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"1-800 Ten Commandments
The Supreme Court's split decision yesterday on the Ten Commandments continues to resonate. Justice Stephen G. Breyer was the swing vote in both the Texas and the Kentucky cases. Justice Breyer's reasoning will further confuse communities that wish to display religious monuments with historical significance - or is that historic monuments with religious significance? A possible solution might allow Justice Breyer, a Clinton appointee, to establish a 1-800 number that city governments can call to ask the fickle Justice if their display would be permissible. The difference between the two Commandment cases, according to Justice Breyer, was the intent behind the display.
In both cases Justice Breyer apparently read the minds of the people behind the displays and decided the Texas case was meant to be historical, while in Kentucky the only intent was to proselytize. It should be noted that in the Kentucky case a number of other documents, significant to lawmaking and the establishment of our country, were added to the display in question. By guessing the "intent" of the displayers, Justice Breyer turns displaying the Ten Commandments into a "thought crime" - where you can be punished for not what you do but what you intend to do. I will be involved in an hour-long MSNBC "Hardball" special tonight at 7 PM ET prior to President Bush's address to the nation. The event will be filmed at Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville and I urge you to watch, for I am sure the Ten Commandments will be a main topic of discussion.
Religious Discrimination: Allstate Fires Employee
Acts of religious discrimination are troubling citizens both home and abroad. An Allstate employee, J. Matt Barber, recently found himself unemployed and openly vilified for writing an article in the online journal MensNewsDaily.com addressing the issue of same-sex "marriage." J. Matt Barber told WorldNetDaily, "I explained to Allstate that the article was a reflection of my personal Christian beliefs, and that I had every right to both write it and to have it published. I further explained that I had written the article while at home on my own time, that I never mentioned Allstate's name and that I neither directly nor indirectly suggested that Allstate shared my Christian beliefs or my views on same-sex marriage." Allstate did not hide their discrimination. "The claimant was discharged from Allstate Insurance Company because an outside organization had complained about an article he had written while on his own time."
The Barber case follows closely on the heels of a similar story from abroad. Recently in Britain, the Co-operative Bank refused further service to an evangelical Christian group due to the group's anti-homosexual views. Corporations should not discriminate against Christians because of their Christian values and yet the pro-homosexual agenda has become so powerful that it has begun to trump our religious liberty. Please contact Allstate and express your outrage of the dismissal of J. Matt Barber.
Additional Resources
Allstate
Deity and Docs
It was Benjamin Franklin who said "God heals and the doctor takes the fee." But according to a new study by University of Chicago's MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics many doctors realize the powerful role God plays, not only in their patients' lives, but in the lives of the doctors themselves. The study, to be published in the July 2005 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, found 76 percent of the doctors surveyed believe in God, 59 percent believe in an afterlife, and 55 percent said their religious beliefs influence how they practice medicine. A full 90 percent of respondents attend church services regularly. This might have come as a surprise to some, but really shouldn't have. Tending to those who are suffering and securing the blessings of helping those in need are injunctions throughout most religious traditions.
The findings of the study are important in the current debate over medical ethics. Research in ethical stem cell research, such as adult and cord blood stem cells; has increasingly identified treatments and cures for a host of ailments. In contrast experimentation with human embryos has yielded few results while destroying human life. As more and more doctors notice the benefits of ethical stem cell research they will also speak out against the evils of unethical research. Doctors should speak with the strength of their faith and their allegiance to the maxim of the Greek scholar Hippocrates, "First, do no harm."
Please take a minute now to forward this Update to your family, friends, church groups and others. This year presents so many key opportunities, and we need to grow the FRC team to take advantage of these opportunities.
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Another email derviving from the family values 'support' campaign.
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