The Patriot Post® · Americans Pray It Forward
As Charles Spurgeon once said, “Prayer moves that arm that moves the world.” [Yesterday], that arm provided a hopeful and encouraging sign — Americans all across the nation praying for our country. On the first Thursday of every May, the spell of religious cynicism is broken, and we declare through the National Day of Prayer what America is — and has been: one nation under God. It’s a powerful reminder that while the forces of secularism may be doing everything they can to take God out of our culture, they can’t take Him off our hearts. For one brief day, the hammers swinging away at our greatest pillar of strength — faith — fall silent, and men and women enjoy with one powerful voice the freedom to ask God’s blessing on our nation.
How long this solemn tradition will survive the rough seas of religious liberty is anyone’s guess. But for now, we live in grateful recognition that no government of man or ruling from the courts is more capable of changing this nation than millions of people on their knees in prayer. We are still a country whose highest leader — whether out of obligation or sincere belief — “invites the citizens of our Nation to give thanks, in accordance with their own faiths and consciences, for our many freedoms and blessings.”
Unfortunately for America, that same administration spends the other 364 days undermining the religious freedom it extols. But even the President has not been able to uproot from the hearts of this people the deep faith that has sustained the nation. Under the new world order of the Left, it has certainly tried. While President Obama speaks of the “fundamental right of all peoples to practice their faith how they choose… and to do so free from persecution and discrimination,” dozens of Christian teachers, shop owners, service members, counselors, athletes, public servants, CEOs, lobbyists, and celebrities watch their jobs, life savings, homes, and freedoms vanish under the government’s intolerance.
As he talks of “the strength to do God’s work: to feed the hungry, care for the poor, comfort the afflicted, and make peace where there is strife,” his own Solicitor General warns of a country where churches, charities, and nonprofits are stripped of the tax exemptions they need to help the hurting. Thousands of miles away, when the President speaks of the “prisoners of conscience who are held unjustly because of their faiths or beliefs,” American Pastor Saeed Abedini suffers in an Iranian cell, tortured for his faith — and by his President’s indifference.
Others, like Hillary Clinton, seem to be saying, “enjoy this day while you can,” because “deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs, and structural biases have to be changed…” She is just one in a deep bench of liberal oppressors, biding their time until they can force Christians to change their convictions. Religious liberty, they will tell us, is fine if it’s contained in the four walls of the church. Bring it out into the open and you’ll be treated differently, even punished. “The government should not be giving out prayer instructions,” complained the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State about the National Day of Prayer. “Those who want to pray are more than capable of doing so without government coercion.” Is there anything more ironic that forcing people away from faith in the name of non-coercion?
Still, on this mayday for secularists, there is reason to hope. A handful of committed Christians is the status quo’s worst nightmare. A country of them is culture-changing. If there was ever a nation that needed Jesus, it’s ours. So together, let’s seek God’s face, ever asking, “Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day” — and every day.
GoFundMe Reaches Hypocritical Mass
Aaron and Melissa Klein don’t have much in common with Ray Kasper, convicted sexual predator. But they have even less in common, now that the Kleins have been kicked off GoFundMe — and Ray remains. The felon, who is fighting a “wrongful conviction” for sexual assault, is just one of the shocking examples of the fundraising company’s hypocrisy. A week after pulling the financial rug out from under the Christian bakers fined $135,000 and florist Barronelle Stutzman, GoFundMe’s alleged policy against raising money for “formal charges of heinous crimes” certainly rings hollow here.
For an organization that claims it doesn’t want to be involved with legally dubious donations, take a look at the other campaigns GoFundMe is still collecting cash for: help for a man who plead guilty for marijuana possession, three illegal immigrants facing deportation (two after committing a felony), a group arrested for chaining themselves to Utah tar sands mine equipment, a young man charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, a veterinarian suspended on serious “misconduct” charges, a woman accused of prescription forgery and shoplifting, a jailed dog abuser, a person pulled over for driving 92 mph without a license, a “fugitive from justice,” and a half-dozen more. Obviously, GoFundMe has a selective disdain for lawbreakers, one that apparently only affects Christians with biblical views.
But then, maybe that’s why the website abruptly turned its Terms and Conditions into a playground of ambiguity. The new policy, the Washington Times explains, “includes a ban on campaigns in defense of ‘claims of discriminatory acts’” — a more expansive and intentionally vague standard that could crowd out crowdfunding for conservatives. All Melissa and Aaron Klein are guilty of is exercising the religious liberty the U.S. Constitution guarantees them — and for that, they were deemed unworthy of support by their fellow Americans. Obviously, the real reason had nothing to do with their litigation and everything to do with pressure from the radical Left.
If GoFundMe wants to discriminate against Christians, that’s their business. But at least have the spine to come right out and say it instead of inventing a phony excuse about wrongdoing. One look at their website and it’s clear: the only thing that’s criminal is their application of company guidelines.
This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.