Dewey's Daily Cup

Pulpit Freedom Sunday is an event associated with the ADF Pulpit Initiative, a legal effort designed to secure the First Amendment rights of pastors in the pulpit. The Pulpit Initiative is part of the larger ADF Church Project. Participating pastors preaching on Pulpit Freedom Sunday will address the subject of current candidates for office, including the positions held by those candidates, in light of Scripture.

“Pastors and churches shouldn’t live in fear of being punished or penalized by the government—in this case, the IRS,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “ADF is not trying to get politics into the pulpit; we want to get government out of the pulpit. Churches should be allowed to decide for themselves what they want to talk about. The IRS should not be the one making the decision by threatening to revoke a church’s tax-exempt status.”

Pastors spoke freely from the pulpit, even about specific candidates and elections, without worrying about tax exemptions until 1954 when Congress passed a tax code amendment proposed by then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson that prohibits any speech favoring or opposing a political candidate. Since the addition of the Johnson Amendment to the Federal Tax Code, the IRS has issued increasingly vague guidance on the law but has continued to launch investigations while avoiding court review of the constitutionality of its actions.

Groups such as Americans United for Separation of Church and State have taken advantage of the vagueness of the tax law and have reported churches to the IRS in an attempt to remove their tax-exempt status. The most recent example involves a South Dakota church that AU reported to the IRS in June.

“The IRS should not be used as a political tool to advance the agenda of radical groups bent on silencing the voice of the Church and inhibiting religious freedom,” Stanley explained.  “It is ironic that a group with a name like ‘Americans United for Separation of Church and State’ continues to exploit a scheme of massive government monitoring and surveillance of churches.”

“The real effect of the Johnson Amendment is that pastors are muzzled for fear of investigation by the IRS,” he added. “Rather than risk confrontation, many pastors have self-censored their speech, afraid to apply the teachings of Scripture to specific candidates or elections. As in years past, the participants in Pulpit Freedom Sunday 2010 are taking a stand against being intimidated into sacrificing their First Amendment rights.”

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.

Andy Rooney says, “Pray if you want to.”

Folks, this is the year that we retake AMERICA & CANADA!

********* Get  Ready *********

Keep this going around the globe.  Read it and forward every time you
receive it.  We can’t give up on this issue.

Andy Rooney and Prayer…

Andy Rooney says:

I don’t believe in Santa Claus, but I’m not going to sue somebody for
singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December.   I don’t agree with Darwin, but I
didn’t go out and hire
a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his theory of evolution.

Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because
someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game.  So what’s the
big deal?  It’s not
like somebody is up there reading the entire Book of
Acts.  They’re just talking to a God they believe in and
asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and
the fans going home from the game.

But it’s a Christian prayer, some will argue.  Yes, and this
is the United States of America and Canada, countries
founded on Christian principles.  According to our very
own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others
more than 200-to-1!  So what would you expect —
somebody chanting Hare Krishna?

If I went to a football game in Jerusalem, I would expect
to hear a Jewish prayer.

If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad, I would expect to
hear a Muslim prayer.

If I went to a ping pong match in China, I would expect to
hear someone pray to Buddha.

[Image]

And I wouldn’t be offended.  It wouldn’t bother me one bit.
When in Rome…

But ‘what about the atheists?’ is another argument.  What
about them?  Nobody is asking them to be baptized.  We’re
not going to pass the collection plate.  Just humour us for
30 seconds.  If that’s asking too much, bring a Walkman or
a pair of ear plugs.  Go to the bathroom.  Visit the concession stand.
Call your lawyer!

Unfortunately, one or two will make that call.  One or two
will tell thousands what they can and cannot do.  I don’t
think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake
the world’s foundations.

Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek
while our courts strip us of all our rights.  Our parents and grandparents
taught us to pray before eating, to pray before
we go to sleep.  Our Bible tells us to pray without ceasing.
Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to
cease praying.

God, help us!  And if that last sentence offends you, well,
just sue me.  The silent majority has been silent too long.
It’s time we tell that one or two who scream loud enough
to be heard that the vast majority doesn’t care what they
want.  It is time that the majority rules!

It’s time we tell them, “you don’t have to pray; you don’t
have to say the Pledge of Allegiance; you don’t have to
believe in God or attend services that honour Him.  That is
your right, and we will honour your right; but by golly, you
are no longer going to take our rights away.  We are fighting
back, and we WILL WIN!”

God bless us one and all…especially those who denounce
Him.  God bless America and Canada, despite all our faults,
we are still the greatest nations of all.  God bless our service
men who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship
God.

Let’s make 2010 the year the silent majority is heard and
we restore God as the foundation of our families and
institutions.  And may our military forces come home safely
from all the wars.

Keep looking up.

These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.

ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, “isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn’t know about it until the next morning?”
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-year- old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He’s twenty, much like your IQ.

ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you kidding me?

ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess.

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about 20, medium height, and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I’m going with male.

ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And, Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.

And the best for last:
ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.