Political Correctness and Persecution

By: American Decency Staff

In recent years prophetic voices have been warning of the future erosion of our religious freedom in the name of political correctness.  And many, including ADA,  have warned that the passage of federal “hate crimesâ€Â legislation last summer under the Obama administration –  which allows for greater punishment for criminals based on their thoughts, as well as their actions – is a giant step toward restricting the speech of Christians.  Pro-family and Christian leaders caution that we are on the path of making it illegal for pastors to preach what God’s Word says about homosexuality. In recent months and years we have seen numerous accounts of attacks upon Christian speech – home Bible study groups declared unlawful by local municipalities, high school students denied the right to pray, employees fired for their expression of religious beliefs.  Don Wildmon’s book Silencing the Christians gives sobering accounts of Christian oppression in America today. No more glaring an example of political correctness trumping religious liberty and a chilling indication of the direction of our nation was last week’s decision by U.S. Army officials to disinvite Franklin Graham from speaking at this year’s National Day of Prayer service at the Pentagon.  Graham was disinvited because he exercised his freedom of speech, expressing his views on Islam and stating what all true Christians believe, that Christ is the only way of salvation. ******************* OneNewsNow.com posted this report: Pentagon advisor: Graham's snub reflects Obama's influence Evangelist Franklin Graham is calling on people of faith to pray for President Obama and his advisors in the wake of Graham's rejection as a speaker at the Pentagon early next month. One Pentagon advisor says that rejection wouldn't have happened while George W. Bush was in the White House. Last week, after the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other groups complained about statements Graham had made about Islam, the Army announced he was no longer invited to be the lead speaker at a May 6 Pentagon service held in conjunctions with the National Day of Prayer. His earlier comments about the Muslim faith were "not appropriate," stated an Army spokesman. … The evangelist says all he wants to do is share the truth about Jesus. "We can have hope and faith in Christ, and we can have that assurance of forgiveness of sins, salvation, eternal life — and I want everyone to know this,â€Â Graham tells OneNewsNow. “I'm an evangelist, that's what I do — and to have a few Muslims and some others complain and [then] for a Christian minister not to be permitted to speak at a Christian service? It's troubling.â€Â “Graham says it is difficult today for people to voice their beliefs without being accused of hate speech. ‘I'm not targeting the Muslims out of hate. I love them,’ he emphasizes, ‘but I don't agree with them. Of course they disagree with me, but no one says anything about that. "But I disagree with Islam,â€Â Graham continues. “I don't believe it's the truth — and I don't believe that anyone following Islam is going to get to heaven.â€Â Graham is encouraging his fellow Christians to pray for the president and his advisors. “People who believe in the power of prayer, stand with us and pray that God would intervene in this administration and change the hearts of our president and those counseling [and] standing around him,â€Â he urges. … Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis (USA-Ret.) works at the Pentagon and shares the concerns of the others over the direction the Obama administration has taken in dealing with Islam. He points out that this is not the first time Muslims have complained about Franklin Graham appearing at a military prayer event. "They complained when Franklin Graham was there [at the Pentagon] in 2003, too — but I really think what's behind this is the change of administration," he suggests. "I don't think this would have happened back during the Bush administration," Maginnis explains. "It's only because of President Obama's, I suppose, desire to ingratiate himself to the Islamic world that we began to see references to Islam in our strategic documents removed." Maginnis admits he finds this particular situation "very, very distressing." http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=986700 ************** OneNewsNow.com also reports on a press release by Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, stating: "Franklin Graham is being barred [from the event] for publicly stating nothing more than [what] Christian evangelists have preached for centuries," Wicker says in a press release. "To ban from an ecumenical service every person who believes their faith is the true religion is taking political correctness several steps too far." Ministers who have "fervently advocated their own religious beliefs in an entirely different context" should not be prohibited from participating in ecumenical events, the senator continues. "What they're saying is that a Christian evangelist who has basically given his message publicly to the exclusion of other religions is somehow now unfit to go to an evangelical prayer event. If you take it to that extreme, any preacher who'd ever preached revival [or] brought the message of Jesus dying for our sins would now be excluded from being invited to a prayer event at a defense facility because they're being exclusive," he concludes. http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=985012 Express your support and appreciation to Franklin Graham. Contact Mr. Graham at the address below or email him via his assistant at rwinkler@samaritan.org A sample letter is also included. ********************* Sample Letter: Dear Mr. Graham: I am saddened to hear that your invitation to speak at the National Day of Prayer service held at the Pentagon has been rescinded by U.S. Army officials because of your expression of Biblical truth regarding the Muslim religion – stating, as you have, that Islam is a religion that enslaves and that freedom and salvation come only through faith in Christ. I want you to know that you have my support and appreciation for your willingness to speak the truth in love – proclaiming Christ as Savior and Lord.  In a day of such political correctness, thank you for having the courage to not compromise, but to stand boldly for Truth.   You are an encouragement to me and millions of believers to not back down when our beliefs offend the world as Christ said they would. Sincerely, ******************** Address: Franklin Graham c/o Samaritan’s Purse PO Box 3000 Boone, NC  28607 =============================================== Your support is important to our ability to make a difference: donate online at: https://secure4.afo.net/ada/donate.php American Decency Association Bill Johnson, President P.O. Box 202 Fremont, MI 49412 ph: 231-924-4050 www.americandecency.org http://www.twitter.com/billwjohnson

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