This week on Faith on Trial

This week was historic, the first HHS mandate case was appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court and we have one of the attorneys who filed that appeal: Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defending Freedom.  He will give us the background on the case, his client, and what this case means for religious freedoms in this country.  Our other guest this week is a Baptist pastor from San Antonio, Texas, Steve Branson.  Last week we discussed the plight of an Air Force Sergeant, Phillip Monk, who was relieved of his duties and placed under investigation for disagreeing with his lesbian commander over same-sex marriage. Then we visited with Sgt. Monk’s attorney; this week we will visit with his pastor who will fill us in on some other happenings at Lackland Air Force Base.

Our program airs at 8 a.m. Saturday; 2 & 7 Sunday and 9 p.m. Monday on Iowa Catholic Radio 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming live on http://iowacatholicradio.com.  All times are Central.

Abortion practitioner failed to report statutory rape of 13-year-old girl

An Indiana abortion practitioner is coming under fire today for failing to file a timely report on the abortion he did on a 13-year-old girl who was victimized by statutory rape.

Allen County Right to Life, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, filed complaints with the Indiana Attorney General’s office and the Indiana Medical Licensing Board over the Fort Wayne abortion doctor failing to properly report an abortion on a 13-year-old as required.

The report, which was filed late, shows that a 13-year-old had an abortion performed by Dr. Ulrich Klopfer, of the Fort Wayne Women’s Health Organization abortion facility, on February 7. The Indiana Department of Health reported receiving the report on July 25, not within three days of the abortion procedure as specified by law.

According to Indiana abortion law, a physician performing an abortion on a patient less than 14 years of age must file a state-issued form within three days of the abortion with the state department of health and the department of child services. Indiana law specifies that failure to report is punishable with a Class B misdemeanor. In Indiana, sex with a person under 14 is recognized as child molesting, regardless of the male’s age.

Minneapolis Archbishop Nienstedt: abortion, contraception, gay ‘marriage’ threaten ‘the stability of our civilization’

Kristen Anderson of LifeSiteNews reports:

Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt has again angered pro-abortion and homosexual

activists with remarks he made at a Catholic conference in California last month in which he referred to pornography, homosexual acts, contraception and abortion as “evil forces” used by Satan to destroy natural family relationships and destabilize civilization.
“Today, many evil forces have set their sights on the dissolution of marriage and the debasing of family life,” Niendstedt told his Catholic audience. “Sodomy, abortion, contraception, pornography, the redefinition of marriage, and the denial of objective truth are just some of the forces threatening the stability of our civilization.

“The source of these machinations is none other than the Father of Lies. Satan knows all too well the value that the family contributes to the fabric of a good solid society, as well as the future of God’s work on Earth.”

Read the entire article here.

Praying for abortions under the dome in Iowa

Over the past few months, Liberty Counsel has provided many guests for Faith on Trial including Matt Staver who you can meet in this video discussing the recent “prayer for abortion” held at the Iowa State Capitol recently which was attended by two Democratic candidates for Iowa Governor.

Judge bars Jewish man from his own trial in dispute over head covering; then finds him guilty in absentia

The Rutherford Institute has come to the defense of a Jewish man who was barred from participating in his own trial after a judge removed him from the courtroom for insisting on wearing a head covering in keeping with his Jewish beliefs. Stephen Orr, a resident of Chesapeake, Va., was tried in absentia and found guilty, after a judge denied his request to wear a hat, or “kippah,” into the courtroom in keeping with a Jewish mandate that persons wear a head covering at all times. The judge allegedly based his denial on the fact that other Jewish litigants appear in court without a head covering.

“As Jewish Americans prepare to celebrate Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar, we would do well to remember that in many parts of this country, the right to freely practice one’s religious beliefs remains an uphill battle, and that’s true no matter what your religious beliefs, whether you’re a Jew, a Christian, a Muslim, a Hindu, or an atheist,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “State law and the First Amendment clearly prohibit the government and its agents from impeding the free exercise of religion. For Stephen Orr, that means wearing a hat into the courtroom. For someone else, it might be the right to mention God in a graduation speech, or avoid eating particular foods. It’s not up to the government to decide whether one’s religious beliefs are credible so long as they are sincere.”

The program this week

On Faith on Trial this week: Jeff Mateer, general counsel with Liberty Institute on a new ordinance in San Antonio that is directed against Christians, and Mike Berry, also from Liberty Institute on an Air Force sergeant whose career is in jeopardy because he disagreed with his lesbian commander about same sex marriage.  Tune in this week: Saturday 8 a.m.; Sunday at 2 & 7, and Monday at 9 p.m. on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM, 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming live on IowaCatholicRadio.com.  Times are Central.

Liberty Institute considers suit against San Antonio’s new ordinance; will discuss legality and next moves on this week's Faith on Trial

Liberty Institute President and CEO Kelly Shackelford issued the following statement following the passage of the City of San Antonio’s controversial ordinance regarding its so-called “non-discrimination” policy. Liberty Institute warns that it is unconstitutional for any government, including the City of San Antonio, to prohibit the free exercise of religion and to make it a “thought crime” to hold traditional biblical views on sexuality.

“This is a sad day for San Antonians, for Texans, and for all Americans when the City of San Antonio has seen fit to pass this so-called “non-discrimination” policy granting special status and rights to homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender individuals at the expense of the religious liberty rights of its citizens and businesses,” said Liberty Institute President and CEO Kelly Shackelford. “The ordinance, plain and simple, stifles free speech and tramples religious liberty, targeting citizens and businesses that hold traditional views about sexuality. The ripple effect of this law could go far beyond San Antonio.  This is not something that just affects residents of San Antonio.  This should alarm every American who values their religious freedom.”

“We at Liberty Institute believe this and similar ordinances can be defeated in court, and we are currently evaluating legal action against the City of San Antonio.”

Liberty attorney Jeff Mateer will discuss this with us this week on Faith on Trial, on Iowa Catholic Radio: 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM. And streaming live on IowaCatholicRadio.com; Saturday at 8 a.m.; Sunday at 2 & 7, and Monday at 9 p.m.

ADF: Schools have legal right to permit Bible distribution

After the ACLU threatened Kentucky school districts with lawsuits because of Bible distributions, a legal organization says it stands ready to help the schools. Alliance Defending Freedom has sent letters to the 174 threatened school districts to inform them that the law is on their side if they cooperate with the Gideons.

Rory Gray, legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, says the ACLU knows case law exists allowing distribution of religious literature in public schools.

“If the school district enacts a neutral literature distribution policy,” says Gray, “it’s extremely unlikely that the ACLU will sue them because they know the law that’s on the books.”

Pastor can hand out Bibles at city's Harley-Davidson festival

The City of Greenfield, Wisconsin, agreed last week to allow a pastor to continue distributing Bibles on public streets at a Harley-Davidson Festival after receiving a letter from Alliance Defending Freedom. Police had threatened the pastor with arrest for peacefully handing out the Bibles to willing passers-by at the festival.

“No one should be threatened with arrest simply because they choose to exercise their First Amendment freedoms in a public place,” said Legal Counsel Jon Scruggs. “We commend the city for promptly agreeing to respect the constitutionally protected right of this pastor and all Americans to peacefully distribute faith-based literature.”

On Aug. 28, David Murray went to West Layton Avenue to express his religious faith and distribute Bibles during the Harley-Davidson Festival, which is free and open to the public. Security officers and Greenfield police officers ordered Murray to stop expressing his beliefs and to move to the adjacent sidewalk behind the festival vendors, an area no one accesses.

As the Alliance Defending Freedom letter explained, “Lawrence desires to convey his religious beliefs through activities protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. According to the Supreme Court, oral and written dissemination of religious viewpoints are entitled to the utmost constitutional protection.”

The letter also explained that “expression in a traditional public forum deserves the highest level of protection, and any infringement of speech activity there must overcome great scrutiny.”

Greenfield’s police chief responded in an e-mail to Alliance Defending Freedom that “personnel have been advised to allow your client’s activity within the public streets, sidewalks and right of way.”

 “The government should not harass and threaten citizens for exercising their constitutionally protected freedoms in public,” added Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot, a guest on Faith on Trial. “The city of Greenfield has rightly understood this, and we will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that this pastor’s freedom to share his faith is respected. The First Amendment specifically protects every American’s freedom of speech and religious expression.”

Veteran airman in religious discrimination case against Air Force

An Air Force sergeant who filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. military claiming he was fired by his lesbian commander for refusing to make a statement of support for same-sex “marriage” may now face prosecution for taking his accusations public.

During a meeting last week, Air Force investigators read Senior Master Sergeant Phillip Monk his Miranda rights, alleging that Monk’s religious discrimination complaint was false. Monk, a devout Christian, believes the claims are a retaliatory act by his former commander, who relieved Monk of his duties and reassigned him after Monk could not agree with his commander’s position regarding same-sex marriage. In the military, making a false official statement is punishable by court-martial.

Sergeant Monk was relieved of his duties as first sergeant at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio in August after two separate confrontations with an openly homosexual superior officer, Major Elisa Valenzeula. 

Liberty Institute attorney Mike Berry said, “We are hopeful that the Air Force will do the right thing by clearing Sergeant Monk’s name and reputation, and supporting his and every airman’s right to express, without fear of punishment, their religious convictions.”

New Survey: More Americans Feel Persecuted for Their Faith

According to a recent survey, more American workers feel they are suffering discrimination due to their religious faith. Last week, Tanenbaum released What American Workers Really Think About Religion: Tanenbaum’s 2013 Survey of American Workers and Religion. The results revealed some startling information, including:  

• One in three American workers have actually experienced or personally seen incidents of religious bias when they go to work.
• Six in ten white evangelical Protestants agree that discrimination against Christians has become as big a problem as discrimination against other religious minorities

“Attacks on religious liberty are increasing at alarming and unprecedented rates, and they are occurring whenever people of faith begin to engage the culture around them, including the workplace,” said Liberty Institute General Counsel Jeff Mateer.  “The hostility against people of faith, including Christians, is at an all time high in our nation.  We are faced with intense opposition from radical secularist groups, and even are own federal government, who are seeking to remove God from public life.”
On the heels of that survey, the City of San Antonio, Texas, this week passed an ordinance that targets citizens and businesses who hold traditional religious views about sexuality, and grants special protected status and rights to homosexual, bisexual, and transgendered individuals. Among other items, the ordinance would prohibit membership on any city board or city contract for anyone who has expressed disapproval of the homosexual agenda. Thus, a Catholic RCIA instructor articulating the Church’s teaching on these matters could be removed from office or have their contracts with the city terminated. 

The Liberty institute is promising a legal challenge to the new law.

This week: A bakery closing and “crimes against humanity”

This week on Faith on Trial: We will be discussing the dangers of the militant homosexual agenda to faithful Christians.  Bryan Fischer, director of issue analysis for the American Family Association, will discuss the closing of a bakery in Oregon that refused to bake a “wedding” cake for a lesbian couple.  We’ll go behind the bare details of the case to see how Sweet Cakes by Melissa was hounded out of business because its owner did not want to violate her religious beliefs. Following Bryan we will have Harry Mehet, attorney with Liberty Counsel, who is representing a pastor from Massachusetts who is being sued for “crimes against humanity” for statements the pastor made in Uganda supporting traditional marriage. Normally, a case like that would be dismissed for failure to state a recognizable claim; however, in this case the federal judge denied the pastor’s motion and set the matter for trial.

All of this, this week on Faith on Trial on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM, and 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming live on IowaCatholicRadio.com.  Tune in Saturday at 8 a.m.; Sunday at 2 & 7, and Monday at 9 p.m. (Central).  

Cardinal Dolan, Bishop Pates call faithful to a day of prayer for peace

The U.S. bishops are encouraging Catholics in the country and all those concerned about ongoing violence in Syria to join with Pope Francis in a worldwide Day of Fasting and Prayer for Peace.

“We are anguished by the terrible suffering of the Syrian people and again affirm the need for dialogue and negotiation to resolve this conflict that has wrought so much devastation,” said Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, in a Sept. 3 statement.

“As our nation's leaders contemplate military action, it is particularly appropriate and urgent that we in the United States embrace the Holy Father's call to pray and fast on September 7 for a peaceful end to the conflict in Syria and to violent conflicts everywhere,” they continued.

Cardinal Dolan is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Bishop Pates chairs the conference’s Committee on International Justice and Peace.

The two Church leaders echoed the words of Pope Francis, who called on the whole Catholic Church to take part in a day of fasting and prayer this Saturday, Sept. 7, the vigil of the birth of Mary, Queen of Peace.

“There are so many conflicts in this world which cause me great suffering and worry, but in these days my heart is deeply wounded in particular by what is happening in Syria and anguished by the dramatic developments which are looming,” the Holy Father said in his Sunday Angelus message on Sept. 1.

His call for prayer and fasting comes as nations including the United States discuss the possibility of military action following reports that chemical weapons were recently used against civilians in Syria, killing more than 1,400 people.

Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Pates asked “all U.S. Catholics and people of goodwill to join us in witnessing to the hope we have in our hearts for peace for the Syrian people,” uniting themselves to those praying and fasting in Rome.

In their statement, they affirmed that the use of “chemical weapons is particularly abhorrent and we urgently pray for the victims of such atrocities and for their loved ones.”

 

But despite the atrocity of the reported use of such weapons, the bishops reiterated their earlier warnings against the use of military force as a response, instead stressing that “the path of dialogue and negotiation between all components of Syrian society, with the support of the international community, is the only option to put an end to the conflict.”

Sex education for kindergarteners will teach “diverse” family structures

OneNewsNow is reporting that the Chicago Public Schools are this year mandating that kindergartners receive sex education lessons. Opponents say it's a way of exposing them to the homosexual lifestyle.

The CEO of the Chicago Public Schools is emphasizing that this curriculum will be age appropriate. But Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute says that is misleading.

“What all the talk about is that from the perspective of those on the left, there is virtually nothing that is considered inappropriate,” she points out. “But they believe that it’s appropriate to talk to kindergarteners about diverse family structures. And what that means is talking about families that are led by homosexuals.”

She says that sex education lessons for young students just beginning school are out of place.

“Five-year-olds are not sexual beings, except in the world of progressives,” she says. “They’re not thinking about sex, they’re not having sexual feelings. And so this is completely unnecessary, and parents are capable of handling this.”

She says parents of Chicago-area public school students should opt their children out of any lessons involving homosexuality or gender confusion.

More available here.

Another Catholic firm sues over HHS Mandate

Barron Industries, Inc., its Chairman Paul Barron, and its President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Barron, this morning filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Obama Administration’s HHS Mandate.  The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The following statement is posted on the Barron Industries website: “Barron Industries is a family-run organization with a strong Catholic Christian foundation. Our Guiding Principle is our faith in God. We appreciate that everyone is created equal. Our belief is that we are placed here to serve the Lord and one another with honesty and integrity. It is our collective goal to use our work, professional and personal lives to lead each other to eternal salvation.”

Erin Mersino, one of our former guests, and the TMLC’s lead attorney on several cases the Law Center has already filed challenging the HHS Mandate, stated: “Barron Industries supports numerous Catholic charities, holds optional mass for its employees, and houses an on-site chapel.  Paul and Bruce Barron are devoted Catholic businessmen who strive to follow the mission of the Church in their daily lives, which includes their business practices.”

Barron Industries, started in 1923 by Joseph H. Barron, Sr., is a family owned and operated casting, machining, fabrication and assembly facility located in Oxford, MI, and managed today by Paul Barron and his son Bruce Barron.  Catholic Mass is regularly celebrated in the main conference room of the plant facility.  Visitors, customers and staff are openly invited to join in the services.

Paul Barron is also a member of Legatus, the Nation’s largest organization of top Catholic business CEOs and professional leaders. Legatus calls its members to be “ambassadors for Christ” through the three key areas of a Catholic business leader’s life – Faith, Family and Business. The Thomas More Law Center is also representing the Legatus organization itself in a separate federal lawsuit.