"He was...a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering" (Isaiah 53:3).
Lord Jesus, teach us to live experiencing both joy and sorrow so we can be emotionally present in each ministry encounter. In Your holy name I pray. Amen.
Faith and Action Supports Police Memorial Crosses
Author: greg
Rob Schenck meets with Assistant Attorney General John Swallow (left) and Pastor Myke Crowder (right)
Recently, Rev. Rob Schenck met with Utah Assistant Attorney General John Swallow along with Faith and Action anchor church pastor Myke Crowder of Christian Life Center in Layton, Utah. The three leaders discussed atheist-promoted lawsuits against roadside memorial crosses erected in tribute to fallen Utah state police officers.
A private organization began putting the crosses up to honor officers killed in the line of duty. Politically active atheists quickly picked up on the practice and condemned it as an unlawful public use of religious symbols. Unfortunately, 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. The Utah Attorney General asked the Supreme Court to review the case and ultimately rule on the validity of erecting crosses as memorials in public places.
It’s important to note the legal argument defending the crosses focuses on the cross as a universal memorial symbol denoting a death – and not as a religious symbol. The battle over the Utah Police memorial crosses is not a religious liberty case, but is rather a freedom of speech case. These erected crosses do not speak to a religious event or doctrine, but to the death of an individual police officer killed in the line of duty.
To say you cannot use a cross as a universal symbol of death, as the anti-religion forces do, is an act of prejudice against the cross simply because it is also meaningful to religious groups – especially Christians – a clear content-based violation of our freedom of speech.
Although the police memorial crosses primarily involve the state of Utah, Faith and Action is involved because what happens in Utah will ultimately impact the whole country. If Utah cannot use a cross as a memorial of a fallen officer, then other states will soon follow suit. We are also involved because this issue will ultimately be resolved at the Supreme Court – our unique mission field.
The Utah police memorial crosses case is similar to the Mojave Desert Cross Memorial. Although the cross prevailed in court, it was subsequently stolen and is still unsettled.
Posted in Headlines
Photo of the Week
Faith and Action missionary, Pat Mahoney, and chief of program, Peggy Nienaber, with students from Cornerstone Assembly of God in Ohio in front of our National Ministry Center.