PASTORS & FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, October 5, 2012 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler
Good morning, Jim. In a blatant effort to keep Christians from influencing this election, Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent letters to 60,000 churches, advising them NOT to become involved in “partisan politicking.”
Chairman Mathew Staver, Chairman of the pro-life legal group Liberty Counsel, has already sent 25,000 “Silence is Not an Option” Action Packs to churches (with more on the way), to counteract the intimidation. In addition to that, within the next two weeks, the Counsel will distribute its entire inventory, almost 70,000 copies, of the Patriot’s Handbook of Political Action for Pastors and Churches.
Mr. Staver said, “I want to remove the muzzle that secularists want to put on pastors and replace it with a megaphone. Pastors can preach on biblical issues, can educate people about where the candidates stand on these biblical issues, and can urge the people to vote for biblical values. Churches can help register to vote, and much more.
“A pastor can preach on the sanctity of human life and then educate the people about where the candidates stand on this issue. We face the most important election of our life time. Silence is not an option. Not one church has ever lost its tax exemption for political activity. Not one! The letters from this secularist group is merely a scare tactic to silence pastors.
“It was the sermons of pastors that provided the fuel for the American Revolution. Now, more than ever, we need pastors to speak biblical truth. The future of America and Western Civilization is at stake. In November, we are challenged to change the course of our country and, indeed, history itself – but we must first confront the attempts to muzzle our ministry leaders.”
Right now, the United States has its most Biblically hostile president. He has aggressively curbed religious expression; he has reversed policies against funding abortions in other countries; he had no public commemoration on the National Day of Prayer; he stopped funding abstinence-only sex education. He did all that and more in 2009, the year he was inaugurated.
No freedom-loving American should sit out this election! If we don’t replace this president in November, I shudder to think what America will be like four years from now. Don’t let anything, including stubbornness, keep you from voting November 6th. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.