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We live in troubling times. Throughout the United States – at the local, state and federal levels of government – assaults continue upon our religious freedom. Recent examples include:

  • Enforcement action by San Diego County against a local pastor and his wife, for daring to hold a bible study group in the privacy of their home. Never mind those pesky First Amendment rights, like freedom of assembly and freedom of religion. The county wanted to know “Do you have a regular weekly meeting in your home? Do you sing? Do you say ‘amen’? Do you say, ‘Praise the Lord’?”. When the pastor’s wife answered “yes”, the county responded with a written threat that they must cease and desist their “religious assembly” unless they obtain a permit. How ridiculous, and what an unbelievable and unconstitutional intrusion into their right to freely exercise their religious faith! Only after a tsunami of protests raised this conflict to a nationwide level of visibility did the county finally back down, apologize, and agree that their enforcement actions were improper.
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  •  Right here in Connecticut, oppressive action taken by the Office of State Ethics against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport for daring to exercise their First Amendment rights including freedoms of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion.
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  • Federal courts have so far failed to uphold the religious freedom of a child and his parent, in a school program that invited families to read a selection from their “favorite book”, for daring to select a passage from the Bible as an example of their favorite book. Never mind those pesky First Amendment rights like freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Amazingly this school’s administrator thought it would be appropriate to suggest an alternative selection to the parent – a book about witchcraft – but he forbade her from reading a selection from the Bible. Yet another parent in the special program was allowed to read a book about Judaism without objection. In this case, it seems, the principle of “separation between church and state” is being applied exclusively against Christian families, whereas other faiths are permitted to be expressed according to a selective and discriminatory application of school policy.
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  •  LGBT activists are seeking Federal enforcement action via the IRS to muzzle the free speech rights of the Roman Catholic Church in the State of Maine, for daring to speak about Biblical truth in relation the sanctity of marriage. Voters in Maine are seeking to exercise their rights to a “people’s veto” of recently adopted same-sex marriage legislation, and the church is understandably acting in support of this grassroots lobbying effort to inform people about their right to sign the petition. Nothing in the IRS regulations prohibits a church from issue-based activism, as long as it is not acting to the benefit or detriment of specific candidates. Even the left-wing “Americans United for Separation of Church and State” admits:

    The free speech rights of religious leaders are already broadly protected by the U.S. Constitution. Clergy can and do address public policy concerns, ranging from abortion, gay rights and gun control to poverty, civil rights and the death penalty. They may support legislation pending in Congress or the state legislatures, or call for its defeat. They may endorse or oppose ballot referenda. Indeed, discussion of public issues is a common practice in religious institutions all over America.

    The only thing houses of worship may not do is endorse or oppose candidates for public office or use their resources in partisan campaigns.

  • Sadly the Obama administration and the mainstream media have shown themselves eager to portray devout Christians as “right wing extremists” and “hate mongers”, merely because they hold fast to principles such as the sanctity of life and the teaching that marriage is meant by God to be a relationship between one man and one woman. Our left-wing opponents seek to lay blame for the slaying of Dr. Tiller at our feet, merely because we have consistently expressed our opposition to abortion. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, the left is trying to smear us with labels like “Christian Taliban” and to persuade others that Christianity is as dangerous as Islamic terrorism.

We live in an upside-down world now, where traditional values are being scorned rather than cherished. Secular progressives are exploiting their recent political victories, and seeking to oppress people of faith. Be aware of this growing threat, and ready to stand up for your rights.

2 Responses to “Government continues its assaults upon religious freedom”

  1. on 30 Jun 2009 at 11:24 amTricia

    Sad, but brilliant, commentary Dave, on the truly “upside-down world” which we are living in today!

    When I think about it (which is pretty much every day), it is difficult to not succumb to a *dread* similar to that with which I awakened for several days (and weeks) after 9/11.

    But, we must *fight* these secular progressive and viciously partisan forces which attack true Christianity, religions, and Constitutional principles!

    I am “ready to stand up for our rights!” We will be attending another “Tea Party” this Saturday, July 4th in Stratford (10 a.m. to noon), rallying and speaking with other like-minded patriots. (There is also one in Hartford on the 4th, and likely other CT towns.)

  2. on 30 Jun 2009 at 12:00 pmTricia

    Sometimes—all too often, sadly—I feel as if people in government in Hartford, other state capitols, and in D.C. have dug up and *discarded* the founding *bedrock* principles, “values” and freedoms which have been the basis for our society and our nation’s strength.

    Instead, too many in positions of power have become acolytes to the militant atheists.

    As a result, those of us wanting to exercise our “rights of conscience” and “religious freedom” are being forced to continually first REMOVE the onerous *boulders* of tyranny being placed on our backs!

    I’m sorry this analogy may seem awkward, if not unclear. But here’s the bottom line:

    All Americans ought to be able to STAND on the FOUNDATION of the PRINCIPLES (inalienable rights from God) which our Founding Fathers were divinely inspired to establish in our Constitution and other founding documents.

    Instead, we find those foundation *bedrocks* disappearing, with obstacles of equal weight being lashed to our backs. Our “liberties” are surely being replaced by “tyranny,” as Mark Levin would say.

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