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Christian Living

ChurchWatch 11/19/09

The Church Fights Back: The Manhattan Declaration

The year was 1776. American patriots were fighting to defend their freedom from a tyrannical king and parliament in England. They had tried diplomacy; it had failed. They had extended an olive branch; it was rejected. The issue was freedom, and the Americans had come to a point where they had to draw a line and tell the king, "You have pushed us far enough. We will be pushed no further."

So in order to secure their freedom -- that which the colonists understood derived from God and not from any king -- the Continental Congress made a Declaration of Independence for the people of America.

Thomas Jefferson penned these immortal words in the opening of that famous document of liberty that set the stage for the revolution that was already underway:

"When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

Today, Bible-believing Christians find themselves in an eerily similar situation as the activist Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of the U.S. Federal Government move swiftly to deny religious liberties, and impose a radical anti-family, anti-Christian agenda upon the people of America.

Christian leaders today have arisen to echo the words of the colonial patriots, "You have pushed us far enough. We will be pushed no further."

To counter this anti-family, anti-religious movement, some key Christian leaders gathered on Friday, November 20th, in Washington, D.C., to announce what is being called The Manhattan Declaration -- a 4,732-word statement signed by a collection of Orthodox, Catholic and evangelical Christian leaders who are collaborating around moral issues of great concern.

You can read The Manhattan Declaration here.

More than 125 Christian leaders from various faith backgrounds have also signed this declaration, affirming the following: 

  • The sanctity of human life;
  • Marriage as defined by the union of one man and one woman; and
  • Religious liberty and freedom of conscience.

Addressed not only to Christians, but to the president, Congress, and civil authorities, the document calls for protection of the sanctity of life, traditional marriage and religious liberty.

The Manhattan Declaration endorses civil disobedience under certain circumstances if it becomes necessary to defend our constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press.

Read the text of the Manhattan Declaration with a list of the 125+ signers at http://www.demossnews.com/manhattandeclaration/press_kit/manhattan_declaration_signers.

For more information, go to ManhattanDeclaration.org.

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