A petition started by the American Center for Law and Justice is urging President Barack Obama to make sure foreign aid given to Egypt comes with the condition that Christians are protected from the escalating attacks they are suffering at the hands of Muslim-Brotherhood backed Islamists.
“Seventy churches shouldn’t be burned down throughout Egypt. That’s happening because the military is not yet willing to stand in the way,” Jordan Sekulow, ACLJ executive director, said in a phone interview with The Christian Post on Tuesday.
“Words are not enough. Yes, the United States – when we speak, it’s powerful, but what also makes us powerful is the amount of funding we provide to the world and I think this is one of the opportunities we have to at least give this Muslim majority population and military, which we’ve had a pretty good relationship with, the opportunity to do the right thing.”
The U.S. government sends a substantial amount of aid to Egypt every year – close to $1.3 billion, which it says goes into stabilizing the region and helping the decades-long American ally in the Middle East.
With the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power, however, and with the current protests following the ousting of president Mohamed Morsi that have led to hundreds of deaths in clashes between activists and government forces, many are questioning the allocation of that aid money.
Following the deadly clashes last week that claimed over 600 lives, the U.S. condemned the actions of the interim government and said that it is halting planned military exercises with Egypt. Reports circled earlier this week claiming that the $1.3 billion annual aid to Egypt has also been cut, but National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said that such stories are “incorrect.”
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“As the president has said, we are reviewing all of our assistance to Egypt. No policy decisions have been made at this point regarding the remaining assistance,” Hayden added.
The ACLJ petition, which has already been signed by over 37,000 people, calls on Obama to comply with human rights requirements and to stand on the side of religious freedom against the Muslim Brotherhood.
“American aid must be conditioned on the protection of Christians, and it must be used to oppose our jihadist enemy, the Muslim Brotherhood,” the petition states, and lists the growing number of attacks against Christians in the North African country.
Christians pray in the Basilica of our Lady of Fatima in Cairo in Cairo August 18, 2013.
(Photo: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
Christians pray in the Basilica of our Lady of Fatima in Cairo in Cairo August 18, 2013.
Islamist mobs have burned down a number of churches, monasteries and Christian schools, and there have been reports of Christians who have been killed, as Islamists are turning their anger toward Egypt’s minority Coptic population for backing the protests that brought down Morsi.
Sekulow told CP that one of the main reasons Islamists are targeting Christians is because it gives them a sense of unity.
“On one hand you have the Muslim Brotherhood, who in the past has seen that targeting Christians has unified Muslims. I think that says more about the entire Muslim community than it does just the Muslim Brotherhood, and this gives Muslims that are not part of the Muslim Brotherhood an opportunity to stand up and say ‘No, this will not unite us – in fact, this will divide us.'”
He noted that the Egyptian military is one of the largest in the world, supplied substantially by the U.S., and that it has the ability to defend churches – but that would mean it would have to put its soldiers, many of them Muslims, on the line to defend Christians – something it is unlikely to do without a specific condition on the aid money.
The ACLJ executive director said that the Muslim Brotherhood’s claims that Christians are responsible for the overthrow of Morsi are “absurd.”
“Sure, they were supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood president going down. But they make up at most 10-12 percent of the Egyptian population of 84 million, they are 8 million,” Sekulow said.
“I don’t believe the Muslim Brotherhood wants to acknowledge that it was Muslims that decided they had enough of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Egypt’s Copts found themselves in a similar situation in the 2011 uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak, where scores were killed in attacks by Islamists, and by government forces when they were protesting against those very same attacks.
Sekulow noted that in Egypt, Christians are not really able to defend themselves.
“When Christians fight back and defend church property, and a Muslim gets killed, then the military has shown in the last couple of years that they will roll in tanks into the Christian neighborhoods. The Muslim Brotherhood and their Islamist allies are now arming themselves and they are following a very similar plan to what the Nazis did in Europe, by labeling the homes of Christians.”
The ACLJ petition, he says, seeks to get the U.S. government to create conditions so that Egypt’s government shows that it is ready to protect churches and its minority population from the ongoing human rights abuses.
“A lot of the finances do go toward peace in the region, which historically has been a good country,” Sekulow continued.
“But we supported the overthrow of the leader who was behind that, Hosni Mubarak. It (Mubarak’s reign) wasn’t a great place for Christians, but Christian churches were not regularly being destroyed. It was a sense where the government had shut down or imprisoned the Muslim Brotherhood and made them go underground, though they stayed very much alive and organized – but they knew that if they had done something like that, then that military would crack down.”
Other human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, have also joined the call for the Egyptian government to start protecting Christians from the “unprecedented rise” in violence against them.
“It is a shocking dereliction of duty that security forces failed to prevent these sectarian attacks and protect Coptic Christians,” said Hassiba Hadja Sahraoui, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
“The backlash against Coptic Christians should have been anticipated following the dramatic rise in similar incidents since Mohamed Morsi was ousted. Attacks against Coptic Christians must be investigated and those responsible brought to justice.”
The petition to Obama can be found on ACLJ’s website.
Pennsylvania Pastors Network Says Decision Undermines States’ Constitutional Rights and Goes Against God’s Law for Marriage
/2 Comments/in Release /by News from Pennsylvania Pastors NetworkPHILADELPHIA—A Federal judge this afternoon struck down Pennsylvania’s Defense of Marriage Act—deciding that same-sex marriage will no longer be banned in the state.
Judge John Jones III ruled to strike down the Act in the case of Whitewood v. Wolf, which was filed last summer in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
“In a continuing trend of federal judicial activism, the court has arrogantly assumed the right to supersede the constitutional right of the states,” said Sam Rohrer, President of the Pennsylvania Pastors Network (PPN, www.papastors.net) and the American Pastors Network (APN, www.AmericanPastorsNetwork.net
“While this case specifically concerned marriage, one thing is for sure: God hasn’t changed His definition of marriage, and the court has no more right to change His definition than it has to overturn the legitimate right of the states to do what Pennsylvania did in passing a law upholding marriage between one man and one woman. Today’s decision ought to scare anyone who enjoys freedom, because now we have a system in which the federal court has clearly says it doesn’t care what the law is; it’s going to do its own thing. There is a word for this type of system: tyranny.”
The decision was left to the judge after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and his administration and the 21 same-sex couples bringing the suit agreed not to go to trial. The lawsuit alleged that the Defense of Marriage Act and the subsequent refusal to marry lesbian and gay couples or recognize their out-of-state marriages violates the fundamental right to marry as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
For more information on Pennsylvania Pastors Network, visit www.papastors.net or call 610.584.1225.
The Pennsylvania Pastors Network is a group of biblically faithful clergy and church liaisons whose objective is to build a permanent infrastructure of like-minded clergy who affirm the authority of Scripture, take seriously Jesus’ command to be the “salt and light” to the culture, encourage informed Christian thinking about contemporary social issues, examine public policy issues without politicizing their pulpits and engage their congregations in taking part in our political process on a non-partisan basis.
The American Pastors Network is the largest, national network of pastors who believe in the authority of scripture, who boldly preach the whole counsel of God with a disciplined application of a biblical worldview to public policy and who are building a permanent infrastructure of biblically faithful pastors and lay leaders and mobilizing congregations to participate in the political process. For more information on APN, visit www.AmericanPastorsNetwork.net
Pennsylvania Pastors Network is a state chapter affiliate of the American Pastors Network. The American Pastors Network is a Ministry Program Affiliate of Capstone Legacy Foundation (a 501(c)(3) non-profit Christian Public Community Foundation registered nationwide).
The American Pastors Network is a Ministry Program Affiliate of Capstone Legacy Foundation (a 501(c)(3) non-profit Christian Public Community Foundation registered nationwide).
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To interview a representative from the American Pastors Network, contact Deborah Hamilton at dhamilton@hamiltonstrategies.
ELECTION DAY: A Voice for Biblical Truth in Harrisburg
/0 Comments/in Release, Uncategorized /by Shane LehmanOn Monday, May 12, 2014, the Pennsylvania Pastors Network helped local Lancaster County pastors host a candidate forum for the two Republicans running for the 36th Senatorial District seat in Pennsylvania – Representative Ryan Aument and Representative Gordon Denlinger. The purpose of this event was to critique these candidates, not merely in light of their position on various political issues, but more so to evaluate how their faith in God impacts their life as well as their role in office. Our nation needs men and women whose faith in God transcends the political correctness of “separation of church and state”; who will be a Voice for Biblical truth regardless of the pressures around them.
After an hour with each candidate, it was clear that the voters options for this seat were not a “lesser of two evils” as is the case for so many of our races today, but as one pastor said, perhaps a “greater of two goods.” It was an honor to meet these men whose testimonies indicated that their lives have been touched and transformed by the love of God. They both confirmed that they are unashamed of the Good News of Jesus Christ and are committed to bringing a Voice for Biblical Truth to Harrisburg. While there were clear and compelling differences, the similarities were greater.
Nevertheless, there was one area of great distinction between these two candidates. One of the easiest ways to assess a candidate’s commitment to Biblical principles is by examining their campaigning tactics. In an effort to win an election and draw a clear contrast between themselves and their opponent, candidates must choose whether or not they will succumb to the temptation to compromise their integrity and run a “negative campaign.” The temptation to exaggerate facts and use misleading information against opponents is a breach of integrity, though it is a common practice in politics. We hope that both candidates will resist this temptation and repent where such tactics have been used.
“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36
We hope and pray that, regardless of the outcome of this election, these two men will continue to be pillars in our state wherever God calls them. Our hope at the Pennsylvania Pastors Network is that this event will serve as a catalyst for other pastors around the state, and nation, to initiate similar events between now and the general election this fall. Scripture is clear –
“When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules, the people mourn.” Proverbs 29:2
Our nation needs Godly leaders, but Godly leaders start with righteous candidates. If you are a pastor, and would like the Pennsylvania Pastors Network to help you plan a candidate forum in your area, contact us at info@papastors.net. Join with us as we seek to stand with those who will be a Voice for Biblical Truth in our nation.
I encourage you to read this article written by one of the pastors who was present at the event that accurately sums up the sense of the pastors. Our nation needs leaders who will demonstrate genuine faith – in our churches and in our government.
READ A PASTOR’S PERSPECTIVE HERE >
Can We Know if God’s Judgment Is on America?
/6 Comments/in Release, Uncategorized /by Sam RohrerAs I crisscross this nation and interface with pastors and Christian leaders, it’s apparent that crippling paralysis and impotence grip most Christians as well as the Church at large in America. When our pulpits should be flaming with the preaching of righteousness, repentance, and God’s anger with personal and national sin, most are silent. Instead of calling attention to God’s judgment, many pastors deny that we can even know if God is judging America. Seeking ‘comfort’ rather than ‘engagement,’ most pastors are inadvertently contributing to the destruction of our nation by infusing their people with lethargy rather than with an urgency for righteous living.
This paralysis exists in part because leading pastors and church leaders are not certain themselves if God’s judgment is on America or if anyone can or should legitimately declare what God is doing or not doing. Some well-known pastors recently declared this position, with one even telling me directly that 2 Chron. 7:14, which speaks to the issue of national judgment, is not for America or any nation today. They’ve actually said that to speak of the certainty of judgment, to offer the requirements for repentance, and to tell of God’s promise to ‘hear our prayer, forgive our sins, and heal our land’ is to offer a fraudulent hope!
I contend that claiming we cannot know if God’s judgment is on our nation is but a feeble attempt to justify the failure of pastors convincingly to preach on the reality of sin, God’s anger with sin, His holiness, and the need for repentance. The cost of not preaching on the reality of God’s judgment is great. The failure to preach on the need for repentance now will guarantee God’s final judgment on America. I contend that if we can recognize God’s blessing on our nation, we can with as much certainty know when His hand of judgment is on us. In the next few posts, I will identify the seven marks of national judgment that precipitated God’s answer to King Solomon in 2 Chron. 7:14. The correlations to America are undeniable.
No Moral Justification for Proposed Online Gambling and Casino Changes
/0 Comments/in Release /by RELEASEPHILADELPHIA—The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a budget shortfall, and some officials are considering sacrificing the best long-term interests of the citizens on the altar of short-term convenience by turning to online gambling to generate revenue. And this is the best solution for Pennsylvania?
In response to a report on gambling revenue, Pennsylvania legislators are considering authorizing online gambling in the state. To make gambling more appealing, the report also suggests allowing gamblers to get credit card cash advances on the casino floor, eliminating the $2,500 ceiling on check cashing and ending the ban on cashing third-party checks.
Pennsylvania Pastors Network (PPN, www.papastors.net) says legalizing online gambling and changing casino policies to generate revenue is a risky move that will hurt already-struggling Pennsylvanians.
“Budget shortfalls are properly addressed by reducing spending or increasing taxes, neither of which is popular,” said Pennsylvania Pastors Network President Sam Rohrer, also President of the American Pastors Network (APN, www.AmericanPastorsNetwork.net
“Pennsylvania’s rich heritage did not come through rolling the dice in hopes of a better future, and the solution to our state’s fiscal woes won’t come through luck, either. We urge our lawmakers to stop this online gambling initiative before it starts. Fix our budgetary problems for the long-term. Don’t contribute to the problems of thousands of citizens while also creating new problems. Expanded gambling is bad for Pennsylvanians and bad for Pennsylvania.”
According to Philly.com, Senate President Joseph B. Scarnati (R., Jefferson) sponsored a resolution in December directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to look at casino gambling in the state in light of significant budget deficits.
Scarnati said Pennsylvania is facing increased competition from casinos in neighboring states, but headlines show that gambling hasn’t solved money problems elsewhere either. For example, New Jersey introduced Internet gambling in November, but revenues have been far below predicted levels. Likewise, Atlantic City has also seen a 40 percent decline in gambling revenues, albeit because of other economic issues.
The report, prepared by Econsult Solutions Inc., of Philadelphia, said that Internet gambling in Pennsylvania could bring up to $68 million in tax revenue in year one and as much as $110 million per year after that.
For more information on Pennsylvania Pastors Network, visit www.papastors.net or call610.584.1225.
The Pennsylvania Pastors Network is a group of biblically faithful clergy and church liaisons whose objective is to build a permanent infrastructure of like-minded clergy who affirm the authority of Scripture, take seriously Jesus’ command to be the “salt and light” to the culture, encourage informed Christian thinking about contemporary social issues, examine public policy issues without politicizing their pulpits and engage their congregations in taking part in our political process on a non-partisan basis.
The American Pastors Network is the largest, national network of pastors who believe in the authority of scripture, who boldly preach the whole counsel of God with a disciplined application of a biblical worldview to public policy and who are building a permanent infrastructure of biblically faithful pastors and lay leaders and mobilizing congregations to participate in the political process. For more information on APN, visit www.AmericanPastorsNetwork.net
Pennsylvania Pastors Network is a state chapter affiliate of the American Pastors Network. The American Pastors Network is a Ministry Program Affiliate of Capstone Legacy Foundation (a 501(c)(3) non-profit Christian Public Community Foundation registered nationwide).
The American Pastors Network is a Ministry Program Affiliate of Capstone Legacy Foundation (a 501(c)(3) non-profit Christian Public Community Foundation registered nationwide).
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To interview a representative from the American Pastors Network, contact Deborah Hamilton at dhamilton@hamiltonstrategies.
Thousands of Marchers Keep 'The Dream' Alive on 50th Anniversary of MLK Speech
/0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by News RoomAs the nation commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement’s March on Washington Wednesday, thousands gathered in Washington, D.C. to remember the historic event. Some attendees told The Christian Post they hoped their children and grandchildren would carry on the tradition 50 years from now.
“It was important for me to be here to keep ‘the dream’ alive. To let people know – Martin Luther King, everything he did, he didn’t do in vain,” Shirley Poindexter, 65, told CP.
Poindexter was with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Her group of about 50 traveled by bus from Roanoke, Va., to attend the event.
Fifty years ago, Poindexter was traveling through D.C. on a train to Connecticut. She recalled the pride she felt at the large crowds who were also on the train for the March. In another 50 years, she added, she does not expect to be there but wants her children and grandchildren to be there in her place.
The day’s events began with a march from Union Station, down the National Mall to the event stage in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Crowds gathered throughout the rainy day on both sides of the reflecting pool. No tickets were required, but attendees stood in line for 30 minutes to about an hour to get through the security checkpoints.
Speakers included Jamie Foxx, Oprah Winfrey, U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young, and “Kid President” Robby Novak. Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, of the group Peter, Paul and Mary, sang “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
Jim Reeb, 58, from Illinois, told CP that he was looking forward to seeing three presidents – Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama – together for the event. The reasons for the original March on Washington still exist today, Reeb noted.
“We do get to see Barack Obama,” he added, “who, to an extent, is the culmination of ‘the dream,’ but we still have a long way to go.”
Charetta McNeill, of West River, Md., was delighted to bring her 25 and 17 year-old nephews with her to experience the event. She was so excited to share the moment with them that she woke at 2 a.m. because she was unable to sleep.
She wanted them there “so they can see all the people, all races and all nationalities, and it’s just a beautiful sight,” she said. “I knew it was going to be something spectacular.”
McNeill traveled with a group of about 100 representing the American Federation of Government Employees.
“When I look at it from a historical perspective, and I look at the situation now, I’m very excited about the possibilities,” McNeill added.
Martin Luther King Jr's 'I Have a Dream' Speech Turns 50; Surprising Facts About MLK's Historic Remarks
/0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by News RoomThe speech, calling for equality among the races and fair treatment of the nation’s African Americans, only later came to be dubbed the “I Have a Dream” speech. In fact, according to Clarence B. Jones, a speechwriter for Dr. King, that well-known phrase was never included in the written remarks.
Jones also served as MLK’s attorney and close confidant. He released in 2011 a book titled Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech that Transformed a Nation. According to Jones, “I have a dream” was a phrase previously used by King during other public speaking engagements, and it had never quite caught on.
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It was during the March on Washington that King was apparently compelled by gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who had performed “How I Got Over” at the event, to re-introduce the phrase.
“Tell ’em about the dream, Martin, tell ’em about the dream!” Jackson yelled, according to Jones, who helped write the “I Have a Dream” speech.
That was when King reportedly nodded in Jackson’s direction and moved the papers with this speech to the side, and began to ad lib…and began to preach.
“He moves the text of the speech to the left side of the lectern, grabs the lectern, looks out on those more than 250,000 people assembled and thereafter begins to speak completely spontaneously and extemporaneously,” Jones told Reuters. “Everything thereafter was spontaneous,” he said. “That was the ‘I have a dream’ speech.”
MLK began several of his statements during the speech with “I have a dream,” as an excerpt of the speech shows (parenthetical words were made by others picked up in the recording).
I have a dream that one day (Yes) this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.” (Yes) [applause]
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice (Well), sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream (Well) [applause] that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. (My Lord) I have a dream today. [applause]
I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” (Yes), one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. [applause]
I have a dream that one day “every valley shall be exalted (Yes), every hill and mountain shall be made low; the rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight (Yes) and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” (Yes)
In addition to referencing Scripture (such as Psalm 30:5 and Isaiah 40:4-5), King opened his remarks by pointing to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, and went on to allude to the Emancipation Proclamation, Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. The well-read orator was said to have even adapted a phrase from William Shakespeare’s Richard III for his historic speech.
Although “I Have a Dream” was celebrated by the public and covered widely by the press the day following the March on Washington, The Washington Post’s Robert G. Kaiser recalled that the publication embarrassed itself by severely underestimating the speech’s impact. In fact, the publication’s lead story the day following the March on Washington neither noted King’s name nor his speech.
Kaiser, who previously served as the Post’s managing editor and was a summer intern at the time of King’s historic speech, lamented in a recent op-ed, “I’ve never seen anyone call us on this bit of journalistic malpractice. Perhaps this anniversary provides a good moment to cop a plea. We blew it.”
King, who was assassinated five years after the March on Washington at the age of 39, concluded his “I Have a Dream” speech with a call to “let freedom ring.”
“And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring,” said King, “when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”
Medical Examiner May Not Bury Bodies of Babies Gosnell Killed for 10 Years
/0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by News RoomA coalition of pro-life groups gathered in Philadelphia Sunday evening to call on the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s office to release to them the remains of 47 aborted babies found at Kermit Gosnell’s squalid abortion clinic so that the babies can have the dignity of a proper funeral and burial.
Gosnell was convicted earlier this year of three counts of first degree murder for intentionally severing the spinal cords of late-term babies that had been born alive during abortions. The remains of the babies were discovered in a filthy freezer in the rat-and-flea-infested basement of a brick building on Lancaster Avenue that became known as the “House of Horrors.” He was also convicted of hundreds of lesser charges related to illegal late-term abortions. He is serving three life sentences without possibility of parole.
Led by Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, a group of about 60 people gathered at Drexel University and marched with police escort to Gosnell’s now-shuttered and deteriorating abortion clinic where a moving candlelight prayer vigil was held. Participants prayed for the closure of every abortion clinic as well as for the babies that die at them.
“These children need to be treated with dignity and respect,” noted Rev. Mahoney, “and like any other member of the human family, they need to have a proper burial and funeral.”
The medical examiner has refused to release the remains to any third party saying that the remains will eventually receive “a respectful disposition.”
However, that could take as long as ten years, which is unacceptable to the groups.
As of this writing, the pro-life groups are holding a press conference and public witness this morning outside the Medical Examiner’s office in Philadelphia to once again demand that Gosnell’s victims be release for proper burial.
Rev. Mahoney released the following statement:
The official guidelines and regulations set forth by the Medical Examiner make it clear that any “interested” party can put in a request asking for any unidentified person to be released into their care.
Numerous national and local faith and community organizations have put in written formal requests for these children.
The conviction of Kermit Gosnell on murder charges makes it clear that these babies are “persons” and must be afforded the same equal rights as anyone else under the law.
It is tragic and barbaric that government officials are playing ‘abortion politics’ with these innocent babies. These children were brutalized once by Kermit Gosnell. We are now demanding that they are not brutalized again by the City of Philadelphia.
The coalition of pro-life groups include the Christian Defense Coalition, CEC for Life, Priests for Life, Stand True, Students for Life in America, Alliance Defending Freedom, Operation Rescue, and others.
Planned Parenthood Abortion Business Has Closed 24 Clinics in 2013
/0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by News RoomPlanned Parenthood offices across the nation have closed this year at a record rate, according to data compiled by Operation Rescue. At least 24 Planned Parenthood sites have closed in so far in 2013. This number includes 3 surgical abortion clinics, 3 clinics that dispensed abortion pills, and 19 offices that referred for abortions.
“Abortion numbers are down so there is less demand for Planned Parenthood. Couple that with recent scandals involving Planned Parenthood that have resulted increased disapproval of their abortion business and it’s easy to see why these clinics are closing on such a large scale,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “While Planned Parenthood officials like to portray these closings as the end of the world for women, in reality, there are plenty of other competent health care providers who are not in business to sell them abortions that stand at the ready to assist women.”
Operation Rescue documented the stated reasons for many of the closures.
In February, five clinics in New York severed ties with Planned Parenthood rather than include the practice of abortion after the national organization mandated that all affiliates provide abortions in at least one of their facilities.
In Texas, at least one Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Midland has closed due to its inability to meet new health and safety standards for abortion clinics.
Other clinic closed due to the defunding of Planned Parenthood organizations by states, general funding cuts, decline in business, and a lack of physicians willing to do abortions.
Planned Parenthood scandals have taken a public relations toll and have led to efforts to defund the abortion giant. Recently, the Planned Parenthood has been placed under investigation by the Governmental Accounting Office, which is looking into widespread allegations of financial malfeasance.
Other abuse-related problems have been exposed in recent months, including:
In spite of all Planned Parenthood’s scandalous behavior, the abortion-promoting Obama Administration announced last week that it has awarded over $655,000 in taxpayer grants to three Planned Parenthood affiliates to act as “navigators,” assisting the public in subscribing to Obamacare. This has created even greater resistance to Obama’s socialized medicine program among people of faith.
“These ‘navigator’ grants are undoubtedly meant to bolster a struggling Planned Parenthood, and may slow the closures for the time being,” said Newman. “But the reality is that Planned Parenthood is only able to continue its vast abortion enterprise with the aid of tax-payer funds. Yet tax-funded abortions are something the majority of Americans adamantly oppose. An Election Day showdown on the subject is becoming more likely.”
In the meantime, the record number of Planned Parenthood office closures is encouraging to those who work to protect innocent life and end abortion, especially in light of a nationwide trend. So far in 2013, 43 surgical abortion clinics have closed around the country, compared to 24 closures in 2012.
“We will work through legal avenues to make sure this trend of abortion clinic closures continues until there are none left to inflict human misery upon vulnerable women and their children,” said Newman.
Obamacare’s Pro-Abortion HHS Mandate Will be Headed to the Supreme Court
/0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by News RoomIt’s only a matter of time until the Supreme Court holds hearings on a lawsuit related to the Obamacare HHS mandate that compels religious groups and businesses to pay for birth control and abortion-causing drugs.
The mandate has been the subject of dozens of lawsuits and appeals and lower federal courts have already weighed in in many of the cases — with most of the plaintiffs winning their bids to halt the enforcement of the mandate against them.
Now, a report in The Hill says attorneys on both sides are expecting the Supreme Court to get involved.
Two federal appeals courts have come down with opposite rulings on an important question related to the policy: whether for-profit businesses and their owners have the right to challenge in court the requirement that businesses provide contraception as part of their insurance coverage.
“I think it’s likely the Supreme Court is going to end up deciding this thing, and the question is when,” said Mark Rienzi, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has organized many of the 60-plus lawsuits challenging the contraception mandate.
The different rulings by the two federal appeals courts significantly increase the likelihood the mandate will end up with the Supreme Court — possibly with a ruling just two years after the justices ruled ObamaCare’s insurance mandate was constitutional.
Louise Melling, deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union, which supports the contraception mandate, said it’s “likely” the Supreme Court could hear oral arguments in its next term, depending on the timing of appeals.
“I would anticipate, when there’s this much activity … that the court will hear one of these,” Melling said.
Alliance Defending Freedom, the group representing Conestoga and the Hahns, has vowed to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. Matt Bowman, the alliance’s legal director, said the group will file its appeal as soon as possible.
“We are hopeful that the court will take this, because whether families can exercise religion in their daily lives is an extremely important issue, and it can’t be an issue that has a different answer based on what part of the country you live in,” Bowman said in an interview.
The mandate went into effect last year on August 1 and the very minimal religious protections were set to go into effect August 1, but they will be implemented and enforcement will take place starting on January 1.
Earlier this month, a federal court granted Hobby Lobby a preliminary injunction against the HHS abortion-drug mandate. The injunction prevents the Obama administration from enforcing the mandate against the Christian company, which does not want to be compelled to pay for birth control or drugs that may cause abortions.
“The tide has turned against the HHS mandate,” said Kyle Duncan, General Counsel with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and lead attorney for Hobby Lobby. “This is a major victory for not only Hobby Lobby, but the religious liberty of all for-profit businesses.”
Duncan says there are now 63 separate lawsuits challenging the HHS mandate. The Becket Fund led the charge against the unconstitutional HHS mandate. The Becket Fund currently represents: Hobby Lobby, Wheaton College, East Texas Baptist University, Houston Baptist University, Colorado Christian University, the Eternal Word Television Network, Ave Maria University, and Belmont Abbey College.
The most recent polling data from December 2012 shows Americans support a religious exemption to the mandate.
Obama Must Demand Christian Protection in Exchange for Foreign Aid to Egypt, Petition Urges
/0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by News RoomA petition started by the American Center for Law and Justice is urging President Barack Obama to make sure foreign aid given to Egypt comes with the condition that Christians are protected from the escalating attacks they are suffering at the hands of Muslim-Brotherhood backed Islamists.
“Seventy churches shouldn’t be burned down throughout Egypt. That’s happening because the military is not yet willing to stand in the way,” Jordan Sekulow, ACLJ executive director, said in a phone interview with The Christian Post on Tuesday.
“Words are not enough. Yes, the United States – when we speak, it’s powerful, but what also makes us powerful is the amount of funding we provide to the world and I think this is one of the opportunities we have to at least give this Muslim majority population and military, which we’ve had a pretty good relationship with, the opportunity to do the right thing.”
The U.S. government sends a substantial amount of aid to Egypt every year – close to $1.3 billion, which it says goes into stabilizing the region and helping the decades-long American ally in the Middle East.
With the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power, however, and with the current protests following the ousting of president Mohamed Morsi that have led to hundreds of deaths in clashes between activists and government forces, many are questioning the allocation of that aid money.
Following the deadly clashes last week that claimed over 600 lives, the U.S. condemned the actions of the interim government and said that it is halting planned military exercises with Egypt. Reports circled earlier this week claiming that the $1.3 billion annual aid to Egypt has also been cut, but National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said that such stories are “incorrect.”
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“As the president has said, we are reviewing all of our assistance to Egypt. No policy decisions have been made at this point regarding the remaining assistance,” Hayden added.
The ACLJ petition, which has already been signed by over 37,000 people, calls on Obama to comply with human rights requirements and to stand on the side of religious freedom against the Muslim Brotherhood.
“American aid must be conditioned on the protection of Christians, and it must be used to oppose our jihadist enemy, the Muslim Brotherhood,” the petition states, and lists the growing number of attacks against Christians in the North African country.
Christians pray in the Basilica of our Lady of Fatima in Cairo in Cairo August 18, 2013.
(Photo: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
Christians pray in the Basilica of our Lady of Fatima in Cairo in Cairo August 18, 2013.
Islamist mobs have burned down a number of churches, monasteries and Christian schools, and there have been reports of Christians who have been killed, as Islamists are turning their anger toward Egypt’s minority Coptic population for backing the protests that brought down Morsi.
Sekulow told CP that one of the main reasons Islamists are targeting Christians is because it gives them a sense of unity.
“On one hand you have the Muslim Brotherhood, who in the past has seen that targeting Christians has unified Muslims. I think that says more about the entire Muslim community than it does just the Muslim Brotherhood, and this gives Muslims that are not part of the Muslim Brotherhood an opportunity to stand up and say ‘No, this will not unite us – in fact, this will divide us.'”
He noted that the Egyptian military is one of the largest in the world, supplied substantially by the U.S., and that it has the ability to defend churches – but that would mean it would have to put its soldiers, many of them Muslims, on the line to defend Christians – something it is unlikely to do without a specific condition on the aid money.
The ACLJ executive director said that the Muslim Brotherhood’s claims that Christians are responsible for the overthrow of Morsi are “absurd.”
“Sure, they were supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood president going down. But they make up at most 10-12 percent of the Egyptian population of 84 million, they are 8 million,” Sekulow said.
“I don’t believe the Muslim Brotherhood wants to acknowledge that it was Muslims that decided they had enough of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Egypt’s Copts found themselves in a similar situation in the 2011 uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak, where scores were killed in attacks by Islamists, and by government forces when they were protesting against those very same attacks.
Sekulow noted that in Egypt, Christians are not really able to defend themselves.
“When Christians fight back and defend church property, and a Muslim gets killed, then the military has shown in the last couple of years that they will roll in tanks into the Christian neighborhoods. The Muslim Brotherhood and their Islamist allies are now arming themselves and they are following a very similar plan to what the Nazis did in Europe, by labeling the homes of Christians.”
The ACLJ petition, he says, seeks to get the U.S. government to create conditions so that Egypt’s government shows that it is ready to protect churches and its minority population from the ongoing human rights abuses.
“A lot of the finances do go toward peace in the region, which historically has been a good country,” Sekulow continued.
“But we supported the overthrow of the leader who was behind that, Hosni Mubarak. It (Mubarak’s reign) wasn’t a great place for Christians, but Christian churches were not regularly being destroyed. It was a sense where the government had shut down or imprisoned the Muslim Brotherhood and made them go underground, though they stayed very much alive and organized – but they knew that if they had done something like that, then that military would crack down.”
Other human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, have also joined the call for the Egyptian government to start protecting Christians from the “unprecedented rise” in violence against them.
“It is a shocking dereliction of duty that security forces failed to prevent these sectarian attacks and protect Coptic Christians,” said Hassiba Hadja Sahraoui, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
“The backlash against Coptic Christians should have been anticipated following the dramatic rise in similar incidents since Mohamed Morsi was ousted. Attacks against Coptic Christians must be investigated and those responsible brought to justice.”
The petition to Obama can be found on ACLJ’s website.