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Something to Watch Closely! They're Influencing the Feds
In 1976 the late Andre-Malraux (French art historian and Minister of Culture under Charles DeGaulle) said, The twenty-first century will be religious or it will not be at all.[1] At the threshold of the Third Millennium many, like Malraux began to sense that alternatives to religion were exhausting themselves. A commanding activism to bring spiritual values back into the public square witnessed new impetus, whose momentum continues unabated. Fascinating social partitions have emerged out of this trend. No more powerful evidence of this is seen than within the two major political parties. Prior to the 1960s there was tacit commitment among the elites of both parties toward Judeo-Christian values. The presidential nomination of John F. Kennedy (1960), the Democratic nomination of George McGovern (1972) and Roe vs Wade (1973) began a dramatic shift towards secularism of the Democratic Party. By 2000 secularists made up that party's base along with organized labor.[2] During the 1980s Reagan strengthened the image of religion for the Republicans, capping it off with his close alliance to the Vatican over communism. During the 1990s the Protestants began a crescendoing grassroots effort to influence politics, notably through the Christian Coalition, Focus on the Family, The 700 Club and Coral Ridge Ministries. These attracted similar responses from myriads of other organizations and publications, both Catholic and Protestant. Thus, a major division in the political fabric of America has occurred between secular and Judeo-Christian ideals.
Another chapter in the ever-strengthening position of religion in America is the growing ideological obsession the federal government is showing in its interest to work with religious groups. President George Bush's Faith Based Initiative brought John DiIulio to the White House as its first head. His tenure was only seven months. This always free-to-express Recently, Joseph Conn in Church and State headlined: Faith-based FIAT Unable To Win Approval In Congress, Bush Forges Ahead On Controversial Religion Initiative Through Executive Action. He noted: "The speaker on the podium delivered a passionate call to religious action, and the congregation responded with shouts of amen, oh, yes and preach on, brother! "There are people who face the struggles of illness and old age with no one to help them or pray for them, he said. There are men and women who fight every minute of the day against terrible addictions. There are boys with no family but a gang, and teenage moms who are abandoned and alone. And then there are children who wonder if anybody loves them.... We arrest and convict dangerous criminals; yet building more prisons is no substitute for responsibility and order in our souls. "No government policy can put hope in the people's hearts or a sense of purpose in peoples lives," he continued. "That is done when someone, some good soul, puts an arm around a neighbor and says, God loves you, and I love you, and you can count on us both." This plea for religiously grounded service and evangelism may sound like something that could be heard in any one of thousands of houses of worship across America any weekend, but in this case it wasn't. The speaker wasn't a clergyman, and the address wasn't a sermon. Instead, it was the President of the United States making a major public policy address.[4] Over one thousand religious and charitable leaders were present at the Downtown Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia to hear the President. He announced Executive Orders 13,279 and 13,280 to circumvent a reluctant Congress and get to work on his Faith-based marriage with private entities moving. It was clearly a new day of partnering with the Federal government for religious groups. James Towey, now chief of the White House office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, is a Roman Catholic and former aide to Mother Teresa. He is a tireless proponent for Bush's policies and attacks opponents of the scheme. Predictably, the opposition is from the mainly secular driven party. Towey is using Catholic League tactics to squelch any resistance with name-calling and public humiliation. Thus, sides are being drawn between secularism and religion, anti-Christian forces and faith-based churches. Prophecy makes clear that religious forces will prevail a sign of the very end. Since states' rights have been largely bypassed and they are greatly dependent on federal funds in hundreds of areas if they qualify and cooperate, it is easy to see applications for grant money to be dependent on support of a myriad of religious issues. Justifying the call for a clear union between church and state, Thomas Jefferson's famous letter to the Dainbury Baptist Associates, 1801, creating a wall of separation between church and state is being dubbed part of his hostility towards Christianity. The point is being increasingly made that the establishment clause and the free exercise right of the constitution and Bill of Rights does not prohibit the cooperation between church and state. "I say it's time to put it all in perspective and end the radical separationism that keeps Christianity out of public life. We should be honoring Jefferson, not for his sour view of historic Christianity in 1801, but for the eloquent and moving words he wrote in 1776 in the Declaration of Independence."[5] said Chuck Colson of Breakpoint, recently. These changing events represent extremely serious concerns for conservative loyal Bible Christians. Churches are already calling on the government to raise the moral standard in areas of life, pornography, sex education, public prayers and political rights. The next step is manipulation of and then individual coercion to adopt religious values based upon the "common good." A call for a constitutional amendment to define marriage (an anti-gay move) is being called for. Senate majority leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is in support of this. If this momentum continues, other amendments will be called for and that is something to watch closely.[6] References:
1. Quoted from Neuhaus, Richard John,
The 2. beliefnet.com (story 11966) 3. Esquire, August 2001. 4. Church and State, January 2003. 5. Colson, Charles; Breakpoint, July 10, 2003 (www.breakpoint.org). 6. link.crosswalk.com/um/t.asp?A1.25.13111.1.1058793
Franklin S. Fowler Jr., M.D.; EndTime Issues...,
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