I find FRC's Washington Update consistently well-written and well-argued. Here is today's update:
So Help Us God
Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, [we] must fall with them (Jedediah Morse, 1799). Yesterday, 223 years to the day after patriots ratified an end the Revolutionary War, a judge in Wisconsin ruled to reintroduce tyranny in America--this time, from the bench. In a decision that is rocking our nation to its very core, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb determined that a national day of prayer--a tradition as old as the country itself--is unconstitutional. "...[R]ecognizing the importance of prayer to many people does not mean that the government may enact a statute in support of it..." With all due respect, the government may do exactly
that under the very documents that established it. "[The] sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for, among old parchments, or musty records," Alexander Hamilton insisted. "They are written, as with a sun beam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of divinity itself; and can never be erased by mortal power."
Had Judge Crabb consulted the Constitution she was sworn to uphold, she might notice that Americans enjoy religious freedom--not by virtue of the courts, but in spite of them. Furthermore, setting aside a day of corporate prayer is more than compatible with our nation's heritage; it is a responsibility assigned to every American by George Washington himself. "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God... and humbly implore His protection and favor; and whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer" (Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1789).
Contrary to Judge Crabb's opinion, this ruling does not promote freedom, it crushes it. Americans pray voluntarily. And exercising that right together, as a willing nation, is exactly what the Founding Fathers intended. To imply otherwise is to suggest that the Constitution is unconstitutional! Religion cannot be banned in America because it was never imposed--not by the Founding Fathers, and certainly not by the National Day of Prayer. While this is one of many instances in which the courts have tried to banish God from the public square, this case reveals a level of supreme arrogance. Ultimately, Judge Crabb is inferring that she found something in the Constitution that every President and Congress since 1775 has not: a hostile treatment of religion in public life.
Make no mistake. This judicial mutiny lies directly at the feet of the Left, including President Obama, who has created an atmosphere in which the Constitution is silly putty in the hands of liberal activists. Slowly but surely, he is making American soil more fertile for the radical redefinition of society. This cannot be tolerated. We must ensure that the President's bench nominees have a reverence for the Constitution that this judge lacks. In the meantime, we call on Congress to start the impeachment proceedings for Barbara Crabb, as she violated of her sacred oath of "administering justice... under the Constitution and laws of the United States." What she has done to repress, we will use to revive. What she meant to undermine prayer, we will use as the reason why it's necessary. When the great men and women of our past bent their knees to God on behalf of the "sacred fire of liberty," it was often during the nation's darkest days. My friends, it is time we join them.
Code Blue: Liberals Use Hospitals for Pointless Gay Pandering
To hear homosexual activists talk, you'd think that hospitals are surrounded by airport-level security and require four forms of ID (driver's license, birth certificate, marrage certificate, and genealogy) before you can get in to visit a patient. Pastors and others who visit the sick on a regular basis can tell you--that's simply not true. In fact, in my church leadership capacity I have been going to hospitals for years and have never been prevented from visiting. The claim that homosexuals are routinely denied the right to visit their partners in the hospital has only one source--homosexual activists who use it as an argument for redefining marriage. President Obama's "memorandum" last night ordering hospitals to change their visitation policies is a solution in search of a problem--but also one that panders to a special interest group seeking to redefine marriage.
Let me be clear--I agree that patients should be free to authorize anyone they want to visit them in the hospital and make decisions for them if they are unable to. In fact, they can already do so--through advance directives, such as a health care proxy or power of attorney. These are private contractual arrangements that do not require redefining "family" or "marriage." And they don't require the President of the United States to make himself "hospital-administrator-in-
chief." Dim the Lights and Grab Some Popcorn...
Family movie night is back! Tonight, "Secrets of the Mountain," the first of hopefully many projects from the Proctor & Gamble-Walmart partnership debuts on NBC at 8:00 (EST). As part of the new campaign to bring back wholesome television, these corporate powerhouses are counting on you, the viewers, to help make it a success! Tune in tonight for an adventure movie with a little something for everyone: drama, suspense, and a great story line that won't have parents lunging for the remote! The Perkins family will be watching--I hope you will too!