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BREAKING NEWS: Pennsylvania House Speaker bans Jesus Christ from prayers. Heroic Pastor Censored. California City also debates vote to ban Jesus from prayers. "California, Stand Up For Jesus!" State-wide Prayer Rally 5 Aug, 6pm in Lodi, CA. Dear Friends, The right to pray publicly "in Jesus name" is under new attack in Pennsylvania and again in California. Please let me explain to you exactly what terrible events just transpired... The Democrat Speaker of the Pennsylvania House Keith R. McCall has just issued (and enforced) a policy which bans the name of Jesus Christ as illegal speech that may not be uttered during voluntary prayers spoken before the Pennsylvania state legislature. Pastor Gerry Stoltzfoos of
Freedom Valley Worship Center in Adams County, PA had been invited to pray
the invocation at the State-House on June 30th, but McCall's office insisted
on previewing and censoring a written copy of the prayer beforehand. McCall's office then refused to allow Stoltzfoos to say the prayer before the legislature. The Democrat's staff told the pastor that Speaker McCall was afraid of lawsuit by atheist groups. So let's take action... Dear friends, you have stood beside me, to fight battles across the country defending the right to pray publicly "in Jesus name." Together we petitioned and won in the U.S. Congress for military chaplains. We have petitioned and reversed anti-Jesus policies in Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon. You and I have won court victories in Indiana for the right to pray in Jesus' name. We've held 1000+ person rallies in Florida and Virginia, defending hospital and police chaplains. We have stopped (thus far) the anti-Jesus Judge Hamilton by filibuster with nearly 700,000 faxes to the Senate. You made a difference, in Jesus name. But now the anti-Jesus battle has come to Pennsylvania, and I cannot overstate your importance on our team. MCCALL'S SPOKESMAN MISQUOTES THE LAW: Penn. Speaker McCall
spokesman Bob Caton told the York Daily Record (after silencing Pastor
Stoltzfoos from saying "Jesus"), "It is not an attempt to
silence religious leaders, but rather an effort to prevent taxpayers from
having to foot the bill of a lawsuit if someone objects to a prayer's
contents and chooses to sue the state." He did not admit that
if atheist groups sue, the Alliance Defense Fund has offered pro-bono legal
defense of Christian prayers before any legislature, at zero tax-payer expense. Actually, Indiana and Ohio have done the opposite. When sued by atheists to ban Jesus prayers, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals bravely ruled to reverse an anti-Jesus ban, and restored pastors right to pray "in Jesus name" in the Indiana legislature. (I know, because my lawyers and I personally advised the Indiana Attorney General who successfully appealed Hinrichs v. Bosma and WE WON a 2-1 appeals court ruling reversing the anti-Jesus policy). And when the Ohio Speaker Jon Husted had temporarily mollified Democrat complainers by issuing an anti-Jesus prayer policy in 2007, I flew to Ohio and helped the Ohio Christian Alliance mobilize pastors to phone their legislators. So many citizens called to demand free speech, that Speaker Husted bravely reversed his temporary ban, restoring the rights of pastors to pray "in Jesus name" in the Ohio State House. Now in Pennsylvania, Speaker McCall is doing the opposite of what other states and courts have directed.
CHAPLAIN KLINGENSCHMITT FIGHTS "AU" IN PENNSYLVANIA In 2007, the anti-Christian group Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) wrote a threatening letter to four key leaders of the Pennsylvania Senate, demanding they stop and censor pastors from speaking the word "Jesus" in their public prayers. They complained that 25% of the invited pastors used "sectarian language" in prayers before the PA Senate, and threatened a lawsuit if any Jesus prayers were permitted. When I heard of this in 2007, I immediately wrote my own letter to those same four key Pennsylvania Senators, citing three national polls indicating that 76%, 85%, and 94% of voting citizens support all pastors rights to pray according to conscience, even if they pray "in Jesus name" in a public setting. When the Senators realized they could be voted out of office by pro-Jesus voters, they found their nerve and stood firm to allow Jesus prayers in the Pennsylvania Senate. In fact, PA State Senator Rich Alloway (R-Pennsylvania) heard the story and has already invited Stoltzfoos to pray before the state Senate on July 29th, 2009. Not all current members of the PA House fear the atheist complainers. State Rep. Dan Moul (R-Adams County) told the York Daily Record that he objects to McCall's prayer policy. "I personally don't think it's reasonable because our country was founded on Christian-Judeo beliefs. That's who started our government," Moul said. "We should never be ashamed to speak about our Christian beliefs. That's what our prayers are for." Moul
supports a reasonable policy that allows rotating clergy from diverse groups
to pray as guest chaplains according to their own faith.
"Legislators have the ability to leave the floor if they find the
content of prayers offensive," he said. "I am extraordinarily
tired of the vast majority changing our way of life to accommodate a
few," Moul said. As for the argument that the state could face
lawsuits, Moul said simply: "Let 'em sue us." Other Reps and Senators remain
undecided, so.... CALIFORNIA CITY WILL VOTE WHETHER TO BAN JESUS PRAYERS On August 5th, 2009, the city council of Lodi, California will debate and possibly vote to ban the name of Jesus from public prayers offered by guest pastors invited to pray the invocation. Under threat of lawsuit by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, Lodi Mayor Larry D. Hansen said he is considering changing the Lodi city council prayer policy (which has traditionally allowed the word "Jesus" to be spoken in 39 of the last 55 prayers) to instead censor all prayers into a moment of silence, rather than allow diversity of free speech. We can win this battle, just like we won in Tulsa Oklahoma, and Baker City Oregon, if we simply gather large numbers of Christians to take a stand for Jesus. To defend the right to pray "in Jesus name," I posted a free online petition to Lodi City Council, and in one day I collected 500 petition signatures from across the country, asking that city council to allow and defend the right to free speech, and the right to pray "in Jesus name." I then faxed those comments (all 116 pages of them) to all five members of the Lodi City Council, but so far only one has responded. Since our petitions have not yet been heard, I will fly to California and join pastors who will lead a state-wide prayer rally on August 5th at 6pm on the steps of the next Lodi city council meeting, just before they debate and vote at 7pm, at the Carnegie Forum, 305 W. Pine Street Lodi, CA 95240. Driving directions here. Press release here. Invite your pastor and print our CHURCH FLYER HERE, and please help us bring hundreds, if not thousands of Christian citizens to our state-wide CALIFORNIA, STAND UP FOR JESUS prayer rally. Dr. James Dobson already advertised our 5 August rally to his entire Citizenlink Newsletter email list. And the Alliance Defense Fund has already taken up our cause in Lodi, by offering pro-bono legal aide, and suggesting a new pro-Jesus prayer policy they will defend, if the city council votes to continue permitting Jesus prayers rotating among other diverse prayers. But if Christians don't show up in force, the city council may wrongly conclude we don't care, and vote to cave in to atheist threats, and censor and enforce atheistic silence upon ALL forms of prayer, especially prayers offered "in Jesus name." BECOME A RALLY PROMOTER! HOW MANY CALIFORNIANS CAN YOU BRING? Use these seven rally tools here, to bring as many people as possible to our 5 Aug. rally: 1) Our facebook event page is here, making it easy to invite your friends: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=238675845272 2) Tweet these words on
Twitter, just copy and paste: Jesus
prayers under attack! California, Stand Up For Jesus, state-wide prayer
rally 5 Aug 09, 6pm, http://bit.ly/2RyImk Please re-tweet! 3) Please DONATE HERE $25, $35, $55, or $99 so we can air this 60-second radio ad across California. (We will spend
thousands of dollars promoting this rally, without paying our staff.) 4) Sign the free online petition to the Lodi City Council, and ask your friends
to do the same. 5) Download, copy, and
print the 8.5 x 11 CHURCH FLYER for everyone in your church. 6) Email this press release to every California blogger, radio host,
and news reporter you can. 7) Organize a church bus or
carpool from your church, and get driving directions here. There will be a certain
reward in heaven for those evangelists who not only take a stand for Jesus,
but invite many friends to stand for Jesus with us. As the Apostle Paul
said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who
believes...and you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus
Christ." (Romans 1:16, 6 NIV) And as Jesus said, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man
will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory."
(Luke 9:26, NIV). California,
Stand Up For Jesus with us on August 5th. Drive or fly to Lodi from
around the country. Support California, and support other pro-Jesus
pastors, by faxing Pennsylvania too. Thanks for reading our
lengthy analysis. If you read this far, we must agree, so please forward
this email widely to your friends, especially those living in Pennsylvania
and California. |
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P.S. Time is urgent!
The Pennsylvania House and Senate, and the Lodi California City
Council must hear from you whether or not they should take a stand and
protect free speech. Please sign our petitions today. Please
don't wait another minute. Free speech, freedom of religion, and
Jesus are too important to be silenced by anti-Christian extremists. |
