Posts Tagged ‘Obama’

LTRP Note: The following news story is not posted as any kind of endorsement but rather for informational and research purposes only. Please also read: Obama appoints “faith-based” advisory council, “New Spirituality” President’s Plan for Older Citizens, Obama: Grew up with “the Bible and the Koran” – Believes Many Paths Lead to God, Obama Foreshadows the Coming Spirituality

“Faith is not a political issue”
by Eleison Group

Washington, DC (August 25, 2010)—Over 70 prominent Christian leaders and denominational heads from across the ideological spectrum joined together today to call for a stop to the misrepresentation of President Obama’s Christian faith.   In an open letter, these Christian leaders called on the media, public officials, and their fellow Christians to stand with them in opposing those who continue to insinuate that the President is a Muslim, not a Christian.

The full text of the letter and a list of signatories is below.

As Christian leaders— whose primary responsibility is sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with our congregations, our communities, and our world— we are deeply troubled by the recent questioning of President Obama’s faith. We understand that these are contentious times, but the personal faith of our leaders should not be up for public debate.

President Obama has been unwavering in confessing Christ as Lord and has spoken often about the importance of his Christian faith.  Many of the signees on this letter have prayed and worshipped with this President.  We believe that questioning, and especially misrepresenting, the faith of a confessing believer goes too far.

This is not a political issue. The signers of this letter come from different political and ideological backgrounds, but we are unified in our belief in Jesus Christ.  As Christian pastors and leaders, we believe that fellow Christians need to be an encouragement to those who call Christ their savior, not question the veracity of their faith.

Therefore, we urge public officials, faith leaders, and the media to offer no further support or airtime to those who misrepresent and call into question the President’s Christian faith.  And we join with the President in praying that God will continue to bless the United States of America. (Source – Eleison Group)

Some of the signers include:

Jim Wallis

Brian McLaren

Ron Sider

Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz)

T. D. Jakes

Richard Stearns
(Pres. World Vision)

By Aaron Klein
WorldNetDaily

A religion adviser to President Obama has close ties to the imam who wants to build a 13-story Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero. The two have been documented together discussing America as “the ideal place for a renewal of Islam,” WND has learned.

In February, Obama named a Chicago Muslim, Eboo Patel, to his Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Patel is the founder and executive director of Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, which says it promotes pluralism by teaming people of different faiths on service projects.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the controversial Muslim leader behind the plan to build the Islamic center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero, wrote the afterword to Patel’s 2006 book, “Building the Interfaith Youth Movement: Beyond Dialogue to Action.”

Patel is listed as one of 15 “Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow” on the website for the American Society for the Advancement of Muslims, or ASAM, which is led by Rauf.

In Patel’s 2007 book, “Saving Each Other, Saving Ourselves,” he recounts discussing with Rauf the future of Islam in the U.S. Click here to continue reading.

by Berit Kjos

“…when in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another [England] and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights [cannot be taken away], that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. (Thomas Jefferson, primary author)

——————————————————————————–

Is that true? Does our sovereign Creator give us certain “unalienable rights” as American citizens that cannot be lost or taken away?

Like most of our presidents, Barack Obama affirms that historical promise. In The Audacity of Hope, he referred to Jefferson’s introduction as “the foundation of our government” and “the substance of our common creed.”[1]

Yes, we have taken our freedom for granted. But, no, we don’t “arrive” in this world with a bundle of irrevocable rights. Today’s evolving laws and government “entitlements” are actually replacing our original “rights” with unthinkable restrictions on speech and liberty! The most offensive “right” of all is our fading freedom to share God’s unchanging truths! As He warns us,

“…the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” 1 John 5:19

From Freedom to “Change”

James Madison was alert to the threats ahead. As the main author of our “Bill of Rights,” he saw the need to limit government control over personal liberties. Ratified on December 15, 1791, the First Amendment states:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

But, as we have seen, this promised protection is not irrevocable. Step by step, those wise legal guidelines are being torn down.

Historically, it makes sense. God doesn’t promise us earthly “freedom” in this world. Nations that reject His guidelines will suffer the consequences:

“…when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them… when your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God. …you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’… Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods… you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.” (Deut. 8:12-20)

Naturally, that warning doesn’t fit our thinking today. It’s far easier to believe the nice-sounding illusions in The Audacity of Hope that appeal to our feelings than to accept a disturbing reality based on facts. For example, the historical balance Obama mentions in the next paragraph has little in common with his communitarian dictates,[2] which are fast transforming America:

“In every society (and in every individual), these twin strands — the individualistic and the communal, autonomy and solidarity — are in tension, and it has been one of the blessings of America that the circumstances of our nation’s birth allowed us to negotiate these tensions better than most.”[3]

Today, those tensions are simply resolved through his undefined plan for “change,” which embraces the UN vision of communitarianism, solidarity and control. Our old individual “rights” have no place in this rising global collective — nor in the UN Alliance of Civilizations, which recently added America to its roster of western and Muslim nations committed to unity through “dialogue.”

Yet those promised “rights” are fast being crushed by a vast machinery of blurry laws and oppressive regulations. Obama’s next comments only illustrate the confusing double-speak so often heard from Alinksky-trained change-agents:

“…the essential idea behind the Declaration — that we are born into this world free, all of us; that each of us arrives with a bundle of rights that can’t be taken away by any person or any state without just cause; that through our own agency we can, and must, make of our lives what we will — is one that every American understands…. Indeed the value of individual freedom is so deeply ingrained in us that we tend to take it for granted.” To continue reading click here.

LTRP Note: Suzan Johnson Cook (Dr. Sujay), now appointed by Obama as Ambassador for International Religious Freedom,  is a former Clinton spiritual advisor and a “Reverend” with the American Baptist denomination. Her book, Too Blessed to Be Stressed was published by Thomas Nelson. According to the U.S. Department of State:

The Office of International Religious Freedom has the mission of promoting religious freedom as a core objective of U.S. foreign policy. Headed by Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, its Office Director and staff monitor religious persecution and discrimination worldwide, recommend and implement policies in respective regions or countries, and develop programs to promote religious freedom.1

According to a Washington DC press release in 2009, Johnson Cook  is “dubbed Billy Graham and Oprah rolled into one” (i.e., a new spirituality “Christian).

Since aggressively stepping up to the “spiritual” plate during the 911 attacks in 2001, serving as the only NYPD Chaplain’s until now, Dr. Sujay has been called, “America’s Chaplain”. She firmly believes that, “We are mind, body and spirit which means it’s time to put the stress of the current economic decline aside and get back to the basics of life – which is simply getting back in touch with your God, His wonderful promises and purpose for our lives.”2

According to Johnson Cook’s website, she is also a member of Renaissance Weekend, an interfaith think tank that “seeks to build bridges across traditional divides of professions and politics, geography and generations, religions and philosophies.”

The following news story is for informational and research purposes only and in no way an endorsement for the news source, the liberal American Baptist News Service.

VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 6/22/10)—On June 15, the White House announced that President Obama tapped Suzan Johnson Cook, an American Baptist pastor and motivational speaker, for the post of ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. The position of the nation’s top diplomat for religious freedom had remained vacant since Obama’s inauguration in January 2009.

“What a joy to see such an eminently qualified person as Suzan Johnson Cook nominated to this position,” said General Secretary Roy Medley. “Dr. Johnson Cook will bring a passion for religious liberty rooted in her American Baptist heritage along with her keen administrative skills and powerful gifts for communication to this important position. We trust that the confirmation process will be fully affirmative of her nomination.” Click here to continue reading.

Posted on The Berean Call

The New York Times Makes It Official: Obama Has Shifted U.S. Policy Against Israel [Excerpts]

The New York Times officially proclaimed the administration’s changed attitude in a front-page story [April 14, 2010] that ought to send chills down the spine of anyone who believed Barack Obama when he pledged in 2008 that he would be a loyal friend of Israel.

In the view of the paper’s Washington correspondents, the moment that signaled what had already been apparent to anyone who was paying attention was the president’s declaration at a Tuesday news conference that resolving the Middle East conflict was “a vital national security interest of the United States.” Mr. Obama went on to state that the conflict is “costing us significantly in terms of blood and treasure,” thus attempting to draw a link between Israel’s attempts to defend itself with the safety of American troops who are fighting Islamist terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world. By claiming the Arab-Israeli conflict to be a “vital national security interest” that must be resolved, the “frustrated” Obama is making it clear that he will push hard to impose a solution on the parties.

The significance of this false argument is that it not only seeks to wrongly put the onus on Israel for the lack of a peace agreement but that it also now attempts to paint any Israeli refusal to accede to Obama’s demands as a betrayal in which a selfish Israel is stabbing America in the back. The response from Obama to this will be, the Times predicts, “tougher policies toward Israel,” since it is, in this view, ignoring America’s interests and even costing American lives. To continue reading, click here.

Related Information:

The Anti-Israel Revelation

Why the Heathen Rage in a World Gone Amiss

Commentary by Ingrid Schlueter
CrossTalk

Emergent author and teacher, Brian McLaren, is offended because a The Daily Kos has questioned whether “evangelicals” belong in the Democratic party at all. McLaren has been trying to make inroads for “evangelicals” with the Democrats because he doesn’t think Christians should be defined by opposing abortion, gay marriage and so forth. McLaren sees the Democratic Party as a far more Christian kind of party, unlike the greed-driven Republican bunch.

It offends McLaren that the Democrats he has so admired just aren’t that into him and his cronies. McLaren, Campolo, Wallis, Sider and company apparently believed that the Dems would welcome them with open arms as bridge people who could connect the less pugnacious, more intellectual, kinder, more open-minded sort of evangelicals to the Democratic Party. Instead, they are finding out that the party of child-killing, gay marriage and oppressive government is not interested in debate any more than the “religious right” reportedly are. In short, McLaren et al find themselves in a kind of no-man’s land. They reject and despise the “religious right” Republicans, but are far from warm acceptance in the Democratic Party because they insist on using the hated label, “evangelical.” Click here to read more.

Related Information:
Ingrid’s recent talk show on Ft. Hood tragedy
Brian McLaren: Hoping Obama Will Be Our Next President

LTRP Note: Please read the following out-of-house article in conjunction with our October 19th posting, Is Obama Poised to Cede US Sovereignty?. 

By AFP

Geneva – The World Council of Churches on Thursday called on churches around the world to ring their bells 350 times during the Copenhagen climate change summit on December 13 as a call to action on global warming.

The leading council of Christian and Orthodox churches also invited places of worship for other faiths to join a symbolic “chain of chimes and prayers” stretching around the world from the international date line in the South Pacific.

“On that Sunday, midway through the UN summit, the WCC invites churches around the world to use their bells, drums, gongs or whatever their tradition offers to call people to prayer and action in the face of climate change,” the council said in a statement.

“By sounding their bells or other instruments 350 times, participating churches will symbolise the 350 parts per million that mark the safe upper limit for CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere according to many scientists,” it added.  Click here to read more.

by Star Parker
WorldNet Daily

President Obama has signed into law the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Actually, he signed into law the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act tacked onto which was the hate-crimes legislation.

Sen. Harry Reid, our brave Democratic majority leader, slipped the hate-crimes bill into the defense authorization bill to avoid having to have our senators consider the controversial hate-crimes legislation on its own.

It’s for good reason that our Democratic legislators wanted to hide under a rock while passing this terrible piece of legislation. It may help them with the far-left wing of their party. But weakening and damaging our country is not something to be proud of. And that is exactly what this new hate-crimes law does.

The bill adds on extra penalties to violent crimes when it is deemed they were motivated by gender, sexual orientation or disabilities. It’s the first major expansion of hate-crimes legislation originally passed in 1968, targeted then to crimes aimed at race, color, religion and national origin.

After signing this new law, President Obama celebrated it by saying that in this nation we should “embrace our differences.” Click here to continue reading.

Related Articles:
Hate Crimes Bill Passes House – Christian Leaders Partly to Blame