Separation of church and state is causing most of the nation's current problems. At least that's the contention of God and Country, a new political group in East Texas. It was also the theme of their first rally held on Feb. 18 in Tyler, TX at the Lakeview Church of the Nazarene.
"As a result of the assault on our Western culture," it says on their web page, "we are witnessing corruption, violence, lawlessness, breakdown of the traditional family, and a nation that is becoming secularized."
"With this has come the loss of our freedom and individualism to an overreaching big government/nanny state."
“For decades Christian leaders have been bullied into silence because they thought they would lose their non-profit status if they discussed politics in the pulpit," said Ray Myers, the Kaufman County Tea Party chairman and one of the founders of God and Country. "Now they are realizing that this is unconstitutional.”
Christians, says their web page, are being denied the right to pray in public, or on public school property and to use the name "Jesus" in government meetings and buildings. They're also angry that Ten Commandments and other religious monuments on government property are being challenged.In fact, the idea for the group came out of a December rally to protest the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation's ultimately unsuccessful attempt to have a nativity scene removed from the courthouse lawn in Athens, TX.
“Christians," says Myers, "are drawing a line in the sand and are aggressively and publicly defending 'those certain unalienable Rights' endowed by our Creator. God And Country was founded for the purpose of restoring our Judeo-Christian heritage and the traditional values of America.”
At the rally, Nathan Lorick, a Baptist pastor and a founder of God and Country, said, "Today we are gathered... with one common faith deeply embedded in our hearts. And that is to see America brought back to the day when God was the center of everything we did.
As Pastor Dan Cummins from the Bridlewood Church in Bullard told CBS 19 news, "We need Christ in the economy, Christ in the politics, Christ in the culture."
And how does the group plan to do this? By getting clergy and church leaders to mobilize their congregations and get them going to the ballot box. According to their web page, "For decades Christian Leaders have been bullied by liberals. Pastors have been told they would lose their non-profit status if they mentioned politics in the pulpit. Now Christians are recognizing that this is unconstitutional.
And Pastor Lorick writes, "This is the time when Christian Leaders should stand up for Christianity in America by becoming active in the pulpit while speaking with their congregations about protecting their first amendment rights."
The group is promising that the Tyler rally was only the first.
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