Christian persecution coming to America
Pastor Dale Morgan
Christian persecution coming to America*
Pastors say court's ruling in Houston Bible case 'breath-taking'
Posted: August 18, 2006
Houston's Bible monument
A few more court decisions like this week's over a display of a Bible in
Houston and the United States will be approaching the "China-level" for
Christian persecution, according to a leader in the midst of that battle.
The ruling from the Fifth Court of Appeals said the display of a Bible
on public ground in Houston to honor the founder of a mission has to go,
not because it was unconstitutional itself, but because it became
unconstitutional when a Christian group rallied around it.
The pastor's group said that means any monument, building, or even
feature of nature is an illegal "establishment of religion" if a church
ceremony is held there.
"Connecting the dots between the eminent domain case, which says all of
your churches are up for grabs if a town wants a mall, secondly you now
have been told you do not have constitutional rights in the public
square," Dave Welch, executive director of the Houston Area Pastors
Conference said.
"Any kind of an event is okay, as long as you didn't express any
religious faith. What is that telling you?
"We're not persecuted yet, we know that. But we're on our way there. Add
that to the surprising acceptance of militant Islam, the fear of
speaking against that from a Christian standpoint and then we're
dangerously approaching the point where we have literally given away and
yielded our freedoms that were earned," Welch said.
"We have history, law and the founding fathers who adopted the
Constitution collectively affirming the truth expressed by revered
Justice Joseph Story in 1840 that, 'We are not to attribute this
prohibition of a national religious establishment to an indifference to
religion in general, and especially to Christianity,'" said a statement
issued by the pastor's group.
Welch said that the court's conclusion was "ludicrous" and if followed
logically, could mean that a religious rally at any public building
would therefore make the building unconstitutional so it would have to
be removed.
The Bible was installed on county property about five decades ago in
honor of William Mosher, the founder of Star of Hope Mission, and was
replaced in 1996 with donated funds. However, an atheist challenged the
monument, and on an appeal from the District Court decision that the
Bible was unconstitutional, the appeals court carried the argument further.
Its ruling said that the monument became an unconstitutional
"establishment" after a 2003 rally was held by Christians to defend the
display. That rally involved prayers and clergy, the court noted.
"The ramifications of this tortured decision are breath-taking and
without any historic or legitimate Constitutional rationale," said the
pastors' organization. "For the court to state that if a private citizen
exercises his or her First Amendment rights of religious expression and
assembly on public property, that any monument, building or fixed item
of any kind that contains religious references becomes 'establishment of
religion' is simply irrational."
The conclusion, if applied nationwide, would result in the sandblasting
of hundreds of monuments and buildings "including the capstone on the
Washington Monument, which reads, 'Laus Deo,' or 'Praise be to God,'"
the pastors group continued.
"For this panel majority of two justices to claim that words and actions
by private citizens or elected officials with religious content,
expressed about a building or monument, convert it from 'secular' and
constitutional to 'sacred' and unconstitutional amounts to an act of
blatant judicial activism against the freedoms and Constitution," the
HAPC said.
The group Battle For The Bible also is working on the case, and Welch
said there are experts on constitutional law who have been and plan to
continue assisting the county in its fight over the representation of
the Bible.
"They are of the opinion this needs to be appealed directly to the
Supreme Court, and we're working on that right now," Welch said.
He called the logic "twisted" that could conclude the monument once was
constitutional, but since "some action by a private citizen" it now
becomes unconstitutional.
Because the atheist's lawsuit was against the county over the monument
on county land, the pastors and their advisors have been assisting
County Attorney Michael Stafford in the fight.