The Manhattan Declaration – More Heroes Take A Stand

Posted by Larry Miller on November 22, 2009 under How | Be the First to Comment

“Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s.”

So concludes the Manhattan Declaration, penned in part by Chuck Colson and signed by 152 Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical church leaders. The list of signatures reads like a Who’s Who of the Christian world. What these courageous men and women have done is to take their beliefs outside of the confines of the church and into the real world where they can make an impact in our society. In some ways we can thank the current administration for the slap in the face that woke up both the tea party people and, now, the religious leaders. Prior to this time, our country had been drifting toward destruction… now we are rushing headlong to the end of our country as we know it.

Below, I’ve included some excerpts that convey the concerns and spirit of the document. You can read the complete declaration and list of signers at http://tinyurl.com/ykrmek4

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“While the whole scope of Christian moral concern, including a special concern for the poor and vulnerable, claims our attention, we are especially troubled that in our nation today the lives of the unborn, the disabled, and the elderly are severely threatened; that the institution of marriage, already buffeted by promiscuity, infidelity and divorce, is in jeopardy of being redefined to accommodate fashionable ideologies; that freedom of religion and the rights of conscience are gravely jeopardized by those who would use the instruments of coercion to compel persons of faith to compromise their deepest convictions.

“Although public sentiment has moved in a pro-life direction, we note with sadness that pro-abortion ideology prevails today in our government. The present administration is led and staffed by those who want to make abortions legal at any stage of fetal development, and who want to provide abortions at taxpayer expense.

“We will be united and untiring in our efforts to roll back the license to kill that began with the abandonment of the unborn to abortion. We will work, as we have always worked, to bring assistance, comfort, and care to pregnant women in need and to those who have been victimized by abortion, even as we stand resolutely against the corrupt and degrading notion that it can somehow be in the best interests of women to submit to the deliberate killing of their unborn children. Our message is, and ever shall be, that the just, humane, and truly Christian answer to problem pregnancies is for all of us to love and care for mother and child alike.

“We confess with sadness that Christians and our institutions have too often scandalously failed to uphold the institution of marriage and to model for the world the true meaning of marriage. Insofar as we have too easily embraced the culture of divorce and remained silent about social practices that undermine the dignity of marriage we repent, and call upon all Christians to do the same.

“No one has a civil right to have a non-marital relationship treated as a marriage. Marriage is an objective reality – a covenantal union of husband and wife – that it is the duty of the law to recognize and support for the sake of justice and the common good. If it fails to do so, genuine social harms follow. First, the religious liberty of those for whom this is a matter of conscience is jeopardized. Second, the rights of parents are abused as family life and sex education programs in schools are used to teach children that an enlightened understanding recognizes as “marriages” sexual partnerships that many parents believe are intrinsically non-marital and immoral. Third, the common good of civil society is damaged when the law itself, in its critical pedagogical function, becomes a tool for eroding a sound understanding of marriage on which the flourishing of the marriage culture in any society vitally depends.  Sadly, we are today far from having a thriving marriage culture.  But if we are to begin the critically important process of reforming our laws and mores to rebuild such a culture, the last thing we can afford to do is to re-define marriage in such a way as to embody in our laws a false proclamation about what marriage is.

“As Christians, we take seriously the Biblical admonition to respect and obey those in authority. We believe in law and in the rule of law. We recognize the duty to comply with laws whether we happen to like them or not, unless the laws are gravely unjust or require those subject to them to do something unjust or otherwise immoral. The biblical purpose of law is to preserve order and serve justice and the common good; yet laws that are unjust – and especially laws that purport to compel citizens to do what is unjust – undermine the common good, rather than serve it.”

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Some have already criticized this action as an attempt to impose religions values on society… as if imposing atheistic / pagan values were somehow morally superior. The detractors believe that a society that tolerates no Christian input is better than a Christian society that accepts everyone. We have been silent for far to long. Our leaders have been silent for far to long. That is changing!

We are glad to have these leaders join the fight to regain the freedom our founding fathers intended for us… the freedom our country enjoyed for many years. We need to thank them and support them. During the Johnson administration, the IRS began scrutinizing churches who engaged in speech critical of the President. Since then, churches have been threatened with loss of tax exempt status and imposition of hefty fines and penalties if they continued speaking against government actions. Part of supporting these leaders involves standing by them should this tactic be used again… keeping in mind that the purpose of a religious organization is NOT to be tax exempt. It’s nice, but not the reason for it’s existence. Support and encourage those who would place their position, freedom and finances at risk to stand up for what is right… expecially if you are one us that is also doing it.