Obama Nation’s Low View of Christianity
I don’t usually pass on an article like this under the Fresh Fire banner, but this is so important that I’m compelled to break precedent. We need to get “fired up” over the deliberate attempt by the current Administration to downplay or rid America of its founding faith. America without Christ is like Earth without oxygen–it will die. May this insightful article put a fire within you to pray, share your faith, and help rebuild our glorious foundations. RB
By Robert Knight, June 8, 2009 in townhall.com
Robert Knight, a senior writer for Coral Ridge Ministries and a Senior Fellow with the American Civil Rights Union
President Obama’s comment to French television on June 1 that the United States is “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world,” plus his Islam-praising speech in Cairo, Egypt on June 4, raise anew questions about his own faith and how he views America.
Questions can also be asked about his math. The CIA Factbook estimates America’s Muslim population at 0.6 percent, or about 1.8 million, which puts it in 58th place among nations’ total Muslim populations. Even if you take the Islamic Information Center’s high estimate of 8 million, that still puts the U.S. at 29th out of 60 nations.
In Cairo, Obama quoted from the Koran, used his middle name of Hussein, and indicated that the United States and Muslim nations have the same commitment to tolerance and freedom. To fathom the absurdity, think about the possibility of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution springing from the pens of Islamic scholars Thomas al-Jefferson and James al-Madison.
Over the past three years, Obama has made it his business to insist that “we are no longer a Christian nation.” He has said it in many places, here and abroad. In 2006, in Washington, D.C., he said, “Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation. At least, not just.” He posted the same sentiment on his campaign website.
At the Compassion Forum at Messiah College in Pennsylvania on April 13, 2008, he said, “We are not just a Christian nation. We are a Jewish nation; we are a Buddhist nation; we are a Muslim nation; Hindu nation; and we are a nation of atheists and nonbelievers.”
In Turkey, at a press conference on April 10, he said: “Although we have a large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values. I think modern Turkey was founded with a similar set of values.”
During the presidential campaign, the media pounced on anyone who inquired into Obama’s Muslim upbringing in Indonesia, his two Muslim fathers or his later 20-year attendance at radical pastor Jeremiah Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Now, his Muslim roots are touted as an asset.
No one can say for sure what Obama actually believes, since only God can know the human heart. So we are left examining his words and actions.
The media-enforced line for the past three years has been that he is a self-described mainstream Christian, end of story. Even when Obama badly distorted Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount into a clarion call to accept homosexuality, the press yawned. They yawned (or cheered) when he mocked the Bible’s relevance for politics in that 2006 Washington, D.C. speech:
“Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is okay? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith, or should we just stick with the Sermon on the Mount, a passage which is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application. Folks haven’t been reading the Bible.”
More cheers came when he spoke the language of unity while taking a shot at his political opponents during a speech at the United Church of Christ convention in 2007:
“Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart. It got hijacked. Part of it’s because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who’ve been all too eager to exploit what divides us.
“We can recognize the truth that’s at the heart of the UCC: that the conversation is not over [God needs an editor]; that our roles are not defined [men in dresses, unite]; that through ancient texts and modern voices, God is still speaking [yes, we’re ripping out pages of the Bible daily to suit our appetites], challenging us to change not just our own lives, but the world around us …hate has no place in the hearts of believers.”
Is it not hateful to suggest that people who disagree with you are full of “hate?” Is it unifying to accuse opponents of inventing fights that they didn’t start?
More odd things have been happening since Obama’s election that should give pause to even the most cynical observers.
On the Saturday before Obama’s swearing-in, V. Gene Robinson, the openly homosexual Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, gave an invocation at a pre-inaugural event at the Lincoln Memorial. The New York Times interviewed him beforehand:
“Bishop Robinson said he had been rereading inaugural prayers through history and was ‘horrified’ at how ‘specifically and aggressively Christian they were.’ Bishop Robinson said, ‘I am very clear that this will not be a Christian prayer, and I won’t be quoting Scripture or anything like that. The texts that I hold as sacred are not sacred texts for all Americans, and I want all people to feel that this is their prayer.’”
As one of his first judicial appointments, Obama named Indiana federal judge David Hamilton to the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Hamilton, who had ruled that a pastor could not invoke the name of Jesus in an opening prayer for the Indiana legislature, said that, on the other hand, invoking Allah at a public event is fine.
In April, it was reported that Obama appointed Harry Knox, a Catholic-bashing homosexual activist, to the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Knox, who directs the religion program at the largest gay pressure group, the Human Rights Campaign, described Pope Benedict and other Catholic clergy as “discredited leaders” because of their stand for traditional marriage, and called the Knights of Columbus “foot soldiers of a discredited army of oppression” because of their support of California’s Proposition 8 marriage amendment.
On April 14, 2009, the Obama team had Georgetown University cover up the Greek letters IHS, which stand for Jesus, so they would not show up when he spoke in front of them.
On May 7, Obama declined to hold any White House event to mark the National Day of Prayer, a decision hailed by Barry Lynn’s hard left Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.
In his eloquent commencement speech at Notre Dame on May 17, Obama sounded a conciliatory note, lamented, sort of, the abortions that he wants taxpayers to fund, and gave more clues that Christianity will move over and shrink before a universalist moral relativism:
“The size and scope of the challenges before us require that we remake [not “reform” or “restore,” but “remake”] our world to renew its promise; that we align our deepest values and commitments to the demands of a new age.
“Your generation must decide how to save God’s creation from a changing climate that threatens to destroy it….. And we must find a way to reconcile our ever-shrinking world with its ever-growing diversity — diversity of thought, diversity of culture, and diversity of belief.”
If diversity in and of itself is god, where does that leave Jesus Christ – the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, the Alpha and the Omega, the Way, the Truth and the Life, through Whom all things were created?
Well, the Obama Nation might just ask Him to change his name to … Allah.
Help Us Save Marriage Through Referendum 71
This is one of the most important messages I have ever sent out. It is going to our normal Revive America audience as well as to many churches and leaders in the state of Washington. Please read it carefully and prayerfully. We are standing at a huge cultural crossroads.
I want to ask all of you, whether you live in the state of Washington or not, to get involved to help save marriage in in Washington State through Referendum 71. This is the recently launched petition drive that will allow the citizens of Washington to vote in November to preserve the institution of marriage.
Protecting marriage from re-definition and destruction is the paramount moral issue of the early 21st century. Slavery was the great moral issue of the 19th century–we got it wrong from 1607 to 1865–costing us millions of lives and wasted centuries. Abortion was the pivotal moral issue of the 20th century, and we’ve turned our backs on the truth about life for thirty-seven years by killing 49 million children.
The assault on marriage is the moral battle of the 21st century. If you are silent, millions more will be lost and possibly, an entire civilization fall to ruin. I’m asking you to rise up and act for the sake of God, our children and grandchildren, and the future of the United States.
My thoughts center on three unchangeable biblical texts. They are the only “perfect words” that you’ll find on this page (though I’ll do my best to be faithful to interpret them). Ponder them deeply:
“Marriage should be honored by everyone. Husband and wife should keep their marriage pure. God will judge guilty those who take part in sexual sins” (Hebrews 13:4 – Everyday Bible).
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexuals nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9,10 – NIV).
“You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22 – NASB).
Our civilization, and nation, were founded upon these behavioral truths. The moral code of America is thoroughly Judeo-Christian, and it is the secret of our freedom and greatness. We have believed for centuries that:
- Marriage, the joining together of a man and woman, is critical to societal health and stability, discouraging promiscuity among the sexes, and creating, protecting and nurturing children.
- All sex outside the bounds of marriage is personally and socially destructive, and active participation in these sins disqualifies a person from being in right relationship with God (a part of His Kingdom).
- Homosexuality is a crooked or perverted form of God’s sexual design and is an abomination (detestable) to Him.
Yet, in 2009 the God-given and human-government sanctioned institution of marriage is under perilous assault. A powerful homosexual lobby and its media accomplices want to change 5,000 years of world history, 2000 years of Western history, and 233 of American history by re-defining marriage to include homosexual liaisons. They say it’s about freedom, civil rights, love, and equality. That’s not true because these things do not apply. Click here to read an enlightening discussion of these falsehoods from Family Policy Institute of Washington.
So what’s it all about?
It’s about changing the moral foundations of our culture into accepting and sanctioning homosexual sin. It’s about forever altering the moral code upon which our civilization rests. If our fundamental understanding of morality changes, there will be many dire consequences for our nation in the coming years:
1. There will be a massive flight from the public schools, possibly causing their collapse. All Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and God-fearing parents will need to remove their children from classrooms that teach a different view of morality than their own. The textbooks will change, the sex-ed classes will change, and parents will not be able to complain or abstain because homosexuality will be legitimatized by law. To use their own terminology, homosexuality is a preference. For people of faith, rejection of homosexual behavior is a conviction. There’s a huge difference. That conviction of conscience will force them to abandon the government schools.
2. There will be increasing persecution of Christians and pastors will be sent to jail for speaking against the “civil rights” of homosexuals. Christian leaders who teach the above Scriptures (and many more) will be found guilty of “hate speech” and told to desist. If they don’t, they will go to jail (it’s already happening in Canada and Europe).
3. Fewer people will marry (as in Scandinavia), many more children will be drawn into immorality and sexual confusion, and marriage “equality” will inevitably lead to polygamy, group marriage, adults marrying children (pedophilia), people marrying their pets (bestiality), and so on. Once you break the marriage mold, it can be bent into many almost unthinkable distortions.
4. There will be an explosion of venereal diseases, greater than the 20th century scourge of AIDS and over fifty other STDs which were negative consequences of the sexual revolution. Though some homosexuals are monogamous, studies show that most homosexuals are four times more likely to have multiple partners that those who are moral or married.
5. Millions more people will be lost to the delusions of the devil and separated from the Kingdom of God. Homosexuality is a blinding type of sin from which it is difficult to escape. When God has to “give a person over” to immoral sexual passions (Romans 1:24-27), most never return to Him.
It is for these reasons and many others that I ask you to get involved in the fight to save marriage and protect children through Referendum 71 in the state of Washington. SB 5688, passed in the recent legislative session, does nothing less than elevating domestic partnerships to equality with marriage.
And if you think that Domestic Partnerships are okay and that we should fight for the term “marriage” alone, then think again. This cultural battle is not about words—it’s about changing the moral foundations of society. It doesn’t matter what you call it: Homosexuality is immoral and should not be encouraged and celebrated. Americans don’t care what people do behind closed doors. You can live with whoever you want. God will be the judge. But we can’t allow our marriage laws to condone and promote personally and socially destructive behavior. That’s why marriage—and morality—are worth saving.
If you still hesitant about joining this battle, please Click here to read “Ten Reasons to Sign Referendum 71.” I believe you will find it helpful and inspiring.
If you’re ready to help save marriage and protect the children of Washington State, then Click here to get petitions that can be signed by your friends and congregation. We need to collect over 120,000 signatures by July 26 to give the people of Washington State a chance to vote on this vital measure in November. Like the voters in thirty other states, we believe they will vote to honor and preserve the institution of marriage upon which our moral foundations rest.
If you live outside the state of Washington, maybe you have friends in our state that you can call or e-mail to help them get involved. If you’re in a state or nation that is also battling with this crucial issue of marriage and children, we pray that you join the cause of righteousness and press on to victory.
Get involved! For our families, our children, for many generations of future Americans–and for the glory of God.
Murder is Always a Wrong Moral Choice
I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Dr. George Tiller, the most well-known partial birth abortion doctor in America, was shot and killed Sunday in a church in Wichita, Kansas. The gunman fled after the crime, but a 51-year-old suspect, Scott Roeder, was detained some 170 miles away in suburban Kansas City three hours after the shooting. It is assumed that he will be charged with murder.
He should be. Murder is always a wrong moral choice.
Despite whatever motives are forthcoming in the circumstances of the shooting, murder is murder. At the present time, abortion is legal in America–even the gruesome abortions that Dr. Tiller performed on late-term pregnancies. George Tiller was a human being, made in the image of God, with an inalienable right to life. In the eyes of the law of the United States, Dr. Tiller was also an innocent man who was maliciously killed. His death was horrific and wrong, and we should be saddened and outraged.
Those of us who are pro-life are always pro-life when it comes to murder.
Speaking for the pro-life side of the debate, Focus on the Family founder James C. Dobson, issued the following statement Sunday on the slaying of late-term abortionist George Tiller:
“We are shocked by the murder of George Tiller, and we categorically condemn the act of vigilantism and violence that took his life. America has from its foundation respected the rule of law, by which every citizen is guaranteed life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those constitutional rights are forfeited only when crimes have been committed, and the perpetrator is charged and found guilty by a jury of his or her peers in a court of law.”
“Tiller recently faced serious charges related to the killing of babies in violation of the law, by the most grotesque procedures administered without anesthetics or compassion. We profoundly regretted the outcome of his legal case, believing the doctor had the blood of countless babies on his hands. Nevertheless, he was acquitted by the court and declared “not guilty” in the eyes of the law. That is our system, and we honor it.”
“Our condolences are extended to the Tiller family. The person or persons responsible for his death should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Yes, because murder is always a wrong moral choice.
But the Tiller’s death should also be cause for us as a nation to carefully examine this whole area of “life” and what it means to commit murder. The US Constitution, based on Christian and biblical precedents, gives us Americans a God-given “right to life.” The current laws of the United States do not recognize that right because to accommodate the excesses of the 60s sexual revolution, we invented a “right to choose” to get rid of the unpleasant consequences of immorality. We deceptively re-defined “life” in 1972, allowing us as a nation to callously reject thousands of years of civilized behavior in order to kill our children.
We enshrined “choice” as the new morality. All of a sudden it was “good” to choose. It didn’t matter what the choice was, which in our case, was murdering forty-five million tiny fellow Americans over the past thirty-seven years.
What a ridiculous (or should we say satanic?) idea. If we’d thought about it honestly, for even a moment, we would have come to the conclusion that choice is not moral–it is neutral at best. You can choose bad or you can choose good. You can choose wisely, or you can choose evil. You can choose life for a human being or you can choose to kill that human being. There’s nothing moral about being pro-choice. It all depends of what choice you make.
Scott Roeder made a wrong choice in killing George Tiller. Murder is always a wrong choice.
And though the laws of America are currently skewed to cover up for our sexual sins, there is a higher law that says that what George Tiller did for a living was wrong. It was a wrong choice to kill thousands of young lives who didn’t deserve to die. Even if George Tiller had lived to old age, died, and then stood before God in judgment, the righteous verdict of heaven would have then condemned him as a murderer.
Murder is always a wrong moral choice. And God will hold us all responsible for the choices that we have made (Look at Hebrews 9:27 for that sobering reality.)
And that brings us to the true state of America in 2009. On the one hand we are rightly out-raged over the murder of George Tiller. Yet, on the other hand we are still in denial about the one million children we are murdering every year under the false and deceptive labeling of choice.
We, too, are murderers. In fact, we are mass murderers on a genocidal level equal to the likes of Joseph Stalin and Mao Tse Tung. That the human beings we killed were smaller doesn’t make any difference. From the moment of conception they were separate human souls who deserved the right to live. Just like George Tiller. Just like you and me.
I’m thankful that America is finally waking up to the reality of our greatest national sin. For the first time in recent memory, Americans are now profess to be pro-life by a 52% to 44% margin (May 2009 Gallup Poll). We’re getting it–and real change may be on the horizon.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if the murder of America’s most infamous baby killer was used by God to bring us back to the truth.
What is the truth? Murder is always a wrong moral choice.
Getting the law wrong for three decades doesn’t alter that fact.