If you haven’t done so yet, check out the recent Manhattan Declaration, a Christian manifesto on issues related to abortion, marriage, and religious freedom. Co-authored by Charles Colson, Robert George, and Timothy George, the statement was initially signed by over 170 Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant religious leaders. Since then (November 20, 2009), more than 238,000 people have signed the declaration, including Amy and me. We agree with every word of this document and are greatly encouraged by it.
In addition to providing lucid statements about the ethics of abortion, euthanasia, and gay marriage, the Manhattan Declaration affirms the appropriateness of civil disobedience in cases where state or federal laws would compel complicity with immoral practices: “We recognize the duty to comply with laws whether we happen to like them or not, unless the laws are gravely unjust or require those subject to them to do something unjust or otherwise immoral…. We…embrace our obligation to speak and act in defense of these truths. We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence.”
Amen.
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