Pastors and Christian Leaders Call for Faith-Based Voting This Presidential Election

WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a recent press conference on Capitol Hill, a bipartisan group of religious and political leaders publically opposed the President’s recent announcement to support same-sex marriage.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins Opposes President Obama's Support of Same-Sex Marriage 

Senior Pastor at Hope Christian Church and Chairman of High Impact Leadership Coalition Harry Jackson said this is an issue that affects Christians across America.

“We are asking for a vote vertical movement,” Jackson said, “That we begin to vote our biblically-based values, that we lift up the values of the Christian faith and that we vote according to that, not just Democrat and Republican.”

Jackson, along with nine other major leaders, presented a letter to be sent to the president in response to his recent comments.

“We believe that biblical marriage should be maintained and protected. So, we’re here to make a declaration that we are for biblical marriage,” Jackson said, “We have a letter that we are sending to President Obama. We want to know whether he is going to use the bully pulpit of the presidential office to absolutely erase the image of biblical marriage from the face of the earth. Voters need to know whether they have a friend or, in a sense, an enemy to an institution that God has ordained. Some of us have taken his statements as a declaration of political war against the institution of marriage.”

Jackson said Obama’s support for same-sex marriage will likely have political consequences in the upcoming election.

“We don’t really know what the intent of the president is, except that we know that it is not just an isolated incident, some further action will follow,” Jackson said.

Pastor and Chairman of Renewing American Leadership Jim Garlow called the president’s statement a “redefinition of marriage.”

“Which one is unimportant, father or mother? By his redefinition, one will have to go,” Garlow said, “Is your wife so unimportant, sir, that she can be replaced by simply any other male, or is there value in having one man and one woman, a father and a mother?”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said the issue of same-sex marriage is moral, not only political.

“We (Christians) can no longer stay in the shadows. We are no longer going to allow politicians to take issues and make them political and tell us to keep our hands off,” Perkins said, “These are first and foremost moral issues.”

Perkins also said the President’s “redefinition of marriage” will affect the education of future generations.

“This issue is not just about whether or not two people have an affinity for one another. No law restricts anyone from living together or entering into a contractual relationship for property or other matters,” Perkins said, “But that’s not what this is really about. This is about what our children are going to be taught in elementary school. It is about stepping in between a parent and a child and imposing a new morality, or absence there of, among our children. If we think this will have no ramifications for children in the future, we are foolish.”

The group also announced their support for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he is planning to repeal. Perkins said DOMA helps protect the definition of traditional marriage.

“DOMA not only defines marriage for purposes of federal law, but DOMA is also the thin line of protection for those 30 states that have enshrined the definition of marriage in their constitution and the other dozen states that have it in their statutes,” Perkins said, “Without DOMA, Massachusetts, Iowa, could impose their definition by a rogue judge on that other state. DOMA is essential for the state that exercises the right to define marriage, or preserve that definition.”

This campaign for traditional marriage will continue in the months leading up to the election through faith-based voting initiatives. 

“On June 1^st, we are beginning a ‘Righteousness and Justice Fast.’ Forty days, fasting, we’re calling for churches all around America to fast for the moral healing of our nation,” Jackson said, “We are asking for 100,000 plus churches to preach a message on Father’s Day that focuses on marriage and that a declaration affirming biblical marriage to be read.”

For more information about this issue, visit the Family Research Council Website at www.frc.org 

True American Patriotism, Merely a Memory

 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Anti-American protests and movements continue to rage across the United States, diminishing the strength of American patriotism.

“Help us Occupy! End the Wars, Save Trillions.” Occupy Wall Street participants carry signs that call for a division of the people. They promote socialism and condemn the foundational system of American economics, “Capitalism Doesn’t Work.” The occupiers do not call for a unified action from the American people and they certainly do not call for a stronger sense of patriotism.

Years of anti-American movements and actions within our borders have caused true American pride to become a rarity. It is a feeling many Americans only feel on the 4^th of July or Memorial Day. It is a sentiment that has been stuffed inside the walls of museums and locked inside the pages of history textbooks.

The National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. is home to an exhibit called “The Priceof Freedom: Americans at War.” The name alone is enough to evoke a feeling of pride in the heart of even the most apathetic American. As visitors walk through the walls of this exhibit, they are taken back to a time when all Americans stood together, back to a time when most citizens would gladly die for their country.

Edwin Townsend remembers that time. As he walked through the hallway of the exhibit, his mind was in a different place, a different time. He said being in the museum helps him remember what it was like to be an American more than 50 years ago.

“When Pearl Harbor was bombed, on December 7th 1941, the next day, the young men couldn’t wait to go sign up to join the Army, the Navy, or the Marine Corps,” Townsend said. “It was entirely different then, than in recent years.”

The posters in the protected glass cases on the wall read, “Want Action? Join U.S. Marine Corps,” and, “United We Are Strong! United We Will Win.” They called for exactly what Townsend described: service and dedication to this country. They called for participation and unity. They called for pride in America.

In contrast, an Occupy Wall Street sign on the streets of New York reads, “Only the dead have seen an end to war.” It is a pessimistic message that marginalizes the strength and courage of the members of the United States Military.

Townsend said when he was a boy, everyone supported the troops and everyone had confidence in the strength of our nation.

“Patriotism was very popular. Everybody was supporting our country. Everybody worked and sacrificed,” he said. “We had food rationing and gasoline rationing. We had to keep our lights low at night.”

“Do With Less – So They’ll Have Enough! Rationing Gives You Your Fair Share.” This poster in the museum illustrates the American people’s willingness to be selfless for the good of the country.

This kind of noble devotion to the United States has all but died off, along with the brave men and women who fought to keep it alive.

“Patriotism as exhibited before and during World War II, I don’t think we’ll ever see that again,” Townsend said.

With the continual decline of American support from its own people, Townsend’s prediction will be unfortunately accurate. The messages of American pride and patriotism that hang on the wall of The National Museum of American History will be nothing more than ancient artifacts and forgotten ideas.

One sign on the wall boldly promises that “Americans Will Always Fight for Liberty.” In the 1940s, Americans believed that pledge without a doubt in their minds. Today, Americans can only hope and pray that these words remain true for years to come.