By Alan on Aug 07 in Blog tagged American, blacks, Catholics, choose, God, lovinng, Obama, religion, Romney, Serve, the Lord, this day, vote | Comments Off

Would It Be Wrong To Ask All Catholics

To Vote For Romney?

Obama Has Asked All Blacks To Vote For Him!

Every God loving American, what ever your religion, needs to see this video and share it!

  “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  

Josh. 24: 15

Paul Linford
For The Family 

By Alan on Mar 08 in Blog tagged Americans, bailed out irresponsible banks, Catholics, conscience, curtail religious freedom, decisions by Obama Administration, federal government under Obamacare is boundless, for abortion, freedom of religion, hard working person, have not been silenced, liberties are in jeopardy, mandate, not at peace, our country was founded on certain freedoms, prepare for tough-times, provide health care coverage, the call for liberty, The Government, thomas jefferson | Comments Off

The Calls for Liberty Have Not Been Silenced

Call it what you want — a circus, a sideshow, or just plain old political rhetoric — but for the past week America has watched the media elite and some in Washington bend over backward to turn attention away from an issue that is fundamental to the future of this country: Obamacare’s attack on individual liberty. While those who favor its mandates may think they have changed the debate and quelled opposition, they are sorely mistaken.

It all stems from a decision by the Obama Administration to mandate that religious employers, including schools, hospitals, and charities, provide health care coverage for abortion-inducing drugs and contraception despite the fact that such coverage is in total contradiction of many of these groups’ core religious beliefs. Some have attempted to make this a debate about other issues, but despite their efforts, the core complaint about this anti-conscience mandate remains: The President’s policy is an unprecedented attack on all Americans’ rights as protected by the First Amendment. And those who prize religious liberty aren’t backing down.

In a letter last week to Catholic bishops in the United States, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York and president of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, described his resolve to continue opposition to the mandate, despite the White House’s call to come to the table of so-called “accommodation”:

We have made it clear in no uncertain terms to the government that we are not at peace with its invasive attempt to curtail the religious freedom we cherish as Catholics and Americans. We did not ask for this fight, but we will not run from it . . .

At a recent meeting between staff of the bishops’ conference and the White House staff, our staff members asked directly whether the broader concerns of religious freedom — that is, revisiting the straight-jacketing mandates, or broadening the maligned exemption — are all off the table. They were informed that they are. So much for ‘working out the wrinkles.’ Instead, they advised the bishops’ conference that we should listen to the “enlightened” voices of accommodation . . .

Given this climate, we have to prepare for tough times.

Catholics are by no means alone in their outrage against the mandate. More than 2,700 evangelical pastors and Christian leaders have signed a Family Research Council letter to the President in which they, too, voice their defense of liberty:

Our country was founded on certain freedoms, the first of which is the freedom of religion. The ability of a religious person to follow their conscience without fearing government intervention has long been a protected right for Americans. It is unfathomable to picture a country that would deny religious freedoms.

. . . Thomas Jefferson drafted the Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom in 1779, which passed in 1786, and set the stage for the First Amendment. In it, Jefferson states: “to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical.” Consequently, we ask that you would reverse this decision and protect the conscience rights of those who have biblically-based opposition to funding or providing contraceptives and abortifacients.

But it’s not just religious institutions that will feel the brunt of the mandate. As Dolan points out, individual believers will be forced to pay for measures that violate their religious freedom and conscience. He writes, “We can’t abandon the hard working person of faith who has a right to religious freedom.” Individual liberties are in jeopardy, and the assault on freedoms is not limited just to the right to practice one’s faith. Indeed, the power granted to the federal government under Obamacare is boundless, and Washington will have growing leverage to make decisions that alter our lives in ways that can’t even be predicted.

Billie Tucker, a leader of Florida’s First Coast Tea Party, says that this is but the next step in a troubling trend:

First they came for our money when they bailed out irresponsible banks, companies and individuals. Our personal and national financial security is now at risk.

Then they took away the ability to choose our own doctors, insurance carriers, and treatments. “It is only fair,” they said as they rammed down our throats the most intrusive legislation ever in our lifetime. Our personal health is now at risk.

And now they come for what drove so many of our founding fathers to America’s shores. They want to mandate religious institutions, schools, and people of faith by forcing them to pay for morally objectionable services that run counter to their religious beliefs. Freedom of religion is now at risk.

The First Amendment has been dismantled before our eyes.

America is now at risk.

No matter the direction the debate has taken, the deeply flawed policy remains, as does the opposition. Fortunately, Americans are not powerless to take action against this continuing encroachment on liberty.

To begin with, Congress can and should take action now to stand in opposition to this anti-conscience mandate and ensure that the liberties guaranteed under the First Amendment remain intact.

As Obamacare’s two-year anniversary approaches, we’ve already seen two monumental reasons it must be repealed: the individual mandate and the anti-conscience mandate. But these are by no means the last of Obamacare’s attacks on Americans’ liberty.

The anti-conscience mandate must go. Obamacare must go.

Gilbert Howe
For The Family 

By Alan on Feb 07 in Blog tagged awakens a sleeping giant, Bill Donohue, Catholics, Evangelical Christians, faith denominations, fiolated, first ammendment, jews, lawsuits, meddling in church affairs, Obama Administration, Obamacare, religious freedom, Roman Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Mormons, unite together | Comments Off

Obamacare Awakens A Sleeping Giant

It is a rare moment indeed when faith denominations of all stripes unite together in common cause, and it is rarer still when that cause is a political one, with a sole piece of legislation as its principal target. But when that law eviscerates the very foundation of religious liberty in America as protected under the First Amendment, it should not be surprising that Catholics and Jews, evangelical Christians, and mainline Lutherans alike find common cause in defense of their liberties.

Such is the case with the firestorm of opposition to Obamacare and the Obama Administration’s attack on religious liberty. Under a new Obamacare mandate issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the White House is mandating that virtually all religious employers, with the exception of churches, provide health care coverage for contraception — including abortion-inducing drugs — thereby trampling upon their constitutionally guaranteed free exercise of religion. And it is this mandate that has caused a vehement response in churches and synagogues across the country.

Yesterday, the head of the Catholic League, Bill Donohue, warned that the nation’s 70 million Catholics are ready to go to war with the Administration’s dictates, saying “Never before, unprecedented in American history, for the federal government to line up against the Roman Catholic Church. This is going to be fought out with lawsuits, with court decisions, and, dare I say it, maybe even in the streets.”

Donohue’s remarks follow those of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and at least 153 Catholic bishops opposition, across the country who have weighed in with opposition to the mandate. “We Catholics will be compelled to either violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees and suffer the penalties for doing so,” wrote Bishop Alexander Sample of Marquette, Michigan. Those penalties include fines imposed by the federal government that could cost larger organizations millions of dollars per year.

The Catholic Church is not alone in its opposition to Obamacare’s onslaught against religious freedom. David Addington, The Heritage Foundation’s vice president of Domestic and Economic Policy, details the growing ranks of the faithful who say the Obama Administration has crossed a very dangerous line. The National Association of Evangelicals commented that “The HHS rules trample on our most cherished freedoms and set a dangerous precedent” and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America stated, “In declining to expand the religious exemption within the healthcare reform law, the Obama Administration has disappointingly failed to respect the needs of religious organizations such as hospitals, social welfare organizations and more.” The Agudath Israel of America stated its opposition, and the second most likely religion to oppose abortion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Mormons),Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America.

The Obama Administration is beginning to feel the pressure. On Sunday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius authored an op-ed in USA Today defending the Obama Administration’s actions, claiming that a very narrow exemption to the mandate is evidence that the White House is “working to strike the right balance between respecting religious beliefs and increasing women’s access to critical preventive health services.” That exemption, though, does not apply to institutions like religious schools and hospitals. Sebelius might claim the Administration is offering grace to people of faith, but in fact it is not. In an editorial that ran the same day as Sebelius,’ USA Today agreed with those standing on the side of religious liberty, writing that “in drawing up the rules that will govern health care reform” the Obama Administration “galloped over” the line and violated the “simple proposition that the government should steer away from meddling in church affairs.”

The Obama Administration’s actions, though entirely counter to the freedom of religion, should not be surprising given the nature of the President’s health care law.

Obamacare has given the federal government broad power over one-sixth of the American economy and thereby purports to grant Washington the power to force religious institutions to take actions contrary to their faith.

Addington writes that this kind of concentration of power “has proved to be a drastic and dangerous experiment.” America’s religious leaders and the faithful have awoken to this wolf at their door and are lashing out in defense of their freedoms. Congress, too, should act now by repealing Obamacare and restoring the religious liberty that is so central to our way of life.

By Alan on Apr 15 in Blog tagged all faiths, baptists, Catholics, central to civilization, evangelicals, jews, love and righteousness, Mormons, parents duty, protestants, rear their children, russian orthodox, The Family, theFamily, world of turmoil | Comments Off

TheFamily.com includes many families of many faiths like Catholics, Evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Mormons, Jews, Baptists, Russian Orthodox and other adherents to traditional faiths who are united in their recognition of the role of The Family in divine scheme and its centrality to civilization. Alan Osmond

In a world of turmoil and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to make our families the center of our lives and the top of our priorities. Families lie at the center of our Heavenly Father’s plan.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children.  ‘Children are an heritage of the Lord’ (Psalms 127:3).

Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.”

We need to make our homes a place of refuge from the storm, which is increasing in intensity all about us. Even if the smallest openings are left unattended, negative influences can penetrate the very walls of our homes.

Parents are to preside over their own families.

Children and youth are shown, through prophetic words and through living examples, the importance of loving and honoring their parents. Parents are taught ways of building and maintaining close family ties, both in good times and in difficult times. The good spirit will help fill your homes with warmth, love, and the strength of the gospel.

“The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.

“Light and truth forsake that evil one. …

“And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers.

“But I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth.”

May this be our goal for enjoying the light and truth of the gospel in our homes. May our homes truly become places of refuge from the world is my humble prayer,

Alan Osmond
For The Family

By Alan on Feb 04 in Blog tagged Catholics, constitution, defenders of conscience, faith, first Amendment Right, Freedom, freedoms, God, Importance of Religion, nation, society, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, valued | 3 Comments

Click to See Video: Elder Dallin H Oaks

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. (Click for Video!)

In a landmark address today to the Chapman University School of Law, Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints affirmed the importance of the free exercise of religion and called for people to work together to protect this First Amendment right. “It is imperative that those of us who believe in God and in the reality of right and wrong unite more effectively to protect our religious freedom to preach and practice our faith in God,” he said.

Elder Oaks outlined the positive impact religion has had on society.

“In our nation‘s founding and in our constitutional order, religious freedom and its associated First Amendment freedoms of speech and press are the motivating and dominating civil liberties and civil rights,” Elder Oaks said. This freedom is founded upon “religious principles of human worth and dignity” that protect the conscience of all individuals. He further emphasized that “only those principles in the hearts of a majority of our diverse population can sustain that Constitution today.”

Elder Oaks stated that religious values and political realities are “so interlinked in the origin and perpetuation of this nation that we cannot lose the influence of religion in our public life without seriously jeopardizing our freedoms.”

Elder Oaks noted instances in which individuals who have spoken out or acted in accordance with their religious beliefs have been disciplined, dismissed from their employment and otherwise punished, describing these cases as another sign of the threat to the free exercise of religion.

“All of this shows an alarming trajectory of events pointing toward constraining the freedom of religious speech by forcing it to give way to the ‘rights’ of those offended by such speech,” Elder Oaks said.

In calling for a united effort among religions to defend religious freedom, Elder Oaks said such a coalition need not be associated with a particular religious group or political party.

“I speak for what Cardinal Francis George described in his address at Brigham Young University just a year ago. His title was ‘Catholics and Latter-day Saints: Partners in the Defense of Religious Freedom.’ He proposed “that Catholics and Mormons stand with one another and with other defenders of conscience, and that we can and should stand as one in the defense of religious liberty. In the coming years, interreligious coalitions formed to defend the rights of conscience for individuals and for religious institutions should become a vital bulwark against the tide of forces at work in our government and society to reduce religion to a purely private reality. At stake is whether or not the religious voice will maintain its right to be heard in the public square.”

In an interview prior to his speech, Elder Oaks said, “What unites us in religion is far more important than what divides us in the capacity to speak up for religious freedom.”