Thank You, God!

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, November 29, 2013 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. Thanksgiving is a time to remember that God-given freedom will be lost unless we fight to keep it. In July a public school principal banned the song, “God Bless the USA,” because “it might offend other cultures!” On Constitution Day, Modesto Junior College officials stopped a student from passing out copies of the U.S. Constitution and, at least two other colleges did the same thing.

In their report “Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America,” Liberty Institute and the Family Research Council documented almost 1,200 incidents of hostility to religion in the United States and divided the attacks into three categories – the public arena, schools, churches and religious ministries. Some issues were settled in court, but others are still pending.

Because Obamacare’s “HHS Mandate” forces companies providing group health insurance to pay for abortion-inducing drugs, employers with religious convictions against funding abortions are suing the government to protect their constitutional rights. Case in point is Hobby Lobby Stores that plan to go out of business if they lose their case.

A public school district refused to hire an applicant for the job of assistant principal unless she took her children out of a private Christian school. The U.S. District Court in Dallas ruled against her, arguing that the right of parents to choose private education was not a fundamental right. She appealed and won a jury verdict against the school official.

The City of Sinton, Texas ruled that a pastor’s Christian organization that provides housing and religious instruction to men released from prison, after serving time for misdemeanors, could not exist anywhere within its city limits. The Texas Supreme Court ruled for the pastor and against the city.

In Barton v. City of Balch Springs, city officials told senior citizens at a senior center they could not pray before meals or listen to religious messages or sing gospel songs in public buildings. When the senior citizens went to court, government officials said their meals would be taken away if they won the lawsuit. He said praying over government-funded meals violates “separation of church and state,” a false doctrine that’s nowhere in the U.S. Constitution.

So, today I thank God for individuals, officials, attorneys and organizations that steadfastly fight for religious freedom in-and-out of court and for judges that make righteous decisions to affirm and reinforce our God-given rights. Happy Thanksgiving and “having done all … stand!” For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.