Religious Freedom Rally speaker: American freedoms are eroding

Cincinnati, OH – As noon approached on Friday, the crowd sprawled from the front of St Peter in Chains Church down both sides of the roughly quarter mile block. It even flooded across the street.  The pouring rain obviously didn’t deter the turnout of several hundreds of Christians from around the tri-state region and others representing various other religious groups from standing up for religious freedom.  The group represented multiple demographics in that there were white collar workers, blue collar workers, retirees, babies, teens, young adults, entire families, and a few disabled people that had come to rally for the their religious freedoms that they felt were being violated by Obamacare.

Carl Brown, a business owner local to Cincinnati organized the rally in the downtown area, and rallies were also organized in Cleveland, Dayton, Toledo and other cities in various states across the nation. A total of about 143 cities participated.

There was an electricity that seemed to flow through the atmosphere, and people were smiling and joyously enthusiastic as they waited for the rally to begin: but at the same time, there was an attitude of remorse over how the nation’s moral condition overall has deteriorated, and how the healthcare mandate is just another aspect of that decline.  The rally opened with the crowd singing the “Star Spangled Banner” followed by prayer.

Brown confided that his motive for organizing the rally was because, “I love America and I hate to see freedom under attack.”

He went on to acknowledge that the freedom of American citizens is not only threatened, but that he feels that it’s eroding.  He proceeded to introduce Paula Westwood, president of Cincinnati Right to Life to detail some of the ways that Obamacare is hastening that process, especially where religious freedom is concerned.

Westwood pointed out that there are 2500 references in the bill that allow the Health and Human Services Secretary, presently Kathleen Sebelius, to have expanded authority to “create, determine and define what this department does.” Not only is Sebelius one of the most pro-abortion officials on a federal level, but through Obamacare she has now become one of the most powerful.

Westwood highlighted a specific example of just how Sebelius is wielding her power by mentioning that this past January, Sebelius’ HHS department ruled that, “Virtually all private healthcare plans must cover sterilization, abortion inducing drugs and contraceptives at no cost.”

Westwood added that, “This sweeping move ignores the conscience rights of any employers that do not want to provide such coverage, including non-profit religious institutions.”

She went on to note that not only is an outcry being sparked among Christians, but also some Jews, Muslims and other religious groups and even non-believers who see such a mandate as an assault on the gift of life and religious liberty to all Americans, “rights which are foundational to our country’s  values.”

Westwood also quoted Sebelius’ words of support for a national healthcare system that provides taxpayer funded abortion services and contraceptives to a congressional panel earlier this month: “The reduction in the number of pregnancies compensates for the cost of contraception and the estimated cost is down, not up.”

In relation to Sebelius’s words, Westwood pointed out that, “Friends, this is not freedom, this is population control!”  She stopped short of suggesting that it could be a precursor to something similar to China’s one child policy, a policy that has already been revealed as being a part of the global warming agenda.

Westwood also explained that it was revealed this month that, “starting next year, anyone enrolled in an insurance plan that includes abortion must also pay a monthly dollar premium to cover the cost of other women’s abortions. The enrollee will make two payments: a dollar per month for the separate abortion fund, and another payment for the rest of their insurance services. Most people won’t know about this until they’ve signed up for their plan, because Secretary Sebelius has included a gag order where insurance plans may only advertise the total cost of the premium without disclosing that enrollees, that’s some of us, will be charged a dollar per month fee to directly subsidize abortion.  This is not freedom, this is coercion!”

The crowd applauded and cheered as she continued, pointing out that last week, “the Obama administration expanded the originally announced mandate to require all universities, not only religious, to provide contraceptives, abortion inducing drugs and sterilization to their students, as well as their employees at no cost. “

She admonished that citizens need to be aware that these provisions require, “what is called ‘patient education and counseling on contraceptive methods for all women with reproductive capacity.’ Now folks, women with reproductive capacity can be little girls as young as 9 or 10, and this counseling will not come from their parents!  This is not freedom, this is indoctrination!”

The crowd applauded and cheered again and she further informed that the mandate is being opened up to a 90 day comment period to the public, but it will not change the fact that faith based groups must still provide abortion services and contraceptives.  “This is not freedom,” Westwood insisted, “this is propaganda!”

More cheering and applause erupted.

Westwood went on to point out that syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker not only severely   criticized the healthcare mandate, but she also predicted that religious institutions such as hospitals and religious personnel whose consciences are being violated by this mandate have one of two options: either refuse to comply or shut down their institution.  This would have catastrophic consequences because, “one in six patients in the United States is cared for in a Catholic hospital.”

Westwood further stated that, “My friends, this battle is about whether we stand firm on our nation’s core beliefs in freedom, conscience and religious liberty, and the stakes could not be higher.  We should not have to be here. We should not have to have rallies across the country. America’s founding fathers, from the beginning, sacrificed homes, happiness and life itself to establish these freedoms for us.”

It was eerie to hear bells begin to toll, which were totally unplanned, as she continued: “We must hold every political candidate and our US representatives, senators and the president accountable for this mandate. They are on notice. And most importantly, we must remember whether they stand for religious liberty at not at the ballot box this November.”

Westwood finished with a quote from a letter that George Washington wrote to Benedict Arnold: “We should be very cautions not to violate the rights of conscience in others ever considering that God alone is the judge of the hearts of men.  And to Him only in this case are they answerable.”

 The crowd erupted into a spontaneous chant of, “We will not comply!”

Brown quieted them by reminding them of a few religious leaders who are presently taking a stand on the issue, and petitions of repentance were offered to God, as well as prayer on behalf of the nation’s leaders and healthcare workers.  In addition, requests were made known to the Lord that He would pour out His mercy and restore America.  Then Brown challenged the crowd to boldly speak out about what they’d heard and to try to encourage the involvement of additional churches.  

For more about information on the rallies, please visit www.StandUpForReligiousFreedom.com or www.rallyforreligiousfreedom.com

U.S. Christians gather across nation to protest Obamacare mandate

As arguments surrounding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are prepared to be heard by the Supreme Court on March 26 – 28, religious groups are also gearing up to demonstrate.   Rallies will be taking place across the nation by multi-denominational religious groups.  Those participating in the rallies that are being organized through Stand up for Religious Freedom believe that Obama care violates not only their religious freedom, but also separation of church and state.  They are convinced that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has provisions that fund abortion through the government funded healthcare system, and that it will require “all employers [both religious and otherwise, to] provide free contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs through their health plans, even in violation of their consciences,” according to the website.

The rally will host religious leaders and other public figures who will be speaking out against the new healthcare mandate law.  There will also be times of prayer for the nation, worship to God and there will be literature passed out detailing ways in which Obama care violates the rights of the American people.

The website also notes that, the theme for the rally is “Stand up for Religious Freedom – Stop the HHS Mandate!” and that, “The Nationwide Rally for Religious Freedom is being held Friday, March 23 at noon, local time, outside federal buildings, Congressional offices and historic sites across the country. Details for each state can be found here.

Meanwhile, the Christian Newswire reports that while the House was out of session this week, the Obama Administration confirmed its insidious plan for public funding for abortion coverage in Obamacare (PL 111-148) when it issued rules for Obamacare exchanges, complete with an abortion surcharge and a secrecy clause. 

"The mass deception of the Obama 2010 Executive Order has finally been exposed," said Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Co-chair of the Congressional Pro-life Caucus.  "The Executive Order implemented the same accounting gimmick, abortion surcharge and secrecy clause that was in the original text of the bill.

"We knew it at the time, and the final exchange rule confirms once again that the President was suggesting one thing while doing precisely the opposite," said Smith.

This week's Obama abortion funding rule confirms that publically funded insurance plans will include abortion on demand.  Using an accounting gimmick, the premium payers will pay the President's abortion surcharge of at least one dollar per month.  This separate charge will go directly into an abortion fund.  

"Requiring the segregation of funds into allocation accounts -- a mere bookkeeping exercise is a cheap political trick designed to circumvent longstanding prohibitions on taxpayer funding of abortion," said Smith. "This is an unprecedented break with longstanding federal policy on funding for abortion." 

The rule also contains a secrecy clause specifying that the abortion surcharge cannot be itemized in marketing materials, and may "only" be disclosed "as a part of the summary of benefits and coverage explanation, at the time of enrollment."

"This secrecy clause requires insurance companies to bury the abortion surcharge in the summary of benefits so Americans shopping for an insurance plan on the exchange won't know about the abortion surcharge until they sign up for coverage -- and even then they could easily miss the fine print," said Smith. "Undoubtedly many enrollees will be shocked when they get a bill for the Obama abortion surcharge. Once enrolled, even pro-life Americans will be forced to pay for other people's abortions.

"There is NO abortion surcharge and there is NO secrecy clause in the Hyde amendment or in legislation I authored in 1983 (the Smith amendment) to prohibit abortion funding in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program," said Smith.  "Both of these longstanding policies explicitly prohibit coverage for abortion in the federal programs they cover, but President Obama refused to apply the same policy to Obamacare.

"That's why the House has passed THREE bills to overturn this attack on longstanding policies," Smith said. The three bills are as follows:

On January 19, 2011, the House passed H.R. 2, to repeal Obamacare by a bipartisan vote of 245-189. The President threatened a veto and the Senate defeated a similar provision by a partisan vote of 47-53.

On May 4, 2011, the House passed Smith's bill, H.R. 3, the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" by a bipartisan vote of 251-175. The President threatened a veto and the Senate has taken no action.

On October 13, 2011, the House passed H.R. 358, the "Protect Life Act" by a bipartisan vote of 251-172. The President threatened a veto and the Senate has taken no action.

"Recognizing the gravity of the accounting gimmicks, abortion surcharge and secrecy clause, 15 states have already passed laws to prohibit elective abortion coverage on their exchange," said Smith.  The 15 states are: Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia. 

"Abortion isn't health care," said Smith. "We live in an age of ultrasound imaging -- the ultimate window to the womb. We are in the midst of a fetal health care revolution, an explosion of benign innovative interventions designed to diagnose, treat and cure disease or illness any unborn child may be suffering. Obamacare should do them no harm. Tragically, it does the worst harm of all. It kills children and makes others complicit in abortion."

Clooney challenges Obama to address Human rights issues in Sudan

Does George Clooney have more power than members of US Congress? This is a question that will apparently be answered in the coming days. Clooney’s country of choice in relation to addressing human rights abuses is Sudan. There is apparently a great risk for mass starvation according to the AP. And not only does Clooney feel that Obama is taking a high level of interest in the situation, but Clooney seems to think that even China, a country with its own severe starvation issues which it generally ties to being overpopulated, will be onboard.

Interestingly, back in February the Christian Newswire reported that there were five members of the U.S. congress and several religious leaders who joined forces to challenge Obama to take action in relation to China’s human rights abuses and oppression of Christians. The push came ahead of Obama’s closed door meetings with China’s Vice President, Xi Jinping. The members of Congress and religious leaders were pressing for the release of six imprisoned Chinese human rights and political activists. Xi is anticipated to become China’s president and Communist Party chief in 2013.

Leaders of three of the nation's largest religious groups told the President that “a private, clear and determined pledge by you ... to achieve the release [of the six] ... could make clear to Vice President Xi that such action on his part would generate much goodwill with your administration and significantly advance his interests and those of his government.”

The seven-page letter was from Dr. Richard Land, president of The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals; and Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. It included detailed biographies of the six prisoners of conscience: human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng; blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng; longtime political dissident Liu Xianbin; former judge Guo Quan; Uyghur house church leader Alimujiang, and woman pastor Yang Rongli.

The five leading members of Congress who sent the President a similar letter were: Frank Wolf (R-Va.); Joe Pitts (R-Pa.); John Carter (R-Tex.);  Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.).

The letter to Obama insisted that “'quiet diplomacy' ... has not yielded results. Arguably it has only emboldened the oppressors," the congressmen closed their three-page letter saying that "many in China ... long for America to champion their plight.”

As of this writing, there hasn’t been any new information of which Faith and Politics Voice has been made aware regarding the above mentioned six prisoners of conscience and Obama’s efforts to respond. 

For more information about China Aid, please visit http://www.chinaaid.org/

White House mentality toward Iran pre-emptive strike: nuisance, not threat

In what may be a reflection of just how out of touch the Obama administration is on the issue of foreign affairs, Middle East expert and Congressional advisor Walid Phares told Newsmax that, “It seems to me the Obama administration is not convinced that the Iranians are really a threat. It is convinced that they are a nuisance, and a deal eventually after those sanctions would work. That’s the view of this administration.”

Phares’ observation comes at a time when the deputy head of Iran’s armed forces, Mohammad Hejazi has declared that, “Our strategy now is that, if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran's national interests, and want to decide to do that, we will act without waiting for their actions."

Israel is being closely watched and there is some speculation that Israel may decide to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in the spring.  Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu warned Obama last month that if Israel feels it must defend itself, it may opt to do so without notifying Washington.

Phares admits that Iran’s nuclear ambitions are “not stoppable,” but also pointed out that a bi-partisan Senate resolution is a warning signal of the urgency surrounding the need to confront Iran before they develop effective nuclear weapons. The language of the Senate resolution and details about who supported it can be found here.

Meanwhile, in what has become yet another case in point regarding the Iranian government’s human rights abuses and intolerance toward religious freedom, the ACLJ reports that Iran has issued execution orders for Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani. His crime is that he became a Christian.  It’s also being noted that the number of executions in Iran is steadily increasing.