Archive for the ‘Faith IN Action’ Category

WASHINGTON, D.C. March 25, 2012 – Some 200 faithful Americans assembled for Day 1 of Encircle the Supreme Court with Prayer.

Our longtime partner, Reverend Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, led the two-hour vigil and, at certain points of prayer, asked us to humble ourselves by kneeling before the Lord God because the site would turn “into a circus” as the Supreme Court hears lawsuits against President Obama and his Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Faith and Action’s Chief of Program Peggy Nienaber and Supporter Relations Coordinator Patty Bills welcomed clergy and pilgrims, and assisted Rev. Mahoney. Patrick’s wife, Katie Kathleen Hennessey Mahoney, sang Christian songs. And Greg Cox of our communications team was on hand as well.

Rev. Mahoney opened the ceremonies by recognizing those who had attended the Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rallies on Friday.

He said, “But now we are coming to pray – to humble ourselves before God and asking God to intervene on what is arguably the most important case before this court since the Roe v. Wade decision.

“And so we are coming before God and asking God to superintend.

“Begin with this: The scriptures say, ‘This day I call the heavens and earth as witnesses against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; I say chose life.’ God says, “Now choose life – so that you and your children may live, and that you may love the Lord, your God. Listen to His voice and hold fast to Him, for the Lord is your life and he will give you many years in your land.’ (Deuteronomy 30)

“To the court, God has set before them, over the next three days of arguments, life or death. We pray that this court chooses life.”

 Reverend Myke Crowder, senior pastor of Christian Life Center in Layton, Utah, came to represent the National Clergy Council.

Rev. Crowder said, “Now our focus today is exclusively prayer for the justices, along with the lawyers that are arguing the case – and especially, and most importantly, for the God-given right which is to practice our faith according to the dictates of our consciences and not the dictates of government or any other human agency.”

Rev. Crowder further prayed for President Obama and everyone assisting the Supreme Court justices.
Rev. Mahoney then read “Prayer for the Poor” by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. In keeping with that prayer, he named each of the Supreme Court justices and asked the Lord to give them clarity; he also requested healthcare reform that doesn’t violate the Constitution and “provides true justice and care for every American.”

He told the crowd that as part of a public relations campaign, President Obama and the White House have attempted to organize their own prayer vigil at the Supreme Court. Someone in media had asked him if the opposing vigils were like two groups of fans praying for two sports teams.

“We are praying the First Amendment and religious liberty will be protected and honored,” said Mahoney. “This is not about a basketball team. We are praying that innocent lives are not destroyed and we don’t have to pay for this.”

He prayed for President Obama and Congress.

Patty led the pilgrims in laying 3,300 flowers around the court to represent the number of babies aborted every day in America.

As the pilgrims knelt around the court near the flowers, Reverend Pierre Bynum, chaplain for the Family Research Council, prayed for all public officials and the pastors of America. He said, “The action of the people of God in America is even more important than that of all of our elected leaders.”

Rev. Bynum said pastors are most important because they are supposed to preach and teach the truth, they are supposed to mobilize their flocks to do God’s will in all things.

Referring to President Obama’s law and mandates to pay for abortion-inducing drugs, Rev. Bynum prayed, “Let the power and Spirit of God come upon your pastors to cause them to teach and to preach like they’ve never taught before. Lord, we are on the verge of what could be the largest expansion of abortion since Roe verses Wade.”

He asked God to forgive His church for failing to rise up against the Supreme Court decriminalizing abortion 39 years ago. He asked the Lord to help everyone repent and fight for religious liberty, the foundation of human rights.

Father Marcel Guarnizo, a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., led the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

The refrain to this prayer is: “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”

Throughout the vigil, many passersby stopped to listen and some joined in the prayers.

Members of media included radio, photographers, and TV reporters from local stations and networks.

Click here for AP’s photo gallery.

Click here for a Washington Times photo.

Faith and Action’s president, Reverend Rob Schenck, and his twin brother, Father Paul Schenck, chair of the National Pro-Life Center on Capitol Hill, will be at the Supreme Court on Monday. (Click here for The Schenck Brothers at the Obama Health Care Hearings.)
In fact, the New York Times interviewed Rob and apparently persons waiting in line for tickets to the hearings praised Faith and Action. Click here for Waiting (and Sleeping) in Line, for View of Health Care History

For the vigil schedule, please see March 25-28: Encircle the Supreme Court with Prayer.

Faith and Action & the Christian Defense Coalition invite you to
“Justice at the Court: Encircle the Court with Prayer”

West Facade of the Supreme Court by Franz Jantzen

March 26-28, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Obama. Numerous plaintiffs, including 26 states, will argue to the U.S. Supreme Court that this law is unconstitutional.

Under this law, the government has ordered churches, synagogues and religiously affiliated and pro-life organizations to provide health insurance policies that cover abortion-inducing drugs and other procedures that violate the consciences of many people of faith. When religious leaders across America strongly protested, President Obama “compromised” by directly ordering all health insurance companies to provide the offensive drugs and procedures. Therefore, we continue to object to this political shell game.

In partnership with the Christian Defense Coalition and the National Pro-Life Center on Capitol Hill, Faith and Action is calling people from all across America to join us outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. and prayerfully cry out to God to preserve our fundamental human rights, including our religious freedom. We pray hundreds of Americans will encircle the Supreme Court on the eve of these historic arguments and while the Justices are hearing these cases.

Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition said, “When Roe v. Wade was decided, the Christian community was detached and uninvolved. We want to make sure that is not the case this time as we challenge people of faith to publicly pray and speak out with boldness and passion.”

“The First Amendment expressly forbids President Obama from prohibiting the free exercise of religion,” said Faith and Action’s Rev. Rob Schenck. “This action is reason for all religious people – all people of goodwill – to declare a state of emergency. We must speak now or be forever forced to hold our peace.”

“The outcome of the Supreme Court cases does not depend primarily on the attorneys, the arguments or even the politics, but rather on how many of God’s people will use the weapons of prayer to restore America’s religious freedom and respect for life,” said Father Frank Pavone of the National Pro-Life Center on Capitol Hill and Priests for Life. “Join us in prayer at the Supreme Court — or wherever you may be — from March 25th to 28th.”

“We, as Christians, know the power of prayer. That’s why it is important to gather around the Supreme Court if you are at all able to do so — and if not, to pray where you are,” added Dr. Day Gardner of the National Pro-Life Center and National Black Pro-Life Union. “In these last days, it’s especially important to stand firm for our right to serve the God we love — now more than ever before.”

Calling all faithful Americans to Justice at the Court!

Yes friends, once again the God-given right of all Americans to religious freedom is under review by the Supreme Court. We pray the Justices will rule against the government’s violation of our religious liberty and conscience – we pray they’ll rule in favor of the free exercise of our faith in keeping with the First Amendment. We pray for “Justice at the Court”!

Schedule
Sunday, March 25
2-4 p.m.
Rev. Mahoney will lead the prayer vigil and the laying of 3,300 flowers around the Supreme Court as a prophetic witness to the 3,300 children who die every day from abortion.

Monday, March 26
8 a.m.-Noon
Prayer vigil and prophetic witness

Tuesday, March 27
8 a.m.-Noon
Prayer vigil and prophetic witness

Wednesday, March 28
8 a.m.-Noon
Prayer vigil and prophetic witness

Location: All prayer events will begin on the public sidewalk right in front of the steps leading up to the plaza of the United States Supreme Court on 1st Street NE. The address is East Capitol Street NE and 1st Street NE, Washington, D.C. 20002

Metro Stops & Parking
We recommend taking the Metro. Union Station and Capitol South are the Metro stops nearest to the Supreme Court.
If you choose to drive, parking is available at Union Station from where you may walk to the Supreme Court, and street parking may be available behind the Supreme Court.

– Pro-Life Nation and Reabhloid DC are co-sponsoring Justice at the Court –

For more information, contact:
Peggy Nienaber
Faith and Action
(202) 546-8329, ext. 104
Peggy@FaithandAction.org

or

Rev. Patrick Mahoney
Christian Defense Coalition
(540) 538-4741
RevMahoney@aol.com

– If you cannot make this pilgrimage to Washington, please join Faith and Action by praying for justice wherever you are. Kindly share our invitation and prayer requests with your family, friends and neighbors of goodwill. –

This event will cost Faith and Action $16,000.00 and we need your help. Please make a tax-deductible contribution by clicking here. With deepest gratitude, your missionaries on Capitol Hill will cry out to the Lord for Justice at the Court!

For more information on the perils of the “healthcare” law and President Obama’s orders, see our previous articles Feb. 16: Join Faith and Action on Capitol Hill; Clergy Declare State of Emergency for Churches Over Obama Demands; Emergency Declaration to President Obama; Faith and Action Partner Sues Obama Administration; and Seven States Sue Over Obama Mandates.

The Supreme Court will hear five cases against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or President Obama, and one U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lawsuit against 25 states. See all the petitions by clicking here.

March 1, 2012 — Reverend Rob Schenck, president of Faith and Action and president of the National Clergy Council, responds to Senators Kill Conscience Amendment.

Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri had added the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act as an amendment to the Transportation Authorization Bill (S. 1813) and today senators killed the amendment by voting 51-48.

Rev. Rob Schenck said, “Everyone is responding to the government’s ‘contraception’ coverage mandate as if it’s an emergency because, in fact, it is and we have declared an emergency.”

Please see Emergency Declaration to President Obama.

“I am personally a little conflicted over what the Senate did because this is a purely constitutional question and must be resolved constitutionally,” said Rev. Schenck. “I’m not sure a legislative solution would have been effective. So, while I respect everyone’s actions taken to ensure continued religious freedom in the best way they know how, this will have to be solved constitutionally and I pray that it will because time is of the essence.

“The real issue here is the conflict with the Constitution of the United States, which is the highest law of the land. And we always hope and pray that the executive and legislative branches of our government respect the Constitution. In this case of ‘healthcare’ mandates, they are not respecting the Constitution and that is of enormous consequence to the country.

“This is a moral question, a religious question and a constitutional question.

“Therefore, I hope that no one on either side makes this a political football. We should not be looking to score political points on a question of such grave importance and grave consequence. “

WASHINGTON March 1, 2012 — In Lawmakers Reject Obama’s Religious ‘Accommodation’, we reported that Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri added the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act as an amendment to the Transportation Authorization Bill (S. 1813). Co-sponsored by Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, today a slim majority of senators killed the amendment 51-48.

All Republicans except Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine voted for the amendment, and Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois favored it but was absent due to a recent heart attack. All Democrats except Senators Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted against it.

In reaction, Sen. Blunt said, “I am truly disappointed by the partisanship that has been injected into this debate on religious freedoms. Instead of working to pass a bipartisan measure that has been part of our law for almost 40 years, this debate has been burdened by outlandish and divisive efforts to misinform and frighten Americans.

“The fact remains that this provision would simply preserve the fundamental religious freedom that we enjoy today. For the first time in our history, the Obama Administration’s healthcare mandate is an egregious violation of our First Amendment rights. 

“Unfortunately, this is only a glimpse of what Americans can expect as a result of President Obama’s government healthcare takeover – which is why we need to repeal and replace this bill with common-sense bipartisan solutions.

“This fight is not over. I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers of Congress to protect the rights that make our nation great.”

While the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act was killed as an amendment, Sen. Blunt persists in faith and action. After all, he also had introduced it as a bill (S. 1467) complementing H.R. 11790 by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska.

Mr. Blunt and Mr. Fortenberry await committee hearings to move the legislation forward.

On this Friday of February 24, 2012, the White House should have received the Church Declaration of State of Emergency and Status Confessionis by Reverend Rob Schenck on behalf of the National Clergy Council.

For history of the emergency declaration and the White House refusing its delivery on Ash Wednesday, please see our previous article Clergy Declare State of Emergency Over Obama Demands.

The full text of the emergency declaration follows. To download the actual declaration on letterhead with Rob’s signature, click on NCC-EMERGENCY-DECLARATION.

Faith and Action humbly requests your prayers for President Obama and everyone affected by his actions.

——————
February 22, 2012

President of the United States of America
The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

VIA HAND DELIVERY

Re: Church Declaration of State of Emergency and Status Confessionis

Dear Mr. President,

Your recent announcements regarding the policies of your administration on compliance with certain mandates related to health insurance and the implications of these policies for certain religious institutions, and the churches, clergy, and individuals related to them, have induced this DECLARATION.

I send this to you today in my capacities as an ordained minister of 30 years, a missionary to elected and appointed officials here in Washington, DC, as president of the National Clergy Council, each of the constituencies I serve through have, by overwhelming majorities, expressed alarm over the nature of your decisions and the possible consequences of your actions. In this instance, our concerns relate to the way in which your actions have broadly intruded on the sacred and constitutionally protected rights of Americans to religious freedom, and not necessarily to any particulars to the agency of that intrusion.

Mr. President, your recent dicta requiring religious employers to provide certain insurance products to their employees which violate the religious, moral, and ethical teachings and most deeply held convictions of the respective employers, their churches and institutions, is a flagrant abrogation of the First and preeminent right among those adopted by the Constitutional Convention as amendments to the Constitution “in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers” and, with a view toward the purpose of “extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, [that] will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.”

Mr. President, it is with this sense of alarm that the constituents I serve, and that are represented among the Executive Committee of the National Clergy Council, reflecting church leaders of Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions, declare to the churches a State of Emergency and a Status Confessionis, a Time for Speaking, during which we must take extraordinary action to respectfully resist your decrees, state our deeply held and felt reasons for doing so, and call our coreligionists, and all people of conscience, to stand with us in doing so. With one voice we object to your interference in the affairs of religious institutions; and, we state to you our unwavering position on the sanctity of our constitutionally protected right to espouse certain principles of conscience; and, we maintain and insist on our God-given moral rights to act upon these principles of conscience within our respective institutions and in keeping with their attendant prerogatives. Furthermore, while we hope for a resolution to this crisis that includes the rescinding of your directives, we must hold to our convictions and positions and act according to our prerogatives no matter the legal, social, pecuniary, or political consequences.

Mr. President, I remind you of your attendance and words at the National Prayer Breakfast, February 2, 2012, where you expressed your thanks to the keynote speaker, Eric Metaxas, for his address to the attendees. His comments were related, in part, to the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and martyr, who is an exemplar of what it means to hold to and to exercise one’s religious, moral, and ethical convictions, even to the surrender of every other right, including the right to one’s life. Mr. Metaxas gave you a copy of his biography of Pastor Bonhoeffer, which you held up to the audience and to the cameras. I urge you to read the book with this declaration in mind.

Mr. President, please be assured of our highest respect for the office you hold and exercise. Know also, that it is out of this respect that I humbly inform you of these matters and convey to you their meaning and purpose, as an aid to you in understanding the words and actions of late by so many American citizens, institutions, and church leaders. Be assured, as well, of our constant prayers for you in compliance with our Biblical mandate and heartfelt pastoral concern for your soul as you continue to lead our great nation.

My constituents look forward to your personal reply.

I am,

Very truly yours,

Rev. Rob Schenck

WASHINGTON, D.C. Feb. 22, 2012 — The National Clergy Council, representing church leaders of Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox, and Protestant church traditions, has declared a State of Emergency for the Churches in response to the order by President Barack Obama for religious organizations to compromise their religious and moral beliefs by complying with a mandate to provide employees with certain forms of insurance coverage.

In recent days, Jewish rabbis have joined all Catholic bishops in the United States in expressing alarm over the president’s “healthcare” mandates and other violations of the Constitution. The National Clergy Council deliberated for the last week on what it would do, consulting pastors, moral theologians, organizational executives and activists from around the U.S. As a result, the Reverend Rob Schenck, president of the Washington, D.C. based group, will begin the holy season of Lent 2012 by appealing to President Obama for answers with a “State of Emergency and Time for Speaking” declaration to be hand-delivered to the White House on Ash Wednesday, February 22.

Video update: White House refused delivery

Speaking for the council, Rev. Schenck says in his communiqué to the president,  ”[W]e state to you our unwavering position on the sanctity of our constitutionally protected right to espouse certain principles of conscience; and, we maintain and insist on our God-given, moral rights to act upon these principles of conscience within our respective institutions and in keeping with their attendant prerogatives. Furthermore, while we hope for a resolution to this crisis that includes the rescinding of your directives, we must hold to our convictions and positions and act according to our prerogatives no matter the legal, social, pecuniary, or political consequences.”

As Rev. Schenck explains in the document, the action he and his committee have taken is inspired by the Nazi-era hero Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “the German pastor and martyr, who is an exemplar of what it means to hold to and to exercise one’s religious, moral, and ethical convictions, even to the surrender of every other right, including the right to one’s life.” Bonhoeffer wrote on the “status confessionis,” a time when churches must speak out. Schenck says in his letter this is such a time, “during which we must take extraordinary action to respectfully resist your decrees, state our deeply held and felt reasons for doing so, and call our coreligionists, and all people of conscience to stand with us.”

On February 2, President Obama was publicly given the biography “BONHOEFFER: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich” by its author, Eric Metaxas, when he and the president shared a podium at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. In the State of Emergency declaration sent to President Obama, Rev. Schenck urges the president to read the book for insights to the National Clergy Council’s declaration.

Rev. Schenck, also president of Faith and Action, is currently writing his doctoral thesis on Dietrich Bonhoeffer at the Faith Evangelical College and Seminary of Tacoma, Washington.  See more about Confronting the President on Rob’s blog.

The spokespersons for the National Clergy Council on this subject are the Reverend Dr. Charles Nestor, senior fellow for Public Policy, available at 863-698-2270 or magrev1@yahoo.com; and the Reverend Norm Lund, Ph.D., Lutheran moral theologian and advisor on the Theology of Church and State, available at 425-402-9624 or NLund@OxfordTutor.org.

After many religious leaders, including Catholic bishops across America, publicly refused to comply with President Obama’s unconstitutional order to pay for abortion-inducing drugs and other unethical procedures including sterilization, Obama announced an “accommodation” to his orders. He now orders all health insurance companies to provide abortion-inducing drugs“free of charge.”

Thus, Faith and Action’s president, Rev. Rob Schenck, said this is no compromise because it violates the natural rights and liberties of all conscientious objectors and Faith and Action is taking your concerns to Capitol Hill.

Rev. Rob Schenck said, “It’s ludicrous for President Obama to offer a so-called compromise on this egregious violation of religious freedom. The First Amendment expressly forbids him from prohibiting the free exercise of religion. The U.S. founders were crystal clear on that. What’s there to compromise? Certainly not a constitutionally-guaranteed liberty. This action is reason for all religious people – all people of goodwill – to declare a state of emergency. We must speak now or be forever forced to hold our peace.”

Faith and Action invites you to join our chief of program, Peggy Nienaber, and many of our allies to combat this deadly and unconstitutional mandate on Capitol Hill. Here are the details:

Event: “Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience?”
Hearing by the House Committee of Oversight & Government Reform
Date: Thursday, February 16, 2012
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2154, Washington, D.C.

Update: The House Committee of Oversight & Government Reform has provided the following video segment from today’s hearing. It features Bishop Lori and Rev. Harrison answering questions by Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan in addition to commentary by Rep. Walberg:

Also on February 16, our longtime partner Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition will lead a prayer vigil and protest the mandates outside the White House at 10:30 a.m. Members of our partner organization Priests for Life will join forces with Pat Mahoney, along with Operation Rescue, Rock for Life, Students for Life of America, and Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust.

Update: Rev. Mahoney and Father Denis Wilde, O.S.A., a Priests for Life associate, were among six pro-lifers arrested. They were cited for “failure to obey a lawful order” as they knelt in prayer in front of the White House. Each paid a $100 fine and was released from custody.

“Occupy Wall Street protesters have been occupying federal property for months, but when we kneel in prayer, the police are called in and we are arrested,” said Fr. Wilde. “We knew that was the risk when we gathered today and we will do it again regardless of the risk. What people of faith – of every faith – need to do now is stand with us.”

We humbly request your prayers for the success of all efforts to secure the unalienable rights to life, true liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Of course we are with you in faith and action!

One of the important opportunities we have at Faith and Action is assisting our anchor church pastors in serving as Chaplain of the Day at the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The Chaplain of the Day functions in all the duties facing the Chaplain for the Day, including opening the House or Senate session with prayer. That prayer officially becomes part of the Congressional Record. At Faith and Action, a number of our supporting church pastors have had this privilege.

February 8, 2012, the honor of serving as Chaplain of the Day fell to Reverend Dr. David Anderson of Faith Baptist Church in Sarasota, Florida. Dr. Anderson is a longtime friend, colleague and pastor of an important Faith and Action anchor church. He will soon receive an honorary doctorate at Cambridge University, England.

Following the delivery of his power prayer, Rev. Anderson had lunch with Rep. Vern Buchanon of Florida and Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio.

After David’s prayer, Speaker Boehner rose to comment on President Obama’s efforts to force religious hospitals and universities to provide employees with health insurance that would cover abortifacients, sterilization, and contraceptives…stating this would be a attack on religious freedom in our country.

To read the introduction of Rev. Dr. Anderson in the U.S, House as well as his timely prayer, click here.

February 7, 1954, a preacher convinced President Dwight D. Eisenhower and members of Congress to amend the Pledge of Allegiance. Fifty-four years later in 2008, Faith and Action’s Rev. Rob Schenck met that preacher and wrote “My Visit with a Living Saint.” In honor of the late Rev. Dr. George MacPherson Docherty, we’re republishing Rob’s memoir.

Dr. Docherty with President Eisenhower on February 7, 1954.

Different religious traditions use the term “saint” differently. For some, “living saint” is an oxymoron. By this definition, anyone deemed a saint has already passed to Heaven. For others, all faithful Christians are at all times “saints.” In common American parlance a “living saint” is somebody who stands out from others because he/she has lived a God-honoring life that has benefited humanity. The top qualities of living saints reflect the two Great Commandments: They love God and they love their fellow human beings.

To my amazement, one such “living saint” is still, well, living—and I had the privilege of meeting him yesterday! He is George MacPherson Docherty, a retired Presbyterian minister.

Now bedridden at 96, he carries the same dignity he did when he entertained presidents, lectured at universities and kept company with his golfing buddy Billy Graham. It was one of Dr. Docherty’s sermons that helped turn our nation back to God. In fact, it was his preaching that would lead to hundreds of millions of American citizens pledging their allegiance to the flag of “one nation under God.” It’s an amazing story.

For years I have known a little bit about how the Pledge of Allegiance was modified to include the phrase “under God.” It happened in 1954 at the height of the “Cold War” between the United States and the former Soviet Union.

The conflict boiled down to one basic element: The acknowledgment of God as sovereign over humanity and nations. Americans have always been a God-fearing people, while the Soviet Union was an officially atheistic state. America’s founding document, the Declaration of Independence, states unequivocally that our most fundamental human rights come to us as irrevocable gifts from the Creator, not as privileges from the government. Soviet socialism sought to eradicate this notion of God-given rights and replace it with a purely secularist worldview and an all-powerful state.

In response to the advance of such radical secularism, the Knights of Columbus and other groups had launched national petition drives in the early 1950s to insert the phrase “under God” into the Pledge of Allegiance. But it would be a single sermon and a president’s response to it that proved the tipping point.

On Sunday morning February 7, 1954, Dr. Docherty, the Scottish-born pastor of Washington’s famed New York Avenue Presbyterian Church and the successor to pulpit luminary Peter Marshall, preached a sermon entitled “A New Birth of Freedom.” It was the church’s annual “Lincoln Day,” an observance in honor of the 16^th president who regularly attended services there nearly a century before.

Knowing then-President Dwight Eisenhower would be in attendance, Dr. Docherty revised an earlier sermon, this time weaving in his proposal that Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address reference to “one nation under God,” be added to the Pledge of Allegiance.

“We face, today, a theological war,” he thundered from the pulpit in his impressive brogue. “It is not basically a conflict between two political philosophies, Thomas Jefferson’s democracy over against Lenin’s communistic state. Nor is it a conflict fundamentally between two economic systems, between, shall we say Adam Smith’s ‘Wealth of Nations’ and Karl Marx’s ‘Das Capital.’”

Then the preacher launched his proposition, “To omit the words ‘Under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance is to omit the definitive character of the ‘American Way of Life.’”

(Ironically, it wasn’t until 1960 that Docherty himself became an American citizen.)

Eisenhower liked the sermon and bought Docherty’s argument, as did two members of Congress present that morning. (The above photo was taken immediately following the service.) The very next day the legislative initiative was underway and in record time the House and Senate passed the new language for the Pledge. In a floor speech just days after Docherty’s prophetic message, Michigan congressman Charles Oakman said, “The tough moral fiber which has characterized this Nation’s growth to a position of world preeminence must not deteriorate. It was fed on the belief that our destiny was bound to the will of God. It cannot survive unless this spiritual fuel is maintained.”

In answer to a rhetorical question about violating the so-called “separation principle” or the separation of church and state, Oakman said, “A distinction exists between the church as an institution and a belief in the sovereignty of God.”

The modified Pledge was signed into law four months later on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.

Of course, as you probably know, the notorious atheist activist Michael Newdow has recently challenged these words in court. As a result, in 2002, the powerful Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco struck down the clause “Under God” as unconstitutional.

The U.S. Supreme Court then extended a rare privilege to Newdow in 2004. Although the emergency room physician had only just completed a law degree and passed his bar exam, the justices lifted the normal three-year waiting period and permitted Newdow to argue his own case in front of them. It didn’t help; the case was dismissed and sent back to the lower courts to review again. Newdow just reargued it at the Ninth Circuit. No opinion has been rendered yet.

Regardless what the Ninth Circuit or any other court decides, the story of “Under God” in our Pledge reminds us all this struggle for the soul of our American civilization is not over. It will require constant vigilance. It also reminds us of the power of the pulpit. When God’s Word is faithfully proclaimed from the “sacred desk” it reshapes the moral landscape. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord,” reads Proverbs 21:1. “Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever he wishes.”

In the days ahead you’ll hear a lot more from me about George Docherty, his sermon and the Pledge to the Flag of “one nation under God.” While Dr. Docherty is still with us, I am working feverishly with members of Congress to petition the President to confer the Medal of Freedom on him. Dr. Docherty deserves such a great honor for his incomparable contribution to our country, but his receiving it will give the nation another opportunity to consider the profound meaning and consequence of these words. I’ll soon ask you for your help in getting this accomplished in short order. Dr. Docherty is a gift from God to this country, and I’d like to see us say thanks before he departs for Heaven!

Post Script: Rev. Dr. Docherty entered eternity on November 27, 2008.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the War Memorial Protection Act (H.R. 290) on January 24, 2012. It is a bill by Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, member of the House Armed Services Committee and veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The War Memorial Protection Act would permit the inclusion of religious symbols on war memorials. Rep. Hunter introduced it in response to a ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court declaring that the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial Cross in La Jolla, California, is unconstitutional.

Deacon Keith Fournier, an attorney and executive director of Faith and Action’s William Bentley Ball Memorial Archive, analyzes the Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling on the Mount Soledad Cross at Faith and Action’s website. Click here to read Deacon Fournier’s article.

In a statement about his bill, Rep. Hunter said, “For the 131 national cemeteries under the purview of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 48 distinct emblems of belief are currently authorized, including symbols for Atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Muslims.”

He also said, “In the face of legal challenges against Mount Soledad and the likelihood of more to come, it’s important that Congress install the right protection for war memorials in federal law, allowing the spirit and tradition of honoring our nation’s military to continue.”

Rev. Rob Schenck couldn’t agree more. WND, the San Diego Union-Tribune, and sdnews.com covered some of Rob’s work of mobilizing Faith and Action supporters to join both national and local allies in defending the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial Cross.

Last spring, Rob also took action because the Utah Highway Patrol Association was sued by a group called American Atheists Inc. for displaying the names of its fallen troopers on crosses. He and Pastor Myke Crowder of Christian Life Center in Layton, Utah, met with Utah Assistant Attorney General John Swallow. See Faith and Action’s write-up on that case and meeting.

Here’s video of Rev. Rob Schenck at the Utah memorials with Pastor Myke Crowder

Sadly, last fall the U.S. Supreme Court handed a victory to American Atheists Inc. by refusing to hear an appeal to a lower court ruling that requires the Utah Highway Patrol Association to remove memorial crosses for fallen troopers from public properties and strip its name from the crosses no matter where they are – even if the memorial crosses are on private properties.

“It was like making a fatal notification,” Trooper Chad McWilliams, president of the Utah Highway Patrol Association, said of delivering the news to the families of the fallen. “I could hear it in their voices. I was crying with them. To them, it’s a personal attack.” (See more in the Salt Lake Tribune)

The constant barrage of secularists suing over everything even remotely Christian is very personal, but not unexpected. Thus, Jesus Christ told us to take up our crosses and follow Him.

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