Not wasting a breath throughout the Easter season, Obama continues his mockery and bashing of Christians...but not a mention of Christian persecution around the globe. Go figure...
GP: Barack Obama spoke at the annual Easter Prayer Breakfast this morning in the White House. He bashed Christians.
“On Easter I do reflect on the fact that as a Christian I am supposed to love. And, I have to say that sometimes when I listen to less than loving expressions by Christians, I get concerned. But that’s a topic for another day. (laughter) Where there is injustice, I was about to veer off.”
Once again Obama did not use the opportunity to speak out against Christian persecution in the world.
Over 140 Christian students were singled out and slaughtered last week in Kenya by Islamic extremists.
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. ~ 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (Paul to the Corinthians on the Resurrection of Christ)
The tomb is empty! Countless eye-witness and testimony fulfilled what Christ had proclaimed: death is not the end...
WND: The disciples had heard from an angel that Jesus had risen again. And it changed a disheartened, frightened group of fishermen, tax collectors and the like into bold preachers of the gospel. The world was not the same as a result.
That alone is, in my opinion, one of the most compelling arguments for the historicity of the Resurrection. Some claim the disciples made it up because they wanted to start a new religion. But I find it interesting that they all died a martyr’s death, with the exception of John, who was banished to the island of Patmos. Not one of them recanted on their deathbed. Not one of them said, “We made it all up.” If someone has lived a lie, he usually wants to get something like that off his chest on his deathbed. But none of them confessed it wasn’t true. They could not deny what had changed everything about their lives. Jesus was alive.
The Resurrection impacted them, and it impacts us, too. Why? Because one day we are all going to die. There is nothing we can do to change that.
The good news is that because Jesus died and then rose from the dead, we can live forever. The resurrection of Jesus was the death of death. The Bible tells us, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
Here is what Easter was saying to the disciples and to us: Death is not the end.
God's message to a humanity of sin and death continues to rejuvenate dulled minds to this very day. And it is upon this anniversary that the good news, Christ's gift of everlasting life, should rekindle our will, refreshing our hearts, minds, bodies and souls...
CRU: We’ve heard the story countless times. So many that perhaps we no longer respond in astonishment, belief, and worship. But the news of Easter is more glorious than we dare to hope – truly the “greatest day in history,” as we’ve probably heard sung in church. Because Jesus did rise from the dead, He not only proved Himself to be the Messiah, but also rescued us from our sins and the wrath we deserve.
Paul puts this in perspective: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins…But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:17,20). We are not guilty before our holy God because Christ has been raised; we are no longer dead in our sins.
How can we be refreshed in the truth of the Gospel daily, rather than let Easter pass away in a flurry of peeps and Easter eggs? As we become more aware of our own sin, we can run to the cross, again experiencing the Gospel and resting in the truth of God’s grace and forgiveness. We can read God’s Word, seeing the Gospel throughout. We can seek out Gospel-centered community and preach this good news to each other often.
Because this truly is good news! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!
We can love God, and we can love one another, abandoning our sin upon the cross, leaving death behind in the tomb, seeking to follow in Christ's righteousness.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. ~ Romans 5:6-11
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:21
A contemplative time of Holy Week in its shear absence of God from humanity, we enter Holy Saturday...
ThoseCatholicMen: Something is different about today. Silence. Stillness. Expectation. We are stuck in between Christ’s agony on the cross and his Resurrection in triumph. Worn out from the events of that Friday called Good, we feel it as we awkwardly await Easter. Holy Saturday is the day we remember God’s descent into death. Today, and only today, the words of the notorious 19th century atheistic philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche ring true: “God is dead!”
We saw yesterday to what length God goes, and continues to go, to reconcile us to himself. His wounds are his proof. Christ takes upon himself our sins and makes reparation for them before the justice of the Father. In this act of reconciliation, we are brought into relationship with God. In receiving God as Father and Mary as Mother at the foot of the cross, we pass from mere mortality to boundless life. We are different now. We are sons.
But Christ is Lord of life AND death. Not even physical annihilation could stop this mighty champion from recklessly gathering to himself the souls of the just. In perfect obedience to the will of the Father, Jesus who is Life allows himself to fall into death. Yesterday we saw for ourselves how far Christ will go, but today we cannot see as he descends into a realm we know not. Nor can we hear or smell or taste or touch…
Before this mystery we cannot help but ask: “Where are you?” Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) offers us a profound insight into the commonality between Holy Saturday and our own age. He writes: “Holy Saturday is the day of the ‘death of God’ the day which expresses the unparalleled experience of our age, anticipating the fact that God is simply absent, that the grave hides him, that he no longer awakes, no longer speaks, so that one no longer needs to gainsay him but can simply overlook him.”
Though our scientific progress promises longer life and the alleviation of suffering, our World Wars and wars all around the world expose the irony. Our politicians ignorantly believe that the separation of Church and State means that the truths of faith, upon which rests our very nation, have no place in influencing public policy. But we need not look to the secularity of our culture to prove Benedict’s claim; we know it for ourselves. Before the tragedies of our lives, say the death of a loved one, and our seemingly unanswered prayers do we not ask: “Where are you?” Perhaps the silence of Holy Saturday is not so different from every other day in our experience of modernity.
St. Thomas Aquinas writes that before an object that is difficult to attain we may either hope for it or despair of it. In the case of Holy Saturday, the ‘something good’ is God. The difficulty lies in his death, his silence. Two options: hope or despair. On the one hand, “despair is the absolute extreme of self-love. It is reached when a person deliberately turns his back on all help from anyone else in order to taste the rotten luxury of knowing himself to be lost,” writes Thomas Merton. On the other, Aquinas writes that, “the object of hope is a good, difficult but possible to obtain by oneself or by another.” Thus, the principal difference between hope and despair is whether we rely upon ourselves or we look to another for aid.
As men, we seek to prove ourselves. We want to show the world that we have what it takes. That we have what it takes to embrace the fullness of our manhood in a culture that has manipulated all things masculine. That we have what it takes to provide, protect, and establish others, especially our wives and children. And rightly, we should seek to do so. However, in this proving we can become self-reliant. Rather than acknowledging that as fallen men we stand in need, we put on the mask of independence. Naturally then, self-reliant despair is all too familiar for men, even good men.
Holy Saturday confronts us with the difficulty of God’s silence in his descent into death. Upon whom will we rely to bring us through? In this mystery of Christ’s death, our reason is exhausted. We can approach it, but we cannot grasp it. Death shatters our mask of independence, but we can choose to willingly wallow in our despair as if the difficulty is insurmountable. Or we can look to another, Another. Pope Benedict XVI writes: “Holy Saturday is the ‘no man’s land’ between death and Resurrection, but One has entered into this ‘no man’s land.’”
My brothers, Christ has entered into this realm and dealt a fatal blow to mortality itself. Today, on Holy Saturday, the darkest hour in human history becomes the origin of the greatest hope. Only having fallen to the base of creation is Christ able to be raised higher than the heavens.
And he did that for each and every one of us. Amen.
Good Friday...a time for Christians to focus on the Passion of Jesus Christ, or his suffering and death on the cross. Jesus' final hours on the cross lasted about six hours. These are the events as recorded in Scripture, including just before and immediately following the Crucifixion.
6 a.m.
Jesus Stands Trial Before Pilate (Matthew 27:11-14; Mark 15:2-5; Luke 23:1-5; John 18:28-37)
Jesus Sent to Herod (Luke 23:6-12)
7 a.m.
Jesus Returned to Pilate (Luke 23:11)
Jesus is Sentenced to Death (Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15; Luke 23:23-24; John 19:16)
8 a.m.
Jesus is Led Away to Calvary (Matthew 27:32-34; Mark 15:21-24; Luke 23:26-31; John 19:16-17)
The Crucifixion
9 a.m. - "The Third Hour"
Jesus is Crucified on the Cross Mark 15:25 - And it was the third hour[a] when they crucified him.
(The third hour in Jewish time would have been 9 a.m.)
Luke 23:34 - And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
The Soldiers Cast Lots for Jesus' Clothing (Mark 15:24)
10 a.m.
Jesus is Insulted and Mocked Matthew 27:39-40 - And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
Mark 15:31 - So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.
Luke 23:36-37 - The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
Luke 23:39 - One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
11 a.m.
Jesus and the Criminal Luke 23:40-43 - But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Jesus Speaks to Mary and John John 19:26-27 - When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
Noon - "The Sixth Hour"
Darkness Covers the Land Mark 15:33 - And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
1 p.m.
Jesus Cries Out to the Father Matthew 27:46 - And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus is Thirsty John 19:28-29 - After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.
2 p.m.
It is Finished John 19:30a - When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished!”
Luke 23:46 - Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
3 p.m. - "The Ninth Hour"
Events Following Jesus' Death
The Earthquake Matthew 27:51-52 - And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
The Centurion - "Surely he was the Son of God!" (Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:47)
The Soldiers Break the Thieves' Legs (John 19:31-33)
The Soldier Pierces Jesus Side (John 19:34)
Jesus is Laid in the Tomb (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42)
Why is Good Friday referred to as good? What the Jewish authorities and Romans did to Jesus was definitely not good. However, the result of Christ’s death for all of humanity is exuberant! Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” First Peter 3:18 tells us, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.”
Today we remember and mourn our Savior's brutal crucifixion...and in three days, He shall rise again!
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” ~ John 13:1-20
Maundy Thursday, also known as “Holy Thursday,” is the Thursday of Passion Week, one day before Good Friday. This is the day that Jesus Christ celebrated the Passover with His disciples (the Last Supper) before they were aware of his crucifixion to come on the very next day.
The word Maundy is derived from the Latin word for 'mandate' or 'command,' thus referring to the commands Jesus gave to the disciples at the Last Supper, that they should serve one another as He served them upon washing their feet, that they love one another as Jesus has loved us, and finally to offer the Eucharist "in remembrance of Me."
Alyce McKenzie, in a past Patheos article, shared something quite profound about Christ's footwashing:
...to allow Jesus to touch our feet is to allow him to touch our will. We all have a mind; we all have emotions; and we all have a will—our decision making power. Our feet are how we put our decisions in motion and get places, do things. We can think about doing something. "I think I'll go to her father's memorial service out of respect for her." We can feel we ought to do something. "I have a feeling it would be a good thing to do." But if we are going to actually show up and walk up to her afterward and offer a comforting embrace, our feet have to be involved.
To allow Jesus to cleanse our feet is to remove all that prevents us from using our feet to follow him. To scrub away our insecurities, to wash away our weariness, to buff off our bitterness. ...
If we don't allow him to cleanse our feet, our story with him stops now. The week goes on, but we have chosen darkness rather than light. Jesus' words to Peter are also addressed to us: "Unless I wash you, you have no share in me" (Jn 13:8).
Not everybody in this story wants Jesus' hands on their feet. Peter didn't. Pilate didn't. Caiaphas didn't. Pilate chose to use his feet to pace about his palace, back and forth in front of his medicine cabinet, searching for some salve for his sore conscience. Peter chose to use his feet to stand by a fire warming himself while denying his Lord.
Just before this foot-washing scene, Jesus says to his disciples, "Whoever sees me sees the one who sent me."
It is the Son of God who takes off his outer robe, ties a towel around himself, and now kneels before you requesting the honor of washing your feet in the hopes that, this year, he will not have to walk the hard, uphill road that lies before him all by himself.
This year, won't you take up your cross and follow Him?
Christian soldiers, here's something to think about, particularly this week...
RedState: Today is Holy Thursday. If you are Catholic this is the first day of the Easter or Paschal Tiduum. In Christian theology, tonight is the memorial of the Last Supper. Catholic Churches and some Protestant denominations will do the symbolic “washing of feet,” which is how Christ reminds us that when you are a leader you are a servant not a master (this lesson is lost on most of our fellow citizens in politics and in public service). So I thought this would be an interesting time to review what Americans thought about Jesus. The Barna Group has a published a study, What Do Americans Believe About Jesus? 5 Popular Beliefs, which plumbs this subject and the findings demonstrate how rare Christian orthodoxy is in the United States and gives clues to source of our cultural rot.
We can see in a series of three charts why the percentage of Christians in the United States cannot be above 31%. Despite Church attendance and cultural affectation we are living in a neo-pagan nation.
When taken into consideration with the previous chart we can see that over half of self-proclaimed Christians haven’t a freakin' clue as to what they believe. Can you make a personal commitment to Jesus and engage in pre-marital sex? How about have an affair? Can you participate in same-sex marriage? Steal from your employer? Cheat on your taxes? Spend a few hours a day watching porn? Not give of your time/talents/treasure to those less fortunate? Obviously not. In fact, I will say that it is difficult even for those holding orthodox Christian beliefs on the nature of Christ and His word to be able to say with at straight face that we have made a commitment to Christ. For most of us, this is a daily non-relenting struggle.
What this snapshot shows is that orthodox Christianity, the religion that founded and shaped the nation, is on the ropes. That once your religious world view is shaped by a belief that a) even God sinned and b) that I’m going to Heaven no matter what, then a religious argument is bound to fail. It explains how we got to this state of affairs in all manner of social issues and why aggressive RFRA laws are needed if Christianity is going to survive as anything more than a cultural artifact.
Considering the many covenants, broken and reestablished, until the one fulfilled 2000 years ago, the only way to turn this around is with Christ's help. America, Jesus is calling. It's past time to tag him in.
Here's something I ran across that's an extension of the previous post, but is deserving of it's own prominence for both solution and observance. Therefore, I'm simply doing a copy/paste job on this one and spreading the word...
CharismaNews: Last week, Arlene's Flowers in Washington was fined $1,000 for declining a request to provide floral arrangements for the religious wedding service of gay men that she had served secularly for years. Citing her Christian convictions against participating in pagan rituals, grandma Barronelle Stutzman failed to prevail in her religious freedom case. Faithful American Christians are increasingly under attack across the country by the gay lobby. Religious freedom is being radically and swiftly eroded. Remember the Houston 5, whose sermons and emails were subpoenaed as a repercussion of their opposition to the radical gay lobby in Houston, Texas. It is a mark of national shame that the Religious Freedom Bill in Indiana—a Bill that mirrors President Clinton's Federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act—is being exploited by the gay lobby during Holy Week. The country has been forced into a national conversation on deviant sexuality during the holiest time of year for Christians. "Even radicalized jihadis have put war on hold during Ramadan," said Rev. CJ Conner, Author of Jesus and the Culture Wars: Reclaiming the Lord's Prayer. "I'm encouraging Christian pastors, churches, florists, bakers and boutique merchants to join together in concrete and deliberate steps to take a stand and protect the principle of American Christian Liberty," said Conner. Here's how: Florists, Bakers, and Other Wedding-Related Businesses Christian merchants who serve weddings can protect their religious liberty by only offering their services to Christian Churches in exclusive, binding contracts. Merchants can continue to provide all other services as usual, but protect the free practice of their faith by contracting exclusively and specifically with Bible believing congregations to provide wedding services for their members. Merchants would not be limited to only one faith community, but would be free from offering wedding services to the general public. Faithful Christian Congregations Congregations who rent space out for wedding related events or services as an outreach ministry should modify their organizational by-laws so that their facilities are only available for use to confirmed members of the congregation. This is a good general rule of thumb for every congregation. As the gay lobby expands its agenda to target Christians and houses of worship directly, congregations that rent their space to any couple are at risk for costly legal action if they do not also rent to gay couples. Congregations should also begin to identify Christian florists, bakers, caterers and wedding boutiques that share their values and enter into exclusive, binding contracts for the service of Christian weddings. This will help ensure the success of Christian-owned businesses while also protecting the religious liberty of Christian wedding merchants and congregations. "The burgeoning agenda of the gay lobby will soon turn to other targets on the horizon, including the 'fair use' of sacred worship spaces. In fact, the Alliance Defending Freedom/Faith has warned that the next battle-front for Christian liberty could well be where churches charter Boy Scout Troops. Congregations that allow the Boy Scouts to use their facilities either for rent or for free are at risk of legal liability should they refuse to perform a gay marriage on the basis of religious liberty. The Boy Scouts have embraced the gay lobby and their agenda." "It is telling that during this penitential season the nation has been embroiled in a discussion over sin. I urge Christians to pray for the leaders of the gay lobby, that the Resurrected Lord may lead them out of their darkness and into His light, that they might repent, and God might forgive them for their persecution of Christians," said Rev. Conner. "For faithful Christians, we are called to the same long-suffering as our Lord Jesus who gave His all for us on the cross on Good Friday. To the extent that we can peacefully side-step and not engage the gay lobby at all, we will be free for gospel mission—to be a holy blessing to our communities and the world."
You see, tolerance isn't a two-way street anymore. (And this crap is what's being pushed throughout Holy Week!)
H/t to commenter stage9 over at TRS for an excellent, but heartbreaking, point about the reality of the current social deterioration in its denial and embrace of sin...
Görtz Haus Gallery in Grimes, Iowa: ‘Mother F***er Racist Sons of B**ches From Hell’: Wedding Venue Gets Threats, Fears Shut Down After Refusing Gay Couple’s Nuptials www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/...
Arlene’s Flowers, Washington: Washington Florist Sued For Refusing to Provide Flowers For Same-Sex Wedding abcnews.go.com/Business/washin...
Sweet Cakes by Melissa, Gresham, Oregon: TODD'S AMERICAN DISPATCH: Christian bakery closes after LGBT threats, protests “The LGBT attacks are the reason we are shutting down the shop. They have killed our business through mob tactics.” - Aaron Klein, owner, Sweet Cakes By Melissa www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/0...
Elane Photography, New Mexico: Christian Photographer Who Refused Gay Wedding Gig Pays 'Price of Citizenship' www.charismanews.com/us/41712-...
TimberCreek Bed & Breakfast, Paxton, Illinois: Illinois' TimberCreek Bed & Breakfast Owner Vows Not To Host Gay Weddings www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01...
Liberty Ridge Farm, Albany, New York: Discrimination complaint filed against Liberty Ridge for denying same sex marriage ceremony www.troyrecord.com/general-new...
All Occasion Party Place, Fort Worth, Texas: Gay couple told to take their wedding plans elsewhere www.wfaa.com/story/local/2015/...
Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, Ocean Grove, New Jersey: Group Loses Tax Break Over Gay Union Issue www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/nyr...
Capone's Italian American Restaurant, Peabody, Massachusetts: Transgender activists threaten Peabody restaurant with loss of license, legal sanctions, for turning away men in dresses www.massresistance.org/docs/ge...
Memories Pizza, Walkerton, Indiana: After Indiana Pizzeria Said They Wouldn’t Cater Gay Weddings, the Backlash Was So Extreme It May Not Be Safe to Re-Open http://www.theblaze.com/storie...
And an hour after that comment, came another important one to consider when looking at who's supporting this ideological terrorism and furthering the sinful demoralization of America...
The following companies support the homosexual movement by indirectly funding their political terrorism:
AT&T,Inc. Abercrombie & Fitch Aetna American Express American Airlines Apple Computers BP Bank of America Barnes and Noble Best Buy Boston Scientific Chevron Chrysler Corporation Citi Coca Cola Cox Enterprises Credit Suisse Deloitte Dell Diageo Ernest & Young LLP The Gap General Mills Goldman Sachs Google Hershey's Hewlett-Packard (HP Computers) Home Depot IBM JPMorgan Chase & Co. Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Levi-Strauss Lexus The Limited Lincoln Financial Group MGM Resorts International Macy's Inc Metlife Microsoft Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams Morgan Stanley Nationwide Insurance Nike Nordstrom's Northrup Grumman Office Depot Orbitz PepsiCo Prudential Replacements LTD Shell Showtime Staples Starbucks Symantec TD Bank Target Toyota Motor Corporation Tylenol United Parcel Service (UPS) Whirlpool
And apparently, we can add Walmart to the list as well.
From sun-up to sun-down, all that involves the norm of our modern human activity seems to be either swallowed up or outright embracing the abnormal, the nontraditional, the unconventional, the insane.
Keep in mind, this is all over a percent of a percent! And you see how the media and corporatist moguls line up behind it in lockstep, because the same militant pop-culture that's flushing the country down the toilet is dictating how you must be made to violate your faith and convictions to make them feel comfortable about their sin. I think that demonstrates how 'tolerance' is the last thing on the agenda.
If it's not permitted to persecute Christians in America as in other parts of the uncivilized world, then the Left will find a way through our civilized system to do so, whether that be through the products we purchase, the services we use, or even the pews we worship in. Erick Erickson is right, 'You will be made to care,' as was Ted Cruz last night...
TRS: Ted Cruz weighed in [last night] on the RFRA outrage in the country, choosing not to second guess Gov. Mike Pence. But he affirmed his support for RFRA, pointing it out that this country was founded on people fleeing persecution.
He also didn’t shy away from what is really going on here:
"And here’s what’s happened. Which is it used to be there was a bipartisan consensus. We’d defend the civil liberties of Americans, even those we disagreed with. We defended the religious liberty of people to seek out other faiths, faith different than our own, because that’s what this nation was built on.
Unfortunately the modern Democratic Party has elevated extreme partisanship and in particular this is all part and parcel over the fight over gay marriage. And because of their partisan desire to mandate gay marriage everywhere in this country, they also want to persecute anyone that has a good faith religious belief that marriage is a holy sacrament between the union of one man and one woman and ordained as a covenant by God."
He goes on to call out the fortune 500 companies that he says are running shamelessly to endorse the radical gay marriage agenda over religious liberty and also points out that many in the Republican Party are terrified of this issue.
He's precisely correct. And so is Erickson, so is Levin, so are so many constitutional, conservative, Judeo-Christian voices.
This is the reality of the true intolerance of modern American so-called tolerance...
RedState's Erick Erickson revisits how you will be made to care...
"In the last twenty-four hours, much of the mainstream media has shown itself perfectly willing to serve as agents of Satan (or should I use Moloch to make you feel better?). Most of the news anchors, reporters, and opinion writers of the press are perfectly fine forcing you to violate your conscience as long as they do not have to.
They have suddenly discovered Jesus dined with sinners. They just ignore that he said “go and sin no more.” There is no evidence Jesus baked a cake to celebrate sin, but the media wants you to think he did. Just pay no attention to the guy in the Bible who spoke the most about hell fire. Oh wait, that would be the very same Jesus.
Two years ago this week, I coined the phrase “you will be made to care.” The media have long served to push along the leftwing agenda. Their reporting on Indiana is a greater mythological fiction than how they view Jesus. In light of the press’s advocacy, not reporting, in the last twenty-four hours in defense of hypothetical gays shut out of hypothetical businesses, it is worth revisiting the genesis of “You Will Be Made to Care.”..."
"The state did not create marriage and it should not now exert the power to change the definition of that which it did not create. Those of you who are Christians who support gay marriage will one day have Archbishop Chaput burning in your ears. He said that evil peddles tolerance until it is dominant then seeks to silence good. That’s why Christians fight on this issue. It is not to force themselves on others, but to protect themselves from others being forced on them."
They not only want to make you care, they want to silence you simultaneously. And with their media agents, they continue to progress with their agenda. This is not an issue of tolerance or intolerance, this is an issue of sin which none of them want to address or admit. What they don't get is what Christians know, and even so, continue to struggle with each and every day: Without God central, anything goes, not in the least of those is the sacrament of marriage. God cannot be nullified.
'Cause somebody with a spine and knowledge has gotta!
TRS: Mark Levin opened his show talking about the Religious Freedom law in Indiana, defending Gov. Mike Pence and explaining what the law actually does as opposed to the moronic drivel being pushed by the leftists and the media:
Oh, and look...Obama voted for a law like Indiana’s long before Illinois had an anti-discrimination law for gays and lesbians! As a state senator, he apparently saw no controversy in protecting religious freedom. As did Schumer, President Clinton, the list goes on. Get it? Politics. It's only wrong if conservative Christians today want religious liberty in a hyper-politicized world where everything under the sun, EVERYTHING, is twisted and bastardized into a so-called civil right (what a disgrace to the actual Civil Rights Movement, but again, Democrats!).
On Tuesday's Mark Levin Show: We have a new civil liberty in America: do what you're told or you're a bigot. The left uses every occasion and opportunity to lie, cheat, and deceive, and that is exactly what they're doing now with Indiana's Religious Freedom and Reformation Act (RFRA). The anti-religious fervor of the left is to the point where they will abandon the 1st amendment to impose their will. Sen. Chuck Schumer was a lead sponsor of RFRA in 1993 and Bill Clinton signed it into law, so that must make them anti-gay bigots by today's media standards. Instead of focusing on Schumer, Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Al Gore, and 19 other states that supported RFRA, they're going to gang up on Indiana.
And now Arkansas is catching flak from the Gaystapo as well...
NYSlimes: The Arkansas legislature on Tuesday passed its version of a bill described by proponents as a religious freedom law, even as Indiana’s political leaders struggled to gain control over a growing backlash that has led to calls to boycott the state because of criticism that its law could be a vehicle for discrimination against gay couples.
SIN doesn't equate to civil rights, nor righteousness. Sorry, but that's the reality of it whether anyone, straight or gay, wants to hear it or not.
ADDENDUM: On Wednesday, Levin reminds us of Madison’s original proposal for a bill of rights provision concerning religion. It read:
“The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretence, infringed.”
