Sentenced to Death for Faith in Christ: A Call to Action

As many of you have heard, this past month a Sudanese judge sentenced a Christian woman by the name of Meriam Ibrahim to death. What crime did she commit? She believed in Jesus Christ as her true Lord and Savior. Meriam was raised a Christian by her mother, but her father was a Muslim. This was enough for a judge to rule her an apostate, a crime punishable by death in Sudan. She has also been charged with adultery because the judge has declared her marriage with her Christian husband invalid. Locked up and pregnant with her second child, Meriam had to give birth in the prison’s unsanitary health clinic. She shares her cell with her newborn as well as her 20-month-old son as she awaits 100 lashings followed by her execution. Opportunities to recant her faith have been given to her but Meriam refuses to turn her back on Christ. She is an inspiration to us all, and she now needs our help.

How can you help? Below we have provided a list of ways you can help Meriam Ibrahim.

  1. Pray, pray, and pray some more!
  2. Contact your Member of Congress and urge them to support H. Res. 601, which calls for the release of Meriam Ibrahim.
  3. Like her Facebook page to show your support.
  4. Sign the petition calling for release!
  5. Write or email the Sudanese authorities directly.

 

Minister of Justice Mohamed Bushara Dousa Ministry of Justice PO Box 302 Al Nil Avenue Khartoum Sudan moj@moj.gov.sd Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Ahmed Karti Ministry of Foreign Affairs PO Box: 302, Republic Street Khartoum Sudan Fax: + 249 183 772941 Minister of Interior Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamed     Ministry of Interior, PO Box 873 mut@isoc.sd

1 John 3:17 - But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 

Galatians 6:2 - Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Vote Your Values!

With elections just around the corner, we wanted to remind you how important it is to vote in accordance with your values. As Christians, we have a moral obligation to promote the common good through the exercise of our voting privileges. However, it isn’t easy to keep up with every issue and politician in the political sphere. So, here are a few resources to assist voters as they head into elections:

Learn where the candidates stand on issues and visit the AFA Voter Guide by clicking on the "Voter Guide" icon and enter the address where you are registered to vote to be presented with the specific candidates you will be voting for.

Christian Coalition publishes a number of special voter educational materials - from Congressional Scorecards, which demonstrate the voting records of members of Congress, to Christian Coalition's Election Voter Guides, which show where candidates stand on important pro-family issues.

The Heritage Action Scorecard measures votes, co-sponsorships, and other legislative activity.

For our California supporters, you may wish to view…

California Family Alliance (CFA) is a not-for-profit, political action organization that works in affiliation with California Family Council. CFA’s purpose is to advocate for pro-family, pro-life issues at the grassroots and legislative levels.

Information based on candidates’ views, records and positions from a Christian worldview for California Governor and State Offices; U.S. Congress, California State Senators and Assembly Members; County, City and Judicial races.

Remembering our Heroes this Memorial Day

Today, we remember all who fought courageously in battle and gave the ultimate sacrifice to defend the freedoms and liberties we possess today.  Every time we experience the freedom to speak our minds, worship our God, and share our faith in our community, we remember the grace of God and the sacrifice that soldiers have made to keep our Nation a free one. We also recognize and pray for our veterans and those currently serving in the military.  We ask that God’s peace, hope, and protection be with them and their loved ones – today and always.

            Please join us in prayer and thanksgiving on this Memorial Day!

California Legislature Approves Gender-based Abortions

  Recently, the California Assembly Health Committee chose to reject a proposed bill that would have prohibited abortion based on a baby’s gender.

This should have been a no-brainer….of course we should not allow abortions based on gender selection.  However, California has failed to support that logic, and the Assembly voted right down party lines, 6-13 against the bill.

Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, who brought the bill to the legislature, said, “I know that the political stance is normally pro-choice and under a woman's right to choose but someplace there has to be a line where it's not okay. And I submit to you today that it is not okay to have an abortion just because it is a little girl...”

We are saddened by this decision, and we ask for your prayers for the unborn who cannot speak up for themselves.

US Supreme Court Upholds Prayer

This week, the United States Supreme Court issued a great ruling in favor of religious liberty. The court ruled that legislative bodies may begin their meetings with prayer, even if the prayer is Christian in nature or directed toward a specific deity.Prayer In the 5-4 decision, Justice Kennedy wrote, “Ceremonial prayer is but a recognition that, since this Nation was founded and until the present day, many Americans deem that their own existence must be understood by precepts far beyond the authority of government.”

This case concerned the city of Greece, NY, and its City Council meetings, which begin with a prayer. Most often, that prayer is a Christian one. The opposition argued that these prayers violated the First Amendment, which prohibits the establishment of a specific religion, because they did not seek out a more diverse group of prayer leaders. The majority ruled that the City Council prayers did not violate this law, because the Council did not coerce all attendees to participate in the prayer, and they did not offer any benefits to those who did participate.

We celebrate this victory for prayer, handed down by the highest Court in our Nation!

Join our discussion on Facebook and Twitter, and let us know what you think of this decision.

A Victory in California...and The National Day of Prayer

A Victory in California!           Let us give you some good news from California! Recently, we were contacted by Texas-based Liberty Legal Institute and Pastor Rick Moore of Calvary Church and StateChapel Laguna Niguel. Pastor Rick was attempting to rent city facilities from the City of Laguna Niguel in order to launch his new church. However, when Pastor Rick contacted the City, he learned that although the City rented their facilities to nonprofit organizations, the City could not rent to religiously based organizations because of a discriminatory provision embodied in the City’s ordinances.

          With help from Advocates for Faith & Freedom and Liberty Legal Institute, we were able to properly advise Pastor Rick and the City Council about the unconstitutionality of the policy prohibiting the rental to religious organizations. After a public hearing last month, the City Council voted unanimously to eliminate the discriminatory policy so that churches could rent City facilities just like other nonprofit organizations.

            Thank God for this victory!

National Day of Prayer is TODAY

          Please join us today, May 1, 2014, as we pray for our nation, our leaders, our families, our schools, our churches and ministry leaders, our children, and our future on this National Day of Prayer.

          Please go to our Facebook or Twitter page and share with us what your prayer is today.  Let’s join together as one to lift up our voices to our Almighty God and ask for His providence and guidance!

How Hobby Lobby and Others are Taking a Stand for Religious Liberty

Yesterday, March 25, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases challenging the religious liberty issues at stake with the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare): Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. andConestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius.           What are these important cases about?
Religious Liberty in the Courts Obamacare requires that businesses provide health care for their employees, and that health care must include coverage for all contraceptives, at no cost to the employees.

Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties have stated that they don’t have a problem covering most forms of birth control for their employees, but their religious beliefs do not support the use of emergency contraceptives meant for use after conception because they believe that the result of these emergency contraceptives is an abortion.

The question that these companies are presenting to the court is – do for-profit businesses have the right to exercise the religious beliefs of their owners in the workplace?   At issue in the Hobby Lobby case is whether a federal law passed in 1993 called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act protects Hobby Lobby from being forced to pay for emergency contraception.

At issue in the Conestoga case is whether the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the company from being forced to pay for emergency contraception.

Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties are joined by at least 45 other for-profit companies that have brought cases to trial regarding the contraception mandate of Obamacare.  In addition, there are separate cases right now that focus on the rights of religiously-affiliated organizations and the mandate.

It will likely be a few months before we hear a decision from the Supreme Court in these cases.  In the meantime,please pray for the companies as they continue to stand up for religious liberty.

Update on the Brynn Williams Case

Last month, we told you about the case of Brynn Williams, who had prepared a short “Christmas tradition” speech to share with her first grade class. Before Brynn Williamsshe was able to recite John 3:16 – and just 10 seconds from the end of her speech—she was stopped.  You can read the full case here. In response to recent statements made by employees of the Temecula Valley Unified School District, please click here to see additional documentation in support of Brynn’s and the Williams’ claims. This documentation has been submitted to the school board for their review and for a hearing on the matter. 

           We stand behind the statements of our clients. We believe the evidence and analysis of the facts contradicts statements made by both the principal and teacher (see Attachment 4 for an in-depth review of the facts).

Regardless of the specifics of the actual incident, we have always held that this is not about the principal or the teacher. Our claim is and always has been that the principal and teacher were enforcing practices and policies of the District as they were required to do. Those practices and policies have always been the focus of our efforts and we are requesting that the Temecula Valley Unified School District adopt a policy that protects the religious liberty of students and implements training for teachers and administrators. If you have any questions regarding the Williams' claim, please review our response here.

"Jesus Is Not Allowed In School" Case Gathers Major Media

This week, we told you about our new case, in which our young client, Isaiah Martinez, brought a gift for his classmates: Candy canes with a Christian Isaiah Martinezmessage attached explaining the legend of the candy cane.  After conferring with the principal, his first grade teacher removed the Christian message from the candy canes and told him, “Jesus is not allowed in school.”  You can read the full story of this case here. This is an important case, and one that all parents, students, and teachers deserve to hear about.  The message is critical – our children should not be subjected to hostility from their public school teachers and administrators simply because they are Christians and desire to live out their faith in the place they spend a significant portion of their time…at school.

We are grateful that this case is being amplified by the media so that more families will be encouraged to stand for our religious liberty.  Here are a few of the media links:

          Please keep our clients and Advocates in your prayers as we continue to pursue this matter.  If you’re interested, you can read more about our cases and work within the public schools here.

Teacher to First Grader: "Jesus is not allowed in school"

On December 13, 2013, first grader Isaiah Martinez took Christmas gifts intended for his teacher and classmates at Merced Elementary in the West Covina Unified School District. Each gift consisted of a traditional candy cane with a message attached that recited the legend of the candy cane. The legend references a candy maker who created the candy cane to symbolize the life of Jesus Christ. Isaiah’s older sister told him about the legend of the candy cane and Isaiah asked if he could share it with his teacher and his classmates. Isaiah and his sister then purchased candy canes, printed the candy cane message and tied a copy to each candy cane.

When Isaiah brought his Christmas gift to school, his teacher took possession of the candy canes.Is faith allowed in school? After conferring with the school principal, the teacher told Isaiah that “Jesus is not allowed in school” and, at the apparent direction of her principal, ripped the candy cane message from each candy cane, threw the messages in the trash, and handed the candy canes back to Isaiah for delivery to his classmates. Isaiah then nervously handed the candy canes to his classmates in fear that he was in trouble for trying to bring a little Christmas cheer and “good tidings” to class.

We sent a demand letter to the West Covina Unified School District demanding a written apology and has demanded that a new policy be adopted to prohibit school officials from bullying and intimidating Christian students and religiously affiliated students.

A copy of the demand letter can be found here, which provides more depth to the facts as asserted by the Martinez family along with relevant legal arguments.

Robert Tyler, Advocates' General Counsel, said, “Advocates for Faith & Freedom has experienced a surge in phone calls from students and their parents across the country who are victims of religiously motivated bullying; not bullying by other students, but bullying by teachers and school officials.” He continued, “The pendulum has swung so far in the opposite direction that public schools are becoming a place of hostility toward Christian and other religiously-based worldviews.  It’s time to push the pendulum back in the right direction where kids can experience true tolerance without religiously motivated hostility from their teachers and school officials.”

Please join us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up-to-date on our progress in this case and others.