confess, change, apologize and start anew.  Although we are made in God’s image, we are not gods.  As such, repetitive apologies and reparations are not only good for the victims but also for the sinners not as punishment but as the best agent for keeping their own halos polished.  Everyone should love a repentant sinner, but only if the repentance is genuine.  Repetitive sins are powerful red flags but never more powerful than eventual genuine repentance and redemption!

Will our lives be better or worse, richer or poorer under the Obama administration than during the Bush era? What are President Obama’s and our nation’s fundamental values?  Are the same fundamental values applicable in private and in public?  Needless to say, all fundamental values deal with vital matters that shape life and death—most are nonnegotiable.  Choices on minor matters in life such as vacations or hobbies are endless and enjoyable. Marriage and children are not minor choices.  As such, when it comes to fundamental issues of life, Mother Nature teaches us that we can’t have it both ways.  We can’t take birth control pills and expect to maintain physical and emotional integrity.  We can’t engage in sex and not expect the possibility of having a baby.  We can’t be pregnant and expect not to give birth.  We can’t marry and expect to have freedom to abandon or betray our family.  We can’t engage in homosexual activity and expect to become parents.  We can’t get drunk and drive a car.  We can’t be high on drugs and play with a gun.  We can’t legalize or empower toxic behaviors and expect individual or social stability.  Mere existence of personal or legal options can be damaging to the lifestyles we designed such options to protect.  Leaving one’s options open in professional and other endeavors is not the same as leaving one’s options open in an indissoluble bond between a man, woman and child.

Since our desires, demands, fears or laws cannot change the truth nor basic cycles of life, we need to ensure that our laws are in harmony with individual integrity as well as family and national security.  While some might think of such a challenge as unattainable, facts about divorce prove otherwise—most of us do not disobey major laws of life out of innate malice but due to harmful social conditioning shaped by our laws and con-fused parenting created by social engineering.  Although parents and children in stable ethical families have also been known to disobey laws, such cases were rare—due to corrupt laws and trends, unethical behaviors within stable families have been becoming more common.  Serious unethical conduct always leads to a divorce from God and oftentimes, families and society.  As such, almost every divorce has one guilty and one innocent spouse and children who maintained ethical behavior and did not want to divorce but were forced to divorce by law.  As such, despite years of horrific damages to all basic cycles of life, underneath superficial confusion, majority of people still believe that marriage is a lifetime commitment and joy.  Likewise, teen sex, cohabitation, adultery, divorce and remarriage cannot be considered as unstoppable passions when millions have been able to stop cheating or to never even think of betrayal in the first place.  Similarly, how can uncontrollable passions be considered as natural when most must rely on unnatural birth control measures or abortions.  Surely, without birth control and abortions, cheating would probably become stoppable.  Because having children is a big joy as well as responsibility, most of us would opt for self-control and do the right thing for us and for our children—we would abstain from sex until marriage.  Common sense would force us to make an emotional and physical decision based on our own needs as well as vital needs of our children.  Even our dating habits would change—we would focus on someone’s ability to be a loving and responsible parent instead of their ability to dance or quality of their clothing and other French benefits which are important but not superior to an honorable and responsible character.

Not all of us care or care to comprehend the scope of damages to our society and traditional religions from No-fault laws, abortion, cohabitation, domestic partnerships and gay marriages.  All of us care and comprehend personal damages—needless to say, they are all one and the same.  The time to act is NOW.  Allowing current cycles to continue will eventually make marriage almost impossible or highly dangerous due to the scope of erosion within elements essential for a stable and loving marriage as well as parenting—truth, integrity, honor & responsibility.  Almost all of today’s singles will confirm that inability to find suitable mates is already a tragic reality.  The younger generation is in a similar or worse situation due to toxic social conditioning or divorce and shared child custody.  No-fault not only deprived them of a stable childhood but it also deprived most ethical parents of authority and at times, custody of their own children. 

Some of our “luminaries” claim that hard work and honesty will still create private & public prosperity—such “experts” are wrong & out of touch with reality.  To compound the problem, countless conservatives still believe that public opinion or votes can help to restore traditional American values and families—those experts also need a reality check.  Adulteration of traditional values is nothing new.  While some believe our society to be 20% conservative and 80% liberal, a closer examination might disclose a worse scenario—probably less than 10% of families consist of “genuinely” conservative parents and even their stability is temporary or at times questionable.  Our crises are so deep that all Americans have been directly or indirectly influenced by current trends, laws & lifestyles.  Consequently, very few of us are able to make proper choices on personal & additional critical issues: capital punishment, euthanasia, artificial insemination, embryonic stem cell research & others.  In short, after a legally protected or mandated attack & erosion of standard or obvious facts of life, decisions on more complex issues are often inadequate.

“Pearls before Swine: Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.” Mt 7:6

America is not the only country in jeopardy.  Pandemic infections caused by a social crisis are very similar to the 2009 outbreak or threat of swine flu.  Signs of a global catastrophe are everywhere—from Asia, Africa, North & South America to Europe & Australia—one would think that even Antarctica has been visited by a few ghosts of past, present and future.  Looking at the big picture, all nations and top leaders will still confirm that the “natural family” is the cornerstone of civilization.  Yet, G20 summits for economic reform are already history while a major summit for social reform will probably never happen.  Because countless global leaders or luminaries have already proclaimed their immoral private lives as honorable, immoral adults in the private sector and in our homes have been empowered to do the same.  “One of the misfortunes of our time is that in getting rid of false shame we have killed off so much real shame as well.”  Consequently, when pro-choice, adulterous or homosexual lifestyles become public, instead of shame, repentance, change & reparations, most adults flaunt their private affairs with great ecstasy & defiance.  Brutal, vulgar and at times, deadly betrayals have reached frightening levels of confidence & arrogance only because most perpetrators are guaranteed a free pass from most family members, colleagues, friends and society.  Even many pastors have given up their responsibility for the pleasure of popularity or prosperity.  Damages are so deep that America is on the edge of becoming a Judeo-Christian nation in name only and so are many Christians & Jews.  It’s not our fault.

Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right:  How One Side Lost Its Mind and the Other Side Lost Its Nerve.  Although Mr. Goldberg does not usually deal with “private affairs nor family matters,” he does address critical political issues.  Needless to say, problem and solutions have been around for decades.  It has been intimated that top leaders like President Obama or Pope Benedict XVI must at times remain somewhat neutral and allow top leaders in their administration to handle highly volatile details.  While our economic crisis and others have proven neutrality theories to be wrong, President Obama is not the first nor the last President in need of selective evasive maneuvers.  Unfortunately, Mrs. Obama might find herself in a very similar situation.  According to tradition, a First Lady does not select a “special cause” but a “safe cause.”  Consequently, even though saving American families has been the most important cause in America for decades, every First Lady ignored it because it’s not a “safe cause.”  As if, their popularity & protection of their political party are of utmost importance and our suffering & safety are not.  Although Obamas’ power & popularity along with past experience in community activism gives them an unprecedented opportunity to end our Culture Wars, it might not happen—since ALL Democrats, Republicans and Independents have played it safe for about 50 years, “change we can believe in” will probably be as real as Santa Claus but not as real as God or Jesus.  Oddly, advocates within public media are not doing much better.  Consequently, after decades of a corrupt media trying to keep politicians honest, results of the 2008 election were obvious even before the elections began.

To date, countless luminaries within government, media, business or entertainment are more into self-service than public service.  They are our gods and the censors they claim to fight against—they decide which laws are important or what information is of value to the general public.  While making such decisions is a vital and normal part of any society, having such decisions made by misinformed, misguided or often malicious leaders is not only dangerous but unconstitutional.  Our society’s family crisis, speaks for itself.  The Credit Card Reform Bill has already been signed while the “other” side of our two-headed monster is not even on the agenda.  Why aren’t our leaders overturning tables, divorce, abortion & gay marriage laws?  They can’t—most are too busy working on behalf of their own liberal or personal agendas—others are busy with turning away or silencing the opposition!  Needless to say, given that millions of dollars & mega groups could not stop the insanity, what are the chances that an average mother, father or child will be heard, represented or protected? NONE plus zilch, zero, zip, nada!

“Pain & Justified Anger” are Mother Nature’s alarm clock.  Tragically, instead of healing roots of our crisis, the ABA, AMA & APA prefer to medicate & legislate pain more than eliminating it.  Consequently, our only true option has been to embrace, enjoy and protect painful alternative lifestyles despite their harm and danger.  Even though years of suffering have already proven differences between justice and a false sense of security, we cling to No-fault divorce, gay marriage, abortion or other damaging practices as though they were our salvation.  If truth be told, corruption has been our only salvation because private individuals cannot end a crisis created by public laws.  Only our luminaries have enough money & clout to end corruption.  While some of our leaders prefer to take their time, others wait for bureaucracy to make the first move—for them it’s only a job—for us, it’s a matter of life and too often, death.  One would think that our enslavement to corrupt laws and our experts’ professional code of ethics would be sufficient enough to inspire them into action years ago.  One might be wronged:  ”As Mike McManus points out in his sometimes angry new book about no fault, How To Cut America’s Divorce Rate in Half, in many states all or nearly all of the state legislators serving on relevant committees are attorneys.  If they are not divorce attorneys…who make money on divorce cases, their sympathies are with their colleagues, not with those who want divorce more difficult to obtain.”

“Honesty in States, as well as Individuals, will ever be found the soundest policy.” George Washington – Contrary to current trends, misinformation & leadership, if we are seeking truth & justice, “irreconcilable differences” are reconcilable and America’s duty as God’s country is undeniable.  Likewise, true beauty of America has already been confirmed by every Atheist, Agnostic, Jew, Christian, Muslim, Hindu and all else—years ago we all had the vision to gather in America for good.  Now we must envision and enable America’s true destiny—love, truth, justice & harmony within every mind, heart & soul in America!

“The government is the problem and the solution.”  Only laws are powerful enough to end adulterization of our souls and to heal the wounded soul of our nation.  Our leaders did not create our Crisis—just like family members enable our crisis in private, our leaders enable it in the public forum.  As such, it took less than 50 years to destroy a civilization that we inherited through the blood, sweat, tears and dreams of our forefathers.  With brutal wars inside & outside of the United States, it seemed unwise for a President of a Judeo-Christian nation to marginalize the “National” Day of Prayer and the Tea Parties!  Quite obviously, President Obama finds Prayer & Tea Parties less beneficial than WHCA dinners, celebrations and other commitments.  Although none of our Presidents can meet the needs of every citizen, there is no excuse for the way President Obama’s administration and most of the press treated all the participants in the Tea Parties—it was insulting & childish for the Obama administration to initially ignore the Tea Parities—later, it was shocking & dangerous for the President to treat them like a joke.  Our nation’s economic crisis has an evil twin—a family crisis.  It takes audacity to ignore and then to ridicule millions of “folks waving tea bags” as though they were mindless yokels incapable of serious conversation.  A top-level faux pas can only stimulate corruption and fuel our Culture Wars.  After all, the vulgarity behind the comment made on CNN is not much different than the venom unleashed upon Miss California, Carrie Prejean.  For NOW, since government & media corruption eroded many of our rights, all most of us can do is PRAY that Ms. Prejean will not have to endure the same injustice that ruined Ms. Anita Bryant’s life.  Not enough leaders came to her support since 1977 and not enough leaders are fighting to protect our families, religions and country today.

Too many of our leaders are a danger unto themselves and our nation—instead of turning the tables most are hiding under the tables or behind their diplomas or colleagues while others are victims of their own laws and loss of families, morals or minds.  “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself?”  Not quite!  Our fear is as real as years of liberal doses of suppression, oppression & depression.  Being exploited & Expelled in more ways than one is an outrage.  Despite “intelligence and power” of luminary experts, gay marriages are already allowed and protected while natural laws of life and traditional religions are not protected.  Victims of No-fault injustice are still not allowed to protect themselves, their families and their faith while adulterous spouses are free in infect our families and society.  Within endless talks about abortion, end of abortion seems as easy as end of hostile feminism.  To date, instead of empowering families to take care of their own, masters of distraction retooled us to run in circles—instead of inspiring us to make families our #1 priority, we’re being taught to focus and rely on community activism.  Children pray and need to be with their fathers, not mentors.  The elderly pray and deserve to be with their families, not volunteers.  Abandoned husbands and wives pray and need reconciliation not self-help groups—they deserve humanitarian efforts from their mates, not false inspiration or token donations.  The bond of marriage is thicker than water—it’s indissoluble. Abandoning a wife is as tragic as abandoning a child.  Adulterous women inflict the same type of pain and suffering on their husbands as they do on their children.  Joining a singles group or an internet dating site does not end the pain or problems because the first step to ending a problem is its validation—then, reconciliation.

With our laws and government skipping over Plan A and advocating Plan D, professional and community action is just another code word in the endless art of distraction to protect leaders’ popularity, power and lack of action—one does not have to be a genius to know that vital reforms in No-fault divorce laws, gay marriages, abortion and other violations require a legislative initiative, wisdom, empathy and courage.  Our crisis could have been prevented.  ”Never waste a good crisis?”  End of our crisis can be as real as the legion of Rhodes Scholars, Nobel Prize Winners, powerful politicians, savvy business moguls and talented superstars in the entertainment or sports industry.  Perhaps, when our leaders do get real and begin to Do the Right Thing no intelligence should be allowed until our crisis is solved.  Unfortunately, it’s quite possible that our fearless leaders will continue to see no evil of homosexuality, hear no evil of No-fault injustice and speak no evil of abortions.  Because laws always speak louder than words, it’s quite obvious that most leaders have never felt our Paine.  Seeing how The American Crisis doesn’t ring any bells, perhaps the only antidote for our leaders’ ADD might be a Class Action Lawsuit.  We can’t escape our history, we can’t escape our leadership and we can’t join them.  Yes we can?  No we can’t!  Mainstream Americans can’t end being forced to shut up, sing and dance to liberal demands.  Only our leaders can turn or reverse social engineering and its damages.  If truth be told it is as easy as one promise from one concerned pro or luminary—after all, A Chorus Line of One can be as powerful as the singular sensation of Yes We Can!  To follow in the footsteps of such promises, only One song can inspire A Change We The People Can Believe In:  ”Anything liberals can do, conservatives can do better.”  Traditional American Values not only gave birth to America but they are also the only fundamental values that can keep, honor and protect her: America – The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave!

No one can serve two masters.  He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon.”  Mt 6:24

 Host: Mary Rose … Samctuary@aol.com … Mission Statement … Love of My Life … aka … Love for All of Life’s Goods: God, Self, Family, Nation & Creation 

 … Mary Rose … “To cheat one’s self out of love is the greatest deception of which there is no reparation in either time or eternity.”

 Host: Mary Rose … Samctuary@aol.com … Mission Statement … Love of My Life … aka … Love for All of Life’s Goods: God, Self, Family, Nation & Creation

Does God Exist?  Are Angels Real?

  … Mary Rose … “To cheat one’s self out of love is the greatest deception of which there is no reparation in either time or eternity.”