Your email address is safe with us. View our Privacy policy.
Free Financial Tools:
Start planning your financial future with our free financial tools & calculators.
Start planning your financial future with our free financial tools & calculators. 
Author Bio:
Motivational teacher Zig Ziglar, author of the "Message for Daily Living" column, has touched the lives of people all over the country for years. ...
Read more about Zig Ziglar.
Motivational teacher Zig Ziglar, author of the "Message for Daily Living" column, has touched the lives of people all over the country for years. ...
Read more about Zig Ziglar.
All Prejudice is Wrong
Zig Ziglar
As a youngster, my mother taught me that all of us might not be smart
but all of us can be courteous and fair. My mother was right.
History reveals that America was discovered and initially settled primarily by Christians (as described in "The Light and the Glory" by Peter Marshall and David Manuel; and "Original Intent" by David Barton). Yet, while public schools and community buildings have granted access to almost every kind of organization, in case after case, Christian groups were being prohibited from using the same buildings -- until they went to court and it was ruled unconstitutional.
Jay Alan Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, presented the case of Amandola vs. Town of Babylon, N.Y. Pastor John Amandola of "Romans Chapter Ten Ministries" applied to use the Town Hall Annex for Sunday worship services and Thursday evening Bible studies. Town Commissioner James Namely agreed, which was understandable since his community in Long Island, N.Y., allowed a wide variety of groups to rent town facilities -- even Christians -- until the complaint came in. Someone objected because Pastor Amandola was conducting "altar calls" during his meetings, so the commissioner revoked Pastor Amandola's permission -- despite the fact that the town has no written policy about who can and cannot use their facilities. Commissioner Namely makes all of these decisions.
Namely says that Bible studies are fine, religious organizations are welcome, singing religious songs is OK, and praying is allowed -- but no altar calls, no mentioning of a "specific deity," and no use of the name "Jesus." "As if we could avoid using His name during our services, prayers and study! It's absurd!" Counsel Sekulow states. "The target is simply the Christian faith, it's Jesus. This is clearly an unconstitutional distinction." Now here's the frightening part:
"We persuaded the U.S. Court of Appeals to declare the Town of Babylon's policy unconstitutional ... but the town reacted by quickly considering the adoption of a policy to ban all religious activities in town facilities -- not just services involving altar calls. That's even more unconstitutional than the old policy," states Sekulow.
In Denver, a family was forbidden to hold more than one Bible study in their home each month, despite the fact that it was a small group and there were no neighborhood crowding or parking problems. It seemed that because they were Christians, they could not enjoy the same freedoms allowed all other groups.
There's more. When the Supreme Court was debating the constitutionality of partial-birth abortion, there were two groups protesting. The Christians were praying that the judges would decide that they did not have the constitutional right to perform partial-birth abortions; the others were "pro-choice." The group arrested by the police: the Christians who opposed partial-birth abortion.
Regardless of your faith, don't forget Germany. Hitler persecuted specific ethnic groups one by one. When people did not protest (because it wasn't "their" group), the day came when everyone feared that knock on the door.
"Freedom of religion" is a phrase to which it appears many people in the courts and the media seem to have added another phrase -- "unless it happens to be Christianity." Think about this: Christians initially started all hospitals. The Salvation Army, orphanages, the Civil Rights Movement and Habitat for Humanity were started primarily by Christians. Twenty-five of our first 27 universities, and many other humanitarian organizations, including public schools, were started so people could learn to read -- the Bible.
Question: Do you believe our country would be better off without these contributions by Christians? Question: Did you protest the movie "The Last Temptation of Christ"? What do you think would have happened if they had named it "The Last Temptation of Buddha," or "The Last Temptation of Martin Luther King," or any other religious leader?
All of us should protest against any discrimination against anyone, including Christians.
To find out more about Zig Ziglar and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. Subscribe to Zig Ziglar's free e-mail newsletter through info@zigziglar.com.
----
Copyright 2009 Creators Syndicate Inc.
This news arrived on: 11/02/2009
Printer Friendly Version | Send this page to a friend | Post Comment
Rate This Story:
Great - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - Bad
Posted Comments:
11-04-2009 00:05
wrote:
yall are so intolerant. Obama is the best president we had by far since at least LBJ, although clinton was OK. you just dont feel comfortble with a black man being president plus hes a democratyou need to stop listening to rush limbaugh and biased fox news channel republicans got us in this mess and Obama is doing his best to get us out of it
11-02-2009 11:26
Marco Castro wrote:
it's absurd
It's crazy absurd that a country that suppose to have equal rights and freedom of religion, will forbid things like this.
Tolerance SUCKS
Respect RULES.
think about that.
Tolerance SUCKS
Respect RULES.
think about that.
11-02-2009 09:08
Myrtle Beach Reader wrote:
All Prejudice...
Yes, the Zigster is right, but what does it have to do with Business Success, very strictly speaking, of course. I've just about had it with "everybody" bending over backwards to accomodate this seemingly ENDLESS list of people, groups, and organizations who would outlaw a philosophy that, although there have been bumps along the way, has brought more GOOD to the world than could be measured.
11-02-2009 06:59
Denise Odier wrote:
All Prejudice is Wrong
This article is right on target in where we are today. When you consider is is politically incorrect to say " Merry Christmas" or to call a Christmas tree a "Christmas Tree", it is clear that our religious freedom is becoming a thing of the past. For centuries, Christians have been persecuted for believing in Jesus Christ. When Christians don't support partial-birth abortions, they are arrested for protesting the very act that is actually murder of a living human being. We have a President (so-called) that is clearly anti-Christian and does not follow any of the moral precepts of Christianity, yet many people voted for this person who not only is a non-believer, but would see us turn into a Muslim nation. Ugh, I could go on and on here, just suffice it to say, this country was based on Christian principles and it's time for all to get their heads out of the sand and fight for the freedom which has always been.
Comment archive | Comment FAQ's
 |
 |
View Message for Daily Living ezine stories by date or visit the complete archive |
The ArcaMax Politics channel is one of 70 content categories offered by ArcaMax Publishing on this ... |
Best Freebies
