Pastor on Politics: The long arm of Obama

Here is something that concerns me. Back in February I read an article entitled:   Chaplains risking "Treason" if they preach against Obama

Chad Groening at OneNewNow.com published an important article about President Obama's persecution of military chaplains:  The title grabbed my attention.

Chad Groening works for OneNewsNow – it is an online newspaper that is written from a Christian perspective.  Here is what Chad reports:  A former Navy chaplain was forced out of the service for praying publicly in Jesus' name while in uniform.   This man’s name is Gordon Klingenschmitt and he says that the Obama administration is clearly trying to censor military chaplains who dare to speak out against the pro-abortion and pro-homosexual agenda.  I think we should pay attention to this! 

Friends, I think we should take a stand to protect military chaplains First Amendment rights.   Charges of 'sedition' and 'treason' if they preach against Obama, cannot continue!  Listen if it happens in the military now, in 5 – 10 – 20 years it will happen to civilian preachers like myself.  

Can you fathom we now live in a country where our executive branch threatens Chaplains:  "You can't preach against me in chapel."

Does it bother you that the Obama Administration would directly threatened military chaplains with "sedition" or equivalent charges of "treason" if they dare to preach against his administrative abortion policies during optional Sunday worship inside military chapels?  It does me. 

It seems to me that there now exist a conflict between the Catholic Church and the Obama administration policies on more than just the issue of insurance and contraceptives.  To me this new front is even more reaching.  Here is the issue as I see it:   In the U.S. military itself can the government control what Chaplin’s teach and preach?

All of us know how the Catholic Church was and is up in arms over the Department of health and human services ruling that would have made them buy insurance for things they consider sinful - contraception, sterilization and abortion, if that were not enough now they must fight another front with Catholic military chaplains.  

We saw several bishops in our country who sent out letters to be read in their parishes saying that the Church 'cannot-and will not-comply with this unjust law.'

"Even the Archbishop, who is in charge of Catholic military chaplains sent out  a letter to all military chaplains urging their churches not to comply with this unjust law... 

But guess what?  After he did, the Army's Office of the Chief of Chaplains sent out another communication forbidding Catholic priests who were in the military to read the letter, in part because it seemed to encourage civil disobedience, and could be read as seditious against the Commander-in-Chief.

Chaplains should be free to express their religious beliefs, and freely teach and counsel against immorality in our military.  But religious liberty of our military chaplains and troops is under attack.   Wake up America, let us take our heads out of the sand and beware.

Focus on the Family reports good news:  there is a representative in Kansas who introduced a bill aiming to protect chaplains and other members of the Armed Services who oppose homosexuality from being targeted for discrimination. It also seeks to keep military property from being used to perform same-sex ceremonies.  I looked up him this bill up at www.govtrack.us  and it has been sent to committee in hopes that it will never resurface. 

In part, the Military Religious Freedom Protection Act (HR 3828) reads that 'a service member ‘cannot be denied promotion or other training opportunities for any sincerely held beliefs he has about the appropriate or inappropriate expression of human sexuality.'

Fundamental to the core of America is the protection of religious liberty, for crying out loud we were founded on the principle of religious freedom.  A few weeks ago when the executive branch threatened the judicial branch concerning this Obama care… I was outraged!  However, for the executive branch to interfere and intrude in religious principles and convictions is out right alarming.

Here is the bottom line:  our military exist to protect America.  The Military is called upon to provide a defense of our nation, protect our boarders and citizens, thus providing a continuance our freedoms.  It does not exist to promote or protect a limited social agenda.

According to the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, the threat of sedition immediately created a nerve-racking effect on free speech among the troops and a 'climate of fear' for chaplains.  Is that what we want?  A government that produces fear?  If our government produces fear in the military today – just how long will it be before that fear reaches into our minds as common citizens of the state?   These chaplains did not know what their rights were in this ever changing environment, especially when it came to addressing and speaking about homosexual behavior.  The issue of homosexually was a core issue in this debate.

When Paul the Apostle said God gave them over, literally this word means to hand over. God hands them over; he says you've come to the place where there is the suppression of the truth there is the rejection of who I am. There is rebellion in your heart to worship anything, So God comes to the place where be abandons man, he hands them over.  Basically God comes to the place where he says I am going to take my hands off of you!   He says I’m taking my hands away from you!    He does not just say this once he says it three times!  Maybe the “they” and ‘them” in Romans 1 verses 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, and v31 is us as Americans.  

There is a signal sin throughout the scriptures.  There is a signal sin sent to culture throughout the Bible.  That signal sin says that God has his hands off of you now.  It is the signal that God has removed his hand from a culture.  It is the signal that God has said I no longer will be involved with you!    Now I want you to listen and pray for me – because this is not easy to preach!  You see it all the way through the word of God – it is the sin of homosexuality.  When you see that embraced in the culture it is a sign that God has turned you over.

Do you see the sign?